Last week’s chart was so boring we went back into the wayback machine and rolled into 1991. Now it’s back to the present, and a chart that finds six new albums in the Top Ten, led by a country star and reality show judge.
The most tangible (and immediate) success story from “The Voice” has to be Blake Shelton’s. The country singer scores his first ever chart-topper with Red River Blue. Blake is the first of the show’s judges (or contestants) to place an album on the charts since it went on the air. Of course, “The Voice” isn’t the only thing Blake has going for him, as he’s also catching a little bit of the glow placed on him via his hosting of award shows and his marriage to fellow superstar Miranda Lambert.
The other five albums that debut in the Top 10 this week include Incubus’s If Not Now, When? at #2, country singer/reality show star (sound familiar?) Chris Young at #4, Colbie Caillat at #6, Theory of a Deadman at #8, and Sublime with Rome at #9. In the cases of Incubus and Colbie Caillat, their numbers (80,000 and 66,000, respectively) have got to be disappointing since both artists’ previous efforts debuted at #1 with six-figure totals.
In another slow week for the industry, there were a handful of bright spots. Soul star Raphael Saadiq got a big look when he performed at the ESPY Awards last week, and his Stone Rollin’ album gets a 69% lift and reenters the album chart at #133. The viral video of Dave Grohl cussing out a fan (as well as the announcement of the Foo Fighters’ world tour) causes their Wasting Light album to get an 11% bump, although it stays put at #47. Blake Shelton’s success also rubs off (rub off…heh) on his wife Miranda Lambert, as her Revolution album skips up fourteen spots to #82 on a gain of 24%
Not holding up as well? How about the latest albums from former hit acts Taking Back Sunday, Limp Bizkit and David Cook? Cook’s sophomore effort finds itself at #57 after three weeks, having sold only 66,000 copies so far. Meanwhile, the two veteran rock bands have already disappeared from the Top 100 in the same amount of time. The Bizkit is at #106 and Taking Back Sunday is now at #120. The two albums have yet to sell 100,000 units combined-and keep in mind that Limp Bizkit once sold a million records in a week.
Next week should be anyone’s game. I’d be surprised if the new DJ Khaled set (featuring the biggest radio single of his career so far) didn’t start at the top of the charts. Albums by 311 and 3 Doors Down should perform well, and you can never count out the “Kidz Bop” series. Check out this week’s Top 20 after the jump.
1) Red River Blue | Blake Shelton
2) If Not Now, When? | Incubus
3) 21 | Adele
4) Neon | Chris Young
5) 4 | Beyonce
6) All of You | Colbie Caillat
7) My Kinda Party | Jason Aldean
8) Truth Is | Theory of a Deadman
9) Yours Truly | Sublime with Rome
10) When the Sun Goes Down | Selena Gomez & the Scene
11) Hell: The Sequel | Bad Meets Evil
12) Dream with Me | Jackie Evancho
13) Born This Way | Lady GaGa
14) Light of the Sun | Jill Scott
15) Outlaws Like Me | Justin Moore
16) This is Country Music | Brad Paisley
17) Now That’s What I Call Music 38 | Various Artists
18) Finally Famous | Big Sean
19) Sigh No More | Mumford & Sons
20) American Idol: Season 10 (EP) | Scotty McCreery
2 comments
Drew says:
Jul 21, 2011
I’ve watched The Voice, and it seems to me like Blake Shelton is an idiot. That said, I know nothing of his music, so criticism of it is withheld until I accidentally hear it and THEN dismiss it out of hand, as I do most country. 🙂
blerd says:
Jul 21, 2011
I’ve heard him described as an idiot before…crazy like a fox, probably. Playing right into the hands of his audience.