Chart Stalker 6/9/11: Gaga Tumbles, Death Cab Debuts Big

So maybe my headline is a little misleading. After all, Lady Gaga’s Born This Way hangs on for a second week at the top of the Billboard album charts. However, after scoring a million + sales week, the pop star’s latest record suffers a steeper-than-normal 84% drop and scans a relatively pedestrian 174,000 units in week two. While the drop is slightly alarming, it was inevitable without the benefit of a promotion like Amazon’s 99 cent gambit. Regardless of anything, though, Born This Way has been out for two weeks and it’s already the year’s second best selling album. Can’t consider that a failure or a disappointment under any circumstances, although I do wonder how Universal Music is going to keep the album alive since it seems like they’ve already shot their wad, promotionally speaking.

Indie pop outfit Death Cab for Cutie scores the week’s highest debut with their latest album, Codes and Keys. It gets off to a respectable #3 start with 102,000 units sold. It’s a bit off from the band’s last two albums, but one of the better starts for a rock album in 2011, anyway. They’re joined by three other albums in the Top 10: Eddie Vedder’s sophomore solo effort starts at #4, My Morning Jacket’s Circuital gives the band a new career-high chart peak with a #5 placing, and rockers Flogging Molly start at #9 with Speed of Darkness.

Also have to give a shout out to Jordan Knight, who has two albums in the Top 50 this week. His latest solo effort, Unfinished, gets off to a respectable start at #48. It’s his highest solo chart placement since his debut album back in 1999. Good call to release the album in the midst of the NKOTBSB tour. The collaboration album released by the two boy bands slides to #22 this week.

Online deals are the impetus for most of the jumps on the chart this week. with older albums like Ozzy Osbourne’s Blizzard of Ozz and Maroon 5’s It Won’t Be Soon Before Long scoring huge increases due to special pricing. Without any big releases on the chart next week, look for a sleepier-than-usual Top 200. Country superstar Ronnie Dunn will likely have the week’s highest debut with his first solo album, perhaps even challenging Lady Gaga and Adele for the chart’s top spot.

Meanwhile, over on the digital downloads chart, Adele holds at #1 with “Rolling in the Deep”, which has scored a pretty impressive (and unusual) chart feat, appearing on not only the regular pop singles chart, but also placing on the adult contemporary, rock and R&B charts. The last song to do that was Cee-Lo Green’s “Fuck You” last year. Truly a multi-format phenomenon. She’s challenged on the digital chart, though, by two songs that look to compete for the title of Song of the Summer: Pitbull’s “Give Me Everything” and LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem”. Lil Wayne’s acoustic guitar-led “How to Love” sprints from 52-5 this week, and the highest debut belongs to Coldplay, whose “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall” starts at #17 with only three days of sales.

Check out the entire Top 20 albums chart after the jump.


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Chart Stalker 6/9/11: Gaga Tumbles, Death Cab Debuts Big

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