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Eagles Beat Out Britney for Top Spot

Comeback discs from The Eagles and Britney Spears boosted album sales over 10% from last week, but the total still lagged a good 13% behind last year’s numbers from the same time period.  Point being, other than the 711,000 Walmart shoppers who ponied up for Long Road Out of Eden, and the 290,000 copies of Blackout that Chris Crocker is hoarding, people still couldn’t give a crap about buying music.  Yet somehow, some way, Nickelback remains at #21 in its 109th week.  Wild.

See the top 10 after the jump.

Springsteen's Magic Back at #1

Apparently the whole country blew its pocket money on that Transformers DVD, since while that crapfest managed to move a record-breaking 8.3 million copies, not a single album manage to crack 100,000.  That's the bad news.  The good news is Bruce Springsteen managed to nudged out the waffle house brawler Kid Rock, and regain the top spot on the charts.  See the full top ten after the jump.

Kid Rock Earns First Billboard #1

Despite a 60% or so drop-off from his commercial peak on the 450,000-selling The History of Rock, Kid Rock earned his first chart-topper with Rock N Roll Jesus, moving 170,000 units to oust Bruce Springsteen's Magic from the top spot.  Springsteen's much-heralded return to the big rock sound of his 70's heyday sold 130,000 copies in its second week to finish runner-up.

Only Leanne Rimes and Sara Evans shook things up a bit in the top 10, with number four and eight bows respectively.  Elsewhere it was the same mix of more mainstream country, kiddie pop, corporate rock, Starbucks music and self-important rap - just with even less albums crossing registers.  Yikes.  Check out the full top 10 after the jump.

Springsteen Works His Magic on Billboard

Bruce Springsteen asked his fans "Is There Anybody Alive Out There?" on "Radio Nowhere."  The results are in and the answer is "hell yes."  His latest LP, Magic, dominated the charts this week with sales of 335,000, earning him his 8th #1.  The total nearly doubled that of the closest competition - Rascal Flatt's Still Feels Good, which held down the the top spot last week.  Though Springsteen's number was well off the 525,000 units The Rising moved five years ago, much of that could be chalked up to curiosity following the 14 year layoff for his E Street, and the powerful 9/11-centric themes addressed.  This week, though, proves that after over 35 years in the business, Springsteen is as commerically (and critcally) vital as ever, a claim few, if any of his aging rock star colleagues can make.  (Seriously, how many of you actually bought the last Stones disc?  Let's see those hands.  Anybody?)  Bottom line: Bruce is 58 years old and still The Boss. 

This week's top 10:

1. Bruce Springsteen - Magic (335,000)
2. Rascal Flatts - Still Feels Good (168,000)
3. Matchbox Twenty - Exile on Mainstream (131,000)
4. Soulja Boy - souljaboytellem.com (117,000)
5. J Holiday - Back of My 'Lac (105,000)
6. Keyshia Cole - Just Like You (94,000)
7. Kanye West - Graduation (92,000)
8. Reba McEntire - Reba Duets (80,000)
9. Annie Lennox - Songs of Mass Destruction (78,000)
10. High School Musical 2 (77,000)

Another Debut-Heavy Week on Billboard

New blood dominated the charts again this week on Billboard, with 11 new releases finishing in the top 20.  At the top, predictably, was the latest from Rascal Flatts, Still Feels Good, moving an impressive 547,000 units.  Further down we saw big debuts from Foo Fighters, Jill Scott, and a bunch of others we’d prefer not mentioning. 

Despite all the debuts, sales were still down 8.5% from the same week last year (though up 9.2% from last week), but with new tunes from Springsteen already in stores and charting well, plus Jay-Z not far behind, maybe the old schoolers (the pre iPod crowd) can still shake some life into the charts.   

One final happy note - Sam Beam’s latest Iron and Wine disc, the lovely The Shepherd’s Dog, made a very nice debut at #24, selling 32,000 copies.  In celebration, we’ll be growing out our own Santa Claus beards at the SS offices, which should catch up with Beam just in time for his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.

This week’s top 10:

1. Rascall Flatts – Still Feels Good (547,000)
2. Keyshia Cole – Just Like You (281,000)
3. Foo Fighters – Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (168,000)
4. Jill Scott - The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3 (148,000)
5. Kanye West – Graduation (133,000)
6. Reba McEntire – Reba Duets (130,000)
7. High School Musical 2 (85,000)
8. Jagged Edge – Baby Makin’ Project (78,000)
9. 50 Cent – Curtis (71,000)
10. Kenny Chesney - Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates (68,000)

Debuts Dominate This Week on Billboard

Not surprisingly, the post-hype fallout from Kanye v. Fifty was severe this week on Billboard, with sales for each hip hop heavyweight dropping like a shell casing from your semi-automatic. Kanye West's Graduation dropped to No. 2 with 226,000, a sales slide of 76% while 50 Cent's Curtis has a nearly identical free-fall, slipping 2-3 with 143,000 (-79%).  So with these two out of the way, who did the kids turn their attention to?  Reba McEntire of course.

The oh-so-creatively named duet disc, Reba Duets, sold 301,000 copies to give the country star her first ever number one, a feat no doubt buoyed by guest turns from such mainstream stars as Rascal Flatts, Faith Hill, Kenny Chesney, Justin Timberlake and Kelly Clarkson.

Elsewhere in the top ten we saw another big debut from the puzzlingly resurgent Barry Manilow (no. 4, 113,000), while James Blunt followed up his 2005 U.S. debut smash with the number seven debut of sophomore disc All the Lost Souls (92,000).

All told, 31 new artists entered the Billboard 200 this week, with the more SS-friendly fare popping up a little further down the list.  Read on for this week’s top 10, and other notable debuts.

This week’s top 10:

1. Reba McEntire – Reba Duets (301,000)
2. Kanye West – Graduation (226,000)
3. 50 Cent – Curtis (143,000)
4. Barry Manilow – The Greatest Songs of the Seventies (113,000)
5. Kenny Chesney – Just Who I Am: Pirates & Poets (112,000)
6. High School Musical 2 (99,000)
7. James Blunt – All the Lost Souls (92,000)
8. Chamillionaire - Ultimate Victory (79,000)
9. KT Tunstall – Drastic Fantastic (50,000)
10. Twista - Adrenaline Rush 2007 (41,000)

Other notable debuts:

11. Eddie Vedder – Into the Wild soundtrack (39,000)
16. Motion City Soundtrack – Even If It Kills Me (33,000)
20. Dropkick Murphys – The Meanest of Times (28,000)
26. Mark Knopfler – Kill to Get Crimson (23,000)

Kanye Takes Down Fifty in an Otherwise Lackluster Week

Wow - Despite all the hype surrounding Kanye and Fifty, despite all the press they squeezed out of their "beef," despite all the albums (almost 1.6 million) this manufactured rivalry managed to push across registers over the last week, album sales were still down 9% from the same week last year.  Yeesh.

As previously reported, Kanye's Graduation handily defeated 50 Cent's Curtis, 957,000 - 691,000, to finish in the top two positions.  Kenny Chesney finished a distant but solid third with 387,000 copies moved, followed by all that same kiddie crap we bitched about last week. 

This week's top 10:

1. Kanye West - Graduation (957,000)
2. 50 Cent - Curtis (691,000)
3. Kenny Chesney - Just Who I Am: Poets and Pirates (387,000)
4. High School Musical 2 (133,000)
5. Hannah Montana 2 (42,000)
6. Fergie - The Dutchess (41,000)
7. Nickelback - All the Right Reasons (35,000)
8. Colbie Caillat - Coco (32,000)
9. NOW 25 (32,000)
10. Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds (31,000)

Kanye KOs 50 Cent in Huge Sales Week

The numbers are in:

Kanye West: 957,000
50 Cent: 691,000

Kanye's total marks the highest sales week on Billboard since, ironically enough, 50 Cent's The Massacre sold 1.1 million in 2005.

Check back later for a full chart recap. 

Chart Watch - The Calm Before the Storm

It was a quiet week for new releases, so we won't get too up in arms about High School Musical 2's 4th consecutive week on top.  In fact based on the latest reports, Kanye, 50 and Kenny Chesney have already moved enough units since yesterday to supplant Zack Efron and co. on Billboard. The rest of the top ten, though, was on par with last week's crap-fest.    Not to beat a dead horse, but freakin' NICKLEBACK sold 36,000 copies, now almost two years after it released All The Right Reasons!  Sigh...will Ani DiFranco, Black Francis and Animal Collective move than many in their collective first week? 

This week's top 10:

1. High School Musical 2 soundtrack (165,000)
2. Fergie - The Dutchess (49,000)
3. Miley Cyrus - Hannah Montana 2 (47,000)
4. Casting Crowns - The Altar and the Door (41,000)
5. Chiados - Bone Palace Ballet (39,000)
6. Hairspray soundtrack (39,000)
7. NOW 25 - (38,000)
8. Nickleback - All the Right Reasons (36,000)
9. Amy Winehoues - Back to Black (29,000)
10. Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight (28,000)

Album sales this week are down 3.8% compared to last week with 7.35 million units moved, and down 22.7% from same week last year.

Chart Watch - Ben Harper is Lone Bright Spot in Kid-Pop Dominated Week

Behold the worst week in recent Billboard chart memory!  Sure, sales weren't extra low (of course they were still down 4.9% from the same week last year), but the albums that did make an impact ranged from kitschy soundtracks, to kid pop, to bland Christian rock to TV soundtracks to, well, Fergie.  Yikes.  Springsteen's new disc can't come fast enough...

This week's top 10:

1. High School Musical 2 soundtrack (210,000)
2. Casting Crowns - The Altar and the Door (129,000)
3. Yung Joc - Hustlenomics (69,000)
4. Miley Cyrus - Hannah Montana 2 (58,000)
5. Fergie - The Dutchess (51,000)
6. Hairspray soundtrack (45,000)
7. NOW 25 - (44,000)
8. Atreyu - Lead Sails Paper Anchor (43,000)
9. Ben Harper - Lifeline (41,000)
10. Nickleback - All the Right Reasons (far too many)

Folks, it's so bad that Nickleback is still in the top 10 after 100 weeks!!!  Only Ben Harper's Lifeline managed to inject any artistic credibility into the upper echelon of the charts, but Aesop Rock did managed to just sneak into the top 50 with 13,000 copies moved.  Again - yikes.