The top three on the Billboard 200 chart this week are all debuts, with 3 Doors Down opening at No. 1 while Bun B and Julianne Hough check in at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively … “American Idol” winner David Cook is all over the Hot Digital Songs chart as he scores 14 simultaneous debuts on the tally … “Idol” also makes waves on the Billboard 200 as the show’s guest stars notch big gains … The annual Academy of Country Music Awards show, broadcast May 18, causes a stir on the big chart too … We’ve also got news on Donna Summer’s return to the charts, the Green Day offshoot Foxboro Hottubs, a zippy rise for hip-hop act Flobots and Sugarland’s splashy entrance on the Hot Country Songs chart.
FLASH POINTS
• 3 Doors Down crowns the top of the Billboard 200 for a second time in their career as their self-titled set bows at No. 1 with 154,000. It follows the band’s 2005 album “Seventeen Days,” which also started in the penthouse. “Days” began with 231,000. All four of the act’s full-length studio sets have reached the top 10, beginning with “The Better Life” in 2000, which peaked at No. 7. Second effort “Away From the Sun” debuted and peaked at No. 8 in 2002. Collectively, the act’s releases have sold 11.4 million in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. (That figure also includes sales of 2003 EP “Another 700 Miles,” which has shifted 772,000.)
• All eyes were focused on “American Idol” winner David Cook this week … and he made a big splash on the Hot Digital Songs chart. (See Progress Reports, below.)
• Back on the Billboard 200, all of the titles in the top three are debuts. Rapper Bun B takes the runner-up slot with “II Trill” moving 98,000, and “Dancing With the Stars” dancer-turned-country singer Julianne Hough arrives in third with her self-titled set (67,000) … Bun B’s last album, appropriately titled “Trill,” debuted and peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 in 2005 with an opening sales frame of 118,000. On the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, “II Trill” lands at No. 1, while on Top Country Albums, Hough plants the flag at No. 1 … The latter’s album is led by the hit single “That Song in My Head,” which rises 32-29 on the Hot Country Songs chart this week.
• Last week’s Billboard 200 topper, Death Cab for Cutie’s “Narrow Stairs,” slips to No. 5 with 53,000 (down 63%) … Suddenly red-hot Jesse McCartney gets a career reboot as his third studio album, “Departure,” starts at No. 14 on the Billboard 200 with 30,000. His first two releases both peaked at No. 15 in 2005 and 2006, respectively. The new album was preceded by the single “Leavin’,” which recently became his first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 … As a songwriter, McCartney earned a No. 1 this year on the Hot 100 as a co-writer of Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love.”
• Making a big leap up the chart is Flobots’ “Fight With Tools,” as it rises from No. 183 to No. 15, selling 30,000 (up 698%). The once independently distributed album was picked up by Universal Republic and rereleased last week. The hip-hop act’s single “Handlebars” recently spent three weeks at No. 3 on the Modern Rock chart.
• Donna Summer returns at No. 17 on the Billboard 200 with “Crayons” (23,000), her first studio album since 1991’s “Mistaken Identity.” “Crayons” marks the legendary diva’s highest-charting album since “She Works Hard for the Money” peaked at No. 9 in 1983. Summer was one of the many guest stars on the “American Idol” finale special last week (May 21). Other acts featured on the show that gain on the Billboard 200 this week include Carrie Underwood (24-16, up 58%), OneRepublic (88-24, up 107%), Jonas Brothers (51-47, up 6%) and George Michael (a re-entry at No. 98 with the hits set “TwentyFive,” up 192%).
• One act that definitely was not on the “Idol” finale was the Green Day side-project Foxboro Hottubs. The band’s debut, “Stop, Drop and Roll,” enters at No. 21 on the Billboard 200 with 19,000 … “Idol” wasn’t the only TV show last week to cause spikes on the chart this week, as the Academy of Country Music Awards, broadcast Sunday, May 18, also stirs some chart action. Some of the winners that draw applause on the chart include the aforementioned Underwood (who took home the female vocalist trophy), new female vocalist Taylor Swift (11-12, but up 10%), two-time winner Sugarland (67-25, up 72%), entertainer of the year Kenny Chesney (47-30, up 33%) and surprise album of the year winner Miranda Lambert (94-49, up 52%).
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The Billboard 200 Sales data provided and compiled from Nielsen SoundScan |
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| *1 | New | 3 DOORS DOWN 3 Doors Down (Universal Republic / UMRG) | 11 | 3 | JASON MRAZ We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. (Atlantic / AG) |
| *2 | New | BUN-B II Trill (J Prince / Rap-A-Lot 4 Life / Asylum) | *12 | 11 | TAYLOR SWIFT Taylor Swift (Big Machine ) |
| *3 | New | JULIANNE HOUGH Julianne Hough (Mercury Nashville ) | 13 | 9 | TOBY KEITH 35 Biggest Hits (Show Dog Nashville / UMe) |
| 4 | 2 | FRANK SINATRA Nothing But The Best (Reprise / Warner Bros.) | *14 | New | JESSE MCCARTNEY Departure (Hollywood ) |
| 5 | 1 | DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE Narrow Stairs (Barsuk / Atlantic / AG) | *15 | 183 | FLOBOTS Fight With Tools (Universal Republic / UMRG) |
| 6 | 5 | LEONA LEWIS Spirit (SYCO / J / RMG) | *16 | 24 | CARRIE UNDERWOOD Carnival Ride (Arista / Arista Nashville / RMG/SBN) |
| 7 | 6 | MARIAH CAREY E=MC2 (Island / IDJMG) | *17 | New | DONNA SUMMER Crayons (Burgundy / Sony BMG) |
| 8 | 4 | DUFFY Rockferry (Mercury / IDJMG) | 18 | 13 | VARIOUS ARTISTS NOW 27 (Sony BMG / EMI / Universal / Zomba / Sony BMG Strategic Marketing Group) |
| 9 | 8 | MADONNA Hard Candy (Warner Bros. ) | *19 | 23 | JORDIN SPARKS Jordin Sparks (19 / Jive / Zomba) |
| 10 | 7 | NEIL DIAMOND Home Before Dark (Columbia / Sony Music) | *20 | 30 | DAUGHTRY Daughtry (RCA / RMG) |
| * indicates titles with greatest sales gains this week | |||||
MARKET WATCH
• Album units, current chart week: 7.2 million units
• DOWN 3.1% from last issue’s charts: 7.43 million units
• DOWN 13.3% from same week, 2007: 8.31 million units
• This week: Only the No. 1 album sells more than 100,000 copies.
• This week last year on the Billboard 200: Four albums debuted within the top five of the chart, led by Maroon 5’s “It Won’t Be Soon Before Long” at No. 1 with 429,000. New sets from Ozzy Osbourne, Young Jeezy and U.S.D.A., and the Used also arrived at Nos. 3, 4 and 5, respectively. The top three albums sold more than 100,000.
BORDERLINES
• The No. 1 album this week, 3 Doors Down’s “3 Doors Down” (Universal Republic/UMRG), sold 154,000.
• The No. 1 album for the same week of 2007, Maroon 5’s “It Won’t Be Soon Before Long” (A&M/Octone), sold sold 429,000.
• Average total of the No. 1 album for the same week of the year during the past 10 years (1999-2008): 519,009.
PROGRESS REPORTS
• “American Idol” winner David Cook places 14 debuts on the Hot Digital Songs chart — with “The Time of My Life” coming in at No. 1 with 236,000 downloads sold. Collectively, his 14 titles moved a combined 888,000 during the tracking week that ended Sunday, May 21 … Cook owns three of the top 10 on Hot Digital Songs. “Life” is tops, followed by “Dream Big” at No. 7 (111,000) and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” at No. 9 (98,000).
• Sugarland achieves the second-highest debut on Hot Country Songs this year as the duo’s single “All I Want to Do” enters at No. 27. Only George Strait’s “I Saw God Today,” came in higher, at No. 18 … Sugarland’s bow is also the best arrival for a duo or group since Rascal Flatts’ “Take Me There” started at No. 24 in July 2007. “All I Want to Do” previews the duo’s third album, “Love on the Inside,” due July 22.
• Kid Rock earns his fourth entry on the CHR/Mainstream Top 40 radio airplay chart as “All Summer Long” bows at No. 38. He hasn’t visited the chart since May 2003 when “Picture” concluded its 26-week run on the tally … “All Summer Long” also mounts a No. 38 debut on the Alternative/Modern Rock chart. It’s his eighth title to chart on the list, though he’s only scored one top 10 hit — “Cowboy” in 1999, which reached No. 5.
A LOOK AHEAD
• Among the titles released this week, due on next week’s charts: Usher’s “Here I Stand,” Wisin y Yandel’s “Los Extraterrestres: Otra Dimension,” Andy Griggs’ “The Good Life,” Underoath’s “Survive, Kaleidoscope,” Cyndi Lauper’s “Bring Ya to the Brink,” Al Green’s “Lay It Down” and the soundtrack to the “Sex and the City” movie, featuring music from Fergie, India.Arie and the film’s Jennifer Hudson.
• Next week’s Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2007 when: R. Kelly bowed at No. 1 with “Double Up,” shifting 386,000. The previous week’s No. 1, Maroon 5’s “It Won’t Be Soon Before Long,” slipped to the runner-up slot with 172,000 (down 60%). The second and final debut in the top 10 was Jason Aldean’s “Relentless” (No. 4 with 98,000). Each of the top three albums sold more than 100,000.