Billboard 200: 5/28/11: Adele No. 1- 156,000

Wow. Hits and Soundscan were soooo close this week.

^Good catch- I was just looking at the percentages. :)

I predicted a rise in album sales for 2011. I'm glad I was correct! =)

I wonder if Gaga's week will be the week year-to-year %s go into the positives.

Pretty amazing that we thought digital sales were peaking last year and now we have a year-to-year 10% gain :)

new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/74365/week-ending-may-15-2011-albums-incredigood/;_ylt=Aqiuuk.Di6mUeujCZXzN3FwPwiUv

Week Ending May 15, 2011. Albums: Incredigood
Posted by Paul Grein in Chart Watch

The Lonely Island's Turtleneck & Chain enters The Billboard 200 at #3, which is the highest ranking for a comedy album since an eponymous album by Flight Of The Conchords debuted and peaked at #3 in April 2008. This is the first top 10 album for the Lonely Island, which consists of Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone. The comedy trio's 2009 debut album Incredibad debuted and peaked at #13. It was the best-selling comedy album of both 2009 and 2010. Turtleneck & Chain is already the best-selling comedy album of 2011, surpassing Daniel Tosh's Happy Thoughts.

Several of the tracks on Turtleneck & Chain have been featured as digital shorts on Saturday Night Live. These include "I Just Had Sex" (featuring Akon), "Motherlover" (featuring Justin Timberlake), "Shy Ronnie 2" (featuring Rihanna), "The Creep" (featuring Nicki Minaj and John Waters) and "Jack Sparrow" (featuring Michael Bolton, who is very funny in the video.)

"Motherlover" and "Shy Ronnie" both received Emmy nominations in the category of Outstanding Music & Lyrics. The Lonely Island won in that category for "Dick In A Box" in 2007.

The Lonely Island has three of the four best-selling comedy tracks in digital history, according to Nielsen SoundScan. "I'm On A Boat" (featuring T-Pain) is #1, with digital sales of 1,557,000. "I Just Had Sex" is #3 (777,000). "Jizz In My Pants" is #4 (569,000). (The only non-Lonely Island track in the top four is "Weird Al" Yankovic's "White & Nerdy" at #2.)

Saturday Night Live first impacted The Billboard 200 in early 1977 when an album of comedy highlights from the show cracked the top 40. Two albums that grew out of SNL routines have reached #1: The Blues Brothers' Briefcase Full Of Blues (in 1979) and the Wayne's World soundtrack (in 1992).

Adele's 21 logs an eighth week at #1. That ties the Beatles' 2000 compilation 1 for the longest run at #1 by a British artist in the past two decades. The last album by a British artist to spend more than eight weeks at #1 was George Michael's Faith, which remained on top for 12 weeks from January to June 1988.

21 is in its 12th week on the chart. It's the first album to rank #1 this deep into its chart run since Taylor Swift's Fearless was #1 in its 16th outing in March 2009. The album is expected to remain at #1 next week, which would give it a ninth week on top. In two weeks, it will yield to Lady Gaga's Born This Way.

21 logs its 15th week at #1 in the U.K. It's the longest run at #1 in that country since the Spice Girls' Spice had 15 weeks on top in 1996-1997. Only one album by a female artist, or by a group or duo with a female lead singer, has logged more than 15 weeks at #1 in the U.K. That's the Carpenters' hit-studded compilation The Singles 1969-1973, which topped the U.K. chart for 17 weeks in 1974.

Christina Perri's first full-length album, lovestrong. opens at #4. (A live, five-song EP, Ocean Way Sessions, debuted and peaked at #144 in November.) The album features Perri's 2 million-seller, "Jar Of Hearts." The ballad has strong Grammy potential for Record and Song of the Year nominations, especially in the wake of Lea Michele's performance of the song on Glee.

The Cars' Move Like This opens at #7. It's the band's first studio album in more than 23 years. The band churned out six studio albums between 1978 and 1987, which was standard in that era, and then took more than two decades to get another album out. The album cover for Move Like This (see top 10 list) echoes the color scheme of the album cover for the band's 2002 album The Cars' Complete Greatest Hits.

Jason Aldean's My Kinda Party jumps from #12 to #10 in its 28th week. The album has been in the top 30 the entire time, though this is just its sixth week in the top 10. The album is #1 on Top Country Albums for the eighth week. That's the longest run by a male solo artist since Kenny Chesney's When The Sun Goes Down spent 14 straight weeks at #1 in early 2004.

Shameless Plug: This week marks 20 years since Billboard began using Nielsen SoundScan's point-of-sale data in compiling The Billboard 200. To commemorate the anniversary, I went through Nielsen SoundScan's running list of the 200 best-selling albums of the past 20 years and selected 20 albums that hold key records. What records do the Beatles' Abbey Road, Taylor Swift's Fearless and OutKast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below hold? You'll find out on Thursday when we post this Chart Watch Extra.

Incidentally, Michael Bolton's Time, Love & Tenderness was #1 in the first week that Nielsen SoundScan data powered The Billboard 200. So it's kind of fitting that Bolton is featured on a key track on a top five album in this anniversary week.

Lady Gaga's "Edge Of Glory" enters Hot Digital Songs at #2, behind Adele's still-growing "Rolling In The Deep." "Edge Of Glory" sold 266K copies in its first week. Where will it debut on the Hot 100? Find out later today when we post Chart Watch: Songs.

Here's the low-down on this week's top 10 albums.

1. Adele, 21, 156,000. The album logs an eighth week at #1. The album sold 60K digital copies, which puts it #1 on Top Digital Albums for the fifth week. Five songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Rolling In The Deep," which holds at #1 for the second week.

2. Various Artists, Now 38, 68,000. The album jumps from #3 to #2 in its second week. It's the first Now volume to move up on the chart in its second week since Now 26 in November 2007. The album debuted at #4 and moved up to #3.

3. The Lonely Island, Turtleneck & Chain, 68,000. This new entry is the comedy trio's first top 10 album. Its 2009 debut album Incredibad peaked at #13. "Jack Sparrow" (featuring Michael Bolton) enters Hot Digital Songs at #5.

4. Christina Perri, lovestrong., 58,000. This new entry is Perri's first full-length album. Three songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Jar Of Hearts," which rebounds from #40 to #26.

5. Tyler, The Creator, Goblin, 45,000. This new entry is the first chart album from the leader of the Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All collective.

6. Beastie Boys, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, 42,000. The album drops from #2 to #6 in its second week. The album has sold 170K copies in its first two weeks.

7. The Cars, Move Like This, 36,000. This new entry is the veteran band's fifth top 10 album. The Cars had four straight top 10 albums from 1979 to 1984. The Boston-based band first charted in July 1978.

8. Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues, 34,000. The album drops from #4 to #8 in its second week. The album has sold 126K copies in its first two weeks.

9. Jennifer Lopez, Love?, 33,000. The album drops from #5 to #9 in its second week. Two songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs. "On The Floor" (featuring Pitbull) drops from #4 to #6. "I'm Into You" (featuring Lil Wayne) drops from #62 to #107.

10. Jason Aldean, My Kinda Party, 29,000. The album jumps from #12 to #10 in its 28th week. This is its sixth week in the top 10. Two songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs. "Dirt Road Anthem" drops from #26 to #30. "Don't You Wanna Stay" (featuring Kelly Clarkson) drops from #67 to #71.

Four albums drop out of the top 10 this week. Stevie Nicks' In Your Dreams falls from #6 to #16, Sade's Ultimate Collection falls from #7 to #30, Musiq Soulchild's musiqinthemagiq plummets from #8 to #44 and Sixx:A.M.'s This Is Gonna Hurt free-falls from #10 to #50.

Justin Bieber's Never Say Never: The Remixes rebounds from #32 to #11 in its 13th week in the wake of the release of the DVD of the movie of the same name...Lemonade Mouth inches up from #14 to #13. It's #1 on Top Soundtracks for the fourth time in the past five weeks.

Raphael Saadiq's Stone Rollin' bows at #14. This is Saadiq's highest-charting album to date, surpassing his 2008 album The Way I See It, which peaked at #19. Saadiq first gained notice as a member of the R&B trio Tony! Toni! Tone! The act's highest-charting album, Sons Of Soul, reached #24 in 1993.

Adele's 19 jumps from #24 to #15. This is the album's highest ranking since just after the Grammys in 2009. This is the 11th time in the past 13 weeks that it has been #1 on the Catalog Albums chart. It yielded for one week each to Elton John's Rocket Man: Number Ones (which was boosted by American Idol) and Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (which was revived by Glee). This is the longest run at #1 on the Catalog Albums chart by a female artist since Enya's Watermark spent 17 weeks at #1 in 1992.

Matthew Morrison's eponymous debut album bows at #24, which is so-so for someone who stars in the one of the hottest music shows on TV. (It opened below Warren Haynes' Man In Motion at #19 and Manchester Orchestra's Simple Math at #21.) Before Morrison became a household name thanks to his Emmy-nominated work on Glee, he was featured on three cast albums that made The Billboard 200: Hairspray (#131 in 2002), The Light In The Piazza (#189 in 2005) and Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific (#59 in 2008).

Country Strong drops from #46 to #60. It's the top-ranking soundtrack to a theatrically-released movie for the 12th week.

Pop Quiz: Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band's 1994 album Greatest Hits tops the 9 million mark in sales this week. Only two greatest hits albums have sold more copies in the last 20 years. Name them. Answer below.

AC/DC's Live At River Plate debuts at #1 on Top Music Videos. The video sold 19K copies, which constitutes the biggest one-week total since Beyonce's I Am...World Tour sold at least that many copies in each of its first five weeks in November and December. This is the biggest splash by a hard rock or metal video since The Big 4: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria by Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax sold 22K in its first week in November.

Live At River Plate, which was filmed in Buenos Aires in December 2009, is AC/DC's fourth video to reach #1 on the Music Videos chart. Family Jewels spent its first five weeks on top in 2005. Plug Me In spent its first two weeks on top in 2007. No Bull: Live From The Plaza de Toros Las Ventas: Madrid Spain, spent its first nine weeks at #1 in 2009.

Thor was #1 at the box-office for the second straight weekend. Yet, the soundtrack has sold just 4K copies in two weeks. Something's wrong here.

Quiz Answer: The only other greatest hits albums (besides Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band's Greatest Hits) to sell 9 million or more copies in the past 20 years are the Beatles' 1, which has sold 11,740,000 copies, and Bob Marley & the Wailers' Legend, which has sold 10,508,000.

Coming Attractions: Seether's Holding Onto Strings Better Left To Fray is expected to be among next week's top new entries. Also due: Tinie Tempah's Disc-overy, Parachute's The Way It Is, New Boyz's Too Cool To Care, Michael Grimm's Michael Grimm, Il Volo's Il Volo, Ben Harper's Give Till It's Gone, John Rich's Rich Rocks.

^We don't want to go there. ;)

SOUNDSCAN (WEEK ENDING 5/15/11)

1) Adele – 21 – 155,966 (After 12 weeks – 1,710,257)
2) Various Artists – Now 38 – 68,368 (After 2 weeks – 192,885)
3) Lonely Island – Turtleneck & Chain – 67,572

Other Debuts
4) Christina Perri – Lovestrong – 58,405
5) Tyler The Creator – Goblin – 45,127
7) Cars – Move Like This – 36,058
14) Raphael Saadiq – Stone Rollin’ – 21,228
23) Matthew Morrison (from Glee) – Matthew Morrison – 16,217

That`s really good for Christina Perry.

Idol albums

Jennifer Hudson, I Remember Me (9,000, -39% 326,000) (#54 Billboard 200)
Mandisa, What If We Were Real (4,000, -22%, 31,000) (#134 BB200)
Carrie Underwood, Play On (2,000, -27%, 1.999 million)
Carrie Underwood, Some Hearts (1,000, -20%, 7.105 million)
Daughtry, Daughtry (1,000, -16%)

Idol-related

Jennifer Lopez, Love? (33,000, -60%, 116,000) (#9 Billboard 200)
Jason Aldean, My Kinda Party (28,000, -1%, 1.176 million) (#10 Billboard 200)
Matthew Morrison, Matthew Morrison (16,000, debut, 16,000) (#24 BB200)
Big Time Rush, BTR (7,000, -6%, 491,000) (#67 BB200)
Journey, Greatest Hits (6,000, -28%, 7.803 million) (#89 BB200)
Aerosmith, Best of Aerosmith: The Millennium Collection (5,000, -12%, 270,000) (#96 BB200)
Aerosmith, Tough Love (5,000, debut, 5,000) (#109 BB200)
Civil Wars, Barton Hollow (4,000, +3%, 90,000) (#118 BB200)
Michael Jackson, Number Ones (4,000, -12%, 4.544 million)



Carrie passes two million next week

My first expectation was 1 million in two weeks and I'm sticking at it.

UKMix:

1 Adele 155,900 1,710,200
2 Various WOW 68,300 192,800
3 Lonely Island 67,500 67,600
4 Christina Perri 58,400 58,500
5 Tyler The Creator 45,100 45,500
6 Beastie Boys 41,700 169,900
7 Cars 36,000 36,300
8 Fleet Foxes 34,200 126,300
9 Jennifer Lopez 33,300 116,300
10 Jason Aldean 28,400 1,175,500

11 Justin Bieber 28,200 581,400
12 Mumford & Sons 28,100 1,437,400
13 Lemomade Mouth 23,400 169,800
14 Raphael Saadiq 21,200 21,500
15 Stevie Nicks 20,400 72,800
16 Foo Fighters 20,000 388,700
17 Bruno Mars 19,800 1,017,300
18 Warren Haynes 18,300 18,500
19 Chris Brown 17,900 552,500
20 Manchester Orchestra 17,500 17,800

21 Katy Perry 16,700 1,467,300
22 Wiz Khalifa 16,300 387,400
23 Matthew Morrison 16,200 16,200
24 Paul Simon 15,800 166,700
25 Taylo Swift 15,400 3,406,400
26 Justin Bieber 15,300 2,758,000
27 P!NK 15,200 742,100
28 Britney Spears 15,100 505,800
29 Sade 14,500 52,200
30 Alson Krauss & Union 13,700 185,700

31 Okkervil River 13,700 13,900
32 Zac Brown Band 13,600 906,500
33 Kirk Franklin 13,000 232,900
34 Rihanna 12,800 1,258,300
35 Glee Cast 12,700 146,500
36 Nicki Minaj 12,600 1,369,000
37 Lady Antebellum 12,100 3,490,300
38 Various 11,900 576,900
39 Black Label Society 11,600 11,900
40 Lady Gaga 11,400 4,169,500

41 Lupe Fiasco 11,200 379,300
42 Musiq Soulchild 10,900 45,700
43 Various 10,700 302,000
44 Colt Ford 10,500 29,600
45 Eminem 10,300 3,852,900

Mumford & Sons are a few weeks away from passing Katy Perry's sales.

Taylor Swift is showing that she miiiight eventually close the gap between Speak Now and Need you Now. The awards season might be what finally does the trick. When that happens, Eminem's "Recovery" will officially become the ONLY album released in the same calendar year as a Taylor Swift album to outsell said Taylor Swift album.

You can't get blood out of a turnip.

8 new releases last week and 6 new releases this week bumped her out of the Top 20.

And sale pricing has ended...