I’ll stand by for a sec and let you try to guess who has this week’s #1 album. Give up? It’s Eminem!! “Recovery” scans another 133,000 units this week and spends it’s 6th non-consecutive week at the top of Billboard’s album chart. “Recovery” also spends it’s 8th consecutive week at the top of Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Album chart. It’s the longest consecutive stay at the top for a rap album in 20 years. Last album to hang around that long? MC […]
Posts tagged "Billboard 200"
Chart Stalker: The Power of Indie
“Indie Rock” is kind of a stupid term. “Indie” technically is shorthand for “independent” (as in not distributed by a major label), but most people see the word “indie” and think “hipster”. This leads to a bit of confusion. I mean, The Mars Volta record for a major label, and technically, Taylor Hicks and Elliott Yamin are “indie”. It should also probably be noted that most indie companies are actually owned by major labels. So we should probably think of […]
Chart Stalker! 8/4/10: Shock! Horror! Eminem is Unseated!
Guess what, folks? For the first time in a month and a half, someone named Eminem does NOT have the week’s #1 album. Hard rock favorites Avenged Sevenfold nab the top spot on the Billboard charts with their new album “Nightmare”. 163,000 folks headed to record stores or their favorite online music outlet to purchase the band’s latest effort, putting them about 3,500 copies ahead of Eminem. “Recovery” holds strong at #2 with 157,000 copies sold. With the premiere of […]
Chart Stalker 7/28/10: Ross Comes Close, But No Cigar
Not even Rick Ross’s big ass chain with his head on it was enough to dislodge Slim Shady from the top of Billboard’s album chart this week. The Miami rapper’s fourth album, “Teflon Don”, scans 176,000 copies, coming just under 10,000 units short of the top spot. Em’s “Recovery” is in week 5 at the top spot, with 187,000 copies sold. In just five weeks, it’s sold 1.7 million copies, thanks to Eminem’s loyal fan base and two huge hit […]
Chart Stalker! 7/14/10: Hip-Hop Saves the Day
So much for saying that rap music is a dying commercial art form. If it wasn’t for hip-hop, this week’s #1 album would have only sold 45,000 units. Rappers manage to take the top three positions on this week’s Billboard album chart, led for a third consecutive week by Eminem. “Recovery” continues to defy expectations, experiencing only a 27% drop in it’s 3rd week and selling a still impressive 229,000 copies. The last album to sell more than 200,000 copies […]
Chart Chat 6/30/10: Eminem’s Comeback Mission Accomplished
Eminem’s “Recovery” scores the biggest first week sales of 2010. So says this week’s Billboard chart. Slim Shady bows with over 741,000 units sold, incredibly marking an increase of over 100,000 units on the first weeks sales of his last album, 2009’s “Relapse”. If you were to compile the year’s top selling albums, “Relapse” would be at #8 after just 6 days in stores. This is interesting on any number of levels. First of all, it’s incredibly rare for an […]
Chart Chat 6/24/10: Thank Drake Now!!
Rapping/singing Canuck Drake slams into the top spot on this week’s Billboard 200 album chart with a vengeance. “Thank Me Later” scores 2010’s biggest week for a debut album, with 447,000 units sold. It’s the third overall biggest week for an album this year, following the first weeks for the latest albums by Lady Antebellum and Sade. A couple more interesting things to note: in just one week, Drake practically equals the entirety of what his introductory EP “So Far […]
Chart Stalker 6/16/10: Aguilera Fail? Lil Jon FAIL!!!!
Please join me in welcoming the “Glee” cast back to the #1 spot on the Billboard album charts. The “Journey to Regionals” EP, which arrived on the same day that the hit show aired it’s season finale, claims the top rung on this week’s Billboard 200 with an impressive 152,000 units sold. It’s the third “Glee”-related album to top the charts in the past eight weeks, which has got to be some kind of record. Right behind it is the […]
Chart Stalker 6/9/10: Jack Johnson Provides a Semblance of Order
One thing I should have mentioned in last week’s column is that it was the lowest week of recorded music sales in the Soundscan era, which goes back almost 20 years. Yes, we know there’s been a downturn in paid consumption of music over the last decade, but this is pretty much rock bottom, I think. Hopefully there’s nowhere to go from here but up. We’d be looking at an even worse week this week if not for Jack Johnson. […]
Chart Stalker 6/3/10: Yawns All Around
So some musical stuff happened last week and no one cared. Want proof? Just look at this week’s Billboard charts. Once upon a time, Stone Temple Pilots were one of America’s hottest rock bands. Their first three albums all sold over a million copies. After lead singer Scott Weiland left the band, he joined the all-star supergroup Velvet Revolver, and THEIR debut album went multi-platinum. After leaving VR, he then rejoined STP. Their latest album came out last week, and…sold […]
Chart Stalker 5/27/10: Exile on My TV
The biggest news on this week’s album chart? A TV show. The second biggest news? A 40-year old album. First things first. “Glee: The Music: Showstoppers” bows atop the Billboard 200 this week, with 136,000 copies sold. It’s the second chart-topper to boast the “Glee” brand in the past 6 weeks. The hit FOX show is now a true phenomenon, with no end in sight. A distant second goes to the reissue of the Rolling Stones’ 39-year old classic “Exile […]