Lookie, lookie! Our first six-figure total of 2011 has arrived, and it only took two months for it to happen! (Sarcasm, folks).
The 37th volume of the venerable “Now That’s What I Call Music” series takes the top spot on this week’s Billboard Album chart with 151,000 copies sold. It’s by far the best sales week of the year for any album, and it’s also the best sales week for the “Now” franchise in quite some time.
This week’s chart has a distinct Grammy flavor as well as a Super Bowl flavor. Mumford & Sons (who performed on the telecast with The Avett Brothers and Bob Dylan) shoot up to the #2 position with Sigh No More, doubling their sales over the previous week and presenting a legit challenge to take over the top spot next week, seeing as the Grammy telecast only had four hours to impact the chart. Miranda Lambert, Muse, The Arcade Fire and the aforementioned Avetts also have increases over 75% this week.
Justin Bieber may have lost the two Grammys he was nominated for, but he can take solace in a couple of things. Not only will his remix album bow high atop next week’s charts, but he currently has two albums in the Top Ten. Likely due more to the unveiling of his concert film than any Grammy-related issues, his year old My World 2.0 album shoots up to #3 on the charts, while My Worlds Acoustic lands at #10 and vaults over the 500,000 sold mark. Meanwhile, The Black Eyed Peas parlay their Super Bowl performance into major gains on the chart as well. Their latest album, The Beginning, moves up to #14 on the chart (also finally vaulting over the half-a-mil mark), while their previous album, The E.N.D., stands just six spots behind, landing at #20 and coming within just an inch of the 3 million plateau.
Over on the singles chart, Lady GaGa blasts onto the top position with “Born This Way”. Her latest anthem turns out to be the 1,000th #1 single in the history of the Billboard Top 100, an achievement to be sure. Two other songs debut in the digital Top 10 this week-Jay Sean’s “Hit the Lights” (featuring Lil Wayne) at #9 and Colbie Caillat’s “I Do” at #10. Last week’s big debut, Dr. Dre’s “I Need a Doctor”, slides all the way down to #14 from it’s #1 debut last week, and it’s also worth noting that Britney’s “Hold it Against Me” hasn’t exactly had staying power, ranking at #28 on this week’s chart.
Next week, it’s all about variables. Does the Biebs have what it takes to top the chart with a remix album? Will “Now 37” suffer a significant erosion? Will one of the Grammy winners or performers have a big enough jump to overtake either of those other two albums? Stay tuned…the charts are finally starting to look semi-normal.
This week’s Top 20 albums:
1) “Now That’s What I Call Music 37” Various Artists
2) “Sigh No More” Mumford & Sons
3) “My World 2.0” Justin Bieber
4) “Pink Friday” Nicki Minaj
5) “Greatest Hits So Far” P!nk
6) “Doo-Wops & Hooligans” Bruno Mars
7) “Recovery” Eminem
8) “Loud” Rihanna
9) “My Kinda Party” Jason Aldean
10) “My Worlds Acoustic” Justin Bieber
11) “2011 Grammy Nominees” Various Artists
12) “Speak Now” Taylor Swift
13) “Teenage Dream” Katy Perry
14) “The Beginning” The Black Eyed Peas
15) “Thompson Square” Thompson Square
16) “Kidz Bop 19” Kidz Bop Kids
17) “Need You Now” Lady Antebellum
18) “Love Letter” R. Kelly
19) “Born Free” Kid Rock
20) “The E.N.D.” The Black Eyed Peas