Despite loud posturing, a few dirty tricks and a whole lot of expensive old-school promo, Victory was only able to push Hawthorne Heights to #3 on Billboard’s Top 200 in it’s first week. The bands latest CD moved 103,000 units while Disney TV movie soundtrack "High School Musical" sold an impressive 128,00 in it’s second week of release. Ne-Yo’s debut release hit #1 with 301,000 units – almost 3 times the sales of Hawthorne Heights.
Under different circumstances any indie rock CD debuting at #3 and selling more than 100,000 copies in a single week would draw kudos for both Victory and the band. But given Vicotry’s excessive over-hyping and encouraging street teamers to hide Ne-Yo CD’s at retail, Hawthorne Height’s impressive achievement is no cause for celebration.
