Dave Grohl, for me, has always been one of the most likeable guys in rock. There are no “Grohl is a tool” stories (that I’m aware of)-he looks and acts like a fairly normal guy, and I think he holds the same appeal for most other music fans. Which is why I, like so many other music fans, am extremely psyched that the Foo Fighters score their first #1 album EVER with Wasting Light‘s entry this week. 16 years after […]
Chart Stalker: It’s Britney (Again), Bitch!
This week’s Billboard album chart features 5 new albums in the Top Ten, led by Britney Spears. Her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale, opens at the top spot with 276,000 copies sold. On the good side, that represents the second highest first week number of the year so far (narrowly edging out last week’s Chris Brown total). Also on the good side, it’s Britney’s sixth number one album (out of seven releases). On the bad side, it’s the lowest first […]
The New Improved Blerd Radio: Now with No Echo!
Not only has Jesse been a great addition to the Popblerd! staff, he’s also helped me revitalize the somewhat dormant Blerd Radio! (translation: I was a little too lazy to keep doing these myself.) Our first record was recorded last week, but fell victim to some serious audio issues; namely the fact that everything I said echoed. With audio issues fixed, we forged on ahead earlier this week and recorded a much more successful episode. Join Jesse and I as […]
Chart Stalker 3/30/11: No Such Thing as Bad Press
What brings me to this particular conclusion? The fact that Chris Brown’s F.A.M.E. debuts atop the Billboard 200 album chart this week with the second biggest first week sales of his career. Not even a full-on temper tantrum on the set of “Good Morning America” after being confronted with questions regarding his arrest for assault could stop over 270,0o0 fans from purchasing his album. Interestingly enough, F.A.M.E.‘s first week number is also higher than the first week number for any […]
New Release Report 3/29/11: 2011? Or 2001?
Two of the last decade’s biggest and most prolific acts release new music today, although I don’t see too many people purchasing both albums. Many of you own Radiohead’s The King of Limbs already. After all, the Grammy-winning British band made the album available for purchase on their site a month or so ago. However, lots of folks owned Radiohead’s last album, In Rainbows, as well before it made it’s official physical debut at the top of 2008. And that […]
Chart Stalker 3/10/11: The British Femmes Have It
Let’s give it up for Adele, folks. Her sophomore album, 21, hangs on for a second week at #1 on the Billboard albums chart, with an impressive tally of 168,000 copies sold. Following last week’s 2011-high first week, it officially brings the British vocalist over the half a million mark and gives her the year’s best selling album after only two weeks in stores. It’s also gotten notice for jumping over the million sold mark in her native England, although […]
Chart Stalker 2/16/10: Now! A Ray of Sunshine
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 […]
Chart Stalker 1/27/11: A Semblance of Order…Temporarily
After Cake took the #1 spot last week by selling practically nothing, the album charts look a bit healthier this week. It took six albums, but The Decemberists have officially broken through to the mainstream, scoring the week’s #1 album with The King is Dead. The indie favorites scan an impressive 94,000 copies of their third major label effort-easily 2011’s best sales week so far. It’s also more than half of the cumulative sales of the band’s last album, Hazards […]
Chart Stalker!: It’s Britney, Bitch!
Welcome to another week of “how low can you go” on the Billboard album charts. Cake’s Showroom of Compassion takes the #1 spot with a paltry 44,000 units sold. It’s the California band’s first chart-topper, and a notable achievement considering their six year absence, however, scoring a #1 album with a number that’s half if not a third the number of the average #1 album is somewhat dubious. Cake scores one of four debuts in this week’s Top 20. Kentucky […]
Chart Stalker 11/3/10: Taylor to the Rescue!!
So much for me and my prognostication skills. When Taylor Swift’s “Speak Now” album came out last week, I initially pegged the album to do a WAY more than respectable 750,000 copies in it’s first week-coming into close contention with Eminem’s “Recovery” as the biggest debut week in 2010. Well, reports immediately started flying around suggesting that Taylor would come close to the coveted million mark, and now the dust has settled for the week, and Swift scores the biggest […]
Award Show Sundays: Hot Mess Moments at the VMAs
The MTV Video Music Awards is tonight. The show, which has been broadcast since 1984 (although MTV probably doesn’t want you to know that as it would make them seem very old to their target audience) is usually a pretty entertaining watch, although lately it’s been more for the train-wreck factor than for…you know, good music. I will be sitting this year’s broadcast out! Normally, I’d be up in front of the TV with some beer and popcorn live-blogging my […]
How Strong *Is* Christina Aguilera’s “Bionic”?
I was fully expecting “Bionic”, the fourth English-language studio album from Christina Aguilera, to be a disaster. I wasn’t sure how her bombastic vocals and pop sensibility would blend with an intriguing list of collaborators. My suspicions seemed to be confirmed once I heard the fairly generic first single “Not Myself Tonight” and follow-up “Woohoo”, which features the unbelievably annoying Nicki Minaj. There was no way in hell “Bionic” was not gonna be a hot mess. Well, “Bionic” is kind […]