www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/6106239/chart-moves-rem-gets-unplugged-with-18th-top-40-album-billy-joels-russia
Chart Moves: R.E.M. Gets 'Unplugged' With 18th Top 40 Album, Billy Joel's 'Russia' Concert ReturnsMay 30, 2014
This week on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Coldplay secured the largest sales week of the year, as the band's "Ghost Stories" album debuted at No. 1 with 383,000 copies sold in the week ending May 25 (according to Nielsen SoundScan). The No. 2 slot on the chart, meanwhile, saw the arrival of Brantley Gilbert's "Just As I Am" album, which tallied the second-largest week of the year for a country release, bowing with 210,000.
Outside the top two rungs, there were a number of movers and shakers -- let's take a closer look at some of them:
-- Soundtrack, "The Fault In Our Stars" - No. 8 - The multi-artist soundtrack to "The Fault In Our Stars" opens at No. 8 with 34,000, and also No. 2 on the Top Soundtracks chart (behind "Frozen"). "Fault" racks up the largest debut for a theatrical film soundtrack since "Frozen" bowed with 44,000 in the week ending Dec. 1, 2013.
Elsewhere on the Soundtracks Albums chart, we see the soundtrack to the game "Transistor" bow at No. 7 with 2,000 copies, while the eclectic companion album to the film "Chef" enters at No. 12 (a little over 1,000 sold; gaining by 76%) in its third week of release.
-- OneRepublic, "Native" - No. 12 - The band performed on both the Billboard Music Awards (May 18) and the season finale of NBC's "The Voice" (May 20), helping spark a 133% sales gain for the album. It sold 19,000 copies in the week ending May 25 -- the set's best sales week since the week ending Jan. 5 (when it sold 35,000). Its cumulative sales stand at 628,000 -- about 5,000 copies shy of matching the total of the group's last album, 2009's "Waking Up" (633,000).
-- R.E.M., "Unplugged 1991/2001: The Complete Sessions" - No. 21 - The double album collects all of R.E.M.'s MTV "Unplugged" performances from two separate shows (in 1991 and 2001). The package bows at No. 21 with 9,000 sold, marking the band's 26th chart entry and 18th top 40 album.
The album was initially released for Record Store Day on April 19, exclusively on vinyl. It sold just under 1,000 copies in the week ending April 20. Its debut on the Billboard 200 comes courtesy of an expanded release on both CD and digital download.
-- Afrojack, "Forget the World" - No. 32 - The EDM DJ/producer's album enters at No. 32, and features such collaborators as Sting, Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa. The set, which also bows at No. 2 on Dance/Electronic Albums, sold 8,000 in its first week. Two of the album's songs are currently charting on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart: "Ten Feet Tall" (featuring Wrabel) and "Do Or Die" (Afrojack & Thirty Seconds to Mars). They are at Nos. 12 and 33, respectively.
-- Billy Joel, "A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia - The Concert" - No. 59 - The Piano Man's 25th chart entry is an archival set, expanding his 1987 live album "KOHUEPT (Live In Leningrad)." The new album adds 11 previously unreleased songs to the 16-cut original release.
"A Matter of Trust" is Joel's ninth consecutive album of either previously released material, live recordings or archival tracks. He last released a set of new material in 1993, with the studio album "The River of Dreams," which debuted at No. 1 and spent three weeks atop the chart.
-- St. Vincent, "St. Vincent" - No. 61 - The impact of St. Vincent's performance on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" (May 17) continues to be felt as her album soars 108-61 with 5,000 sold (and its best sales frame since the week ending March 16).
-- Original Broadway Cast Recording, "The Bridges of Madison County" - No. 86 - After the cast recording was released on CD on May 20, the album jumps back onto the list with a 390% sales gain (4,000 sold for the week). The album was first released as a download on April 15.
-- Oasis, "Definitely Maybe" - No. 117 - A new expanded deluxe edition of the band's debut album, first released in 1994, returns to the chart at No. 117 with 3,000 sold. The album peaked at No. 58 on the tally in 1995, and has spent 21 weeks on the list. The group followed it up with 10 more chart entries, through 2010, including three top 10 sets.
) first-week, but who knows which one had more legs?