A quick look at the most notable jumps and drops on this week’s Billboard 200 albums and Hot 100 singles charts.
The Billboard 200
— Kenny Chesney: The country king took home his sixth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 as “Hemingway’s Whiskey” arrived in the top slot with 183,000 sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That’s up a little over the 176,000 that greeted his last studio set in 2008, “Lucky Old Sun,” when it started at No. 1. Chesney’s set was one of four debuts in the top 10 this week.
But let’s take a look at the rest of the chart’s movers and shakers…
— AC/DC: Weirdly, just five albums earned jumps of at least 10 positions or more this week, thanks to a large number of debuts that push many sets backwards down the list. AC/DC’s companion album to “Iron Man 2” has the largest leap on the tally, moving 51 spots from No. 121 to No. 70. The film’s DVD arrived in stores last week, sparking the album’s 96% sales increase (7,000 sold total for the week).
— David Bowie: The legend re-enters at No. 142 with a reissue of his “Station to Station” album (3,000). (Surprisingly, it’s his highest charting album ever — No. 3 for two weeks in 1976). It was available in either a special edition ($35) or deluxe package ($165). Each came with an unreleased (but often bootlegged) 1976 live concert at Nassau Coliseum in New York.
— Rob Zombie: Just in time for Halloween gift-giving, a deluxe reissue of the his “Hellbilly Deluxe 2” album last week (with three new songs, plus a bonus DVD) jolts the set with a 343% gain, scaring up its re-entry at No. 169.
— Serj Tankian: The System of a Down star takes the biggest fall this week as his “Imperfect Harmonies” collapses 141 rungs from No. 35 to No. 176 in its second stanza on the chart. It arrived last week with 10,000 but drops to 3,000 with a 72% decline in sales. It’s one of four albums that descend at least 100 rungs this week. The others: Twiztid’s “Heartbroken & Homicidal” (29-159, down 130), Luis Miguel’s “Luis Miguel” (69-194, down 125) and Black Country Communion’s “Black Country Communion” (54-179, down 125).
The Billboard Hot 100
— Bruno Mars: The singer stands tall at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a third consecutive week with “Just the Way You Are,” maintaining his perch despite being knocked out of the upper rung of Hot Digital Songs, where it shifts 178,000 downloads (down 6%), according to Nielsen SoundScan, to fall to No. 2
— Far*East Movement: The act’s “Like a G6” is the new Hot Digital Songs champ with 216,000 downloads (up 20%). With that No. 1 sales ranking, the four-man act from Los Angeles becomes the first multi-member group to top the sales tally with its initial chart appearance since Hinder led the list with “Lips Of An Angel” four years ago this month. “Like a G6,” which features Cataracs & Dev, jets 6-2 on the Hot 100 and earns the Airplay Gainer honor with an improvement of 17.3 million listener impressions (up 30%, to 75.8 million), according to Nielsen BDS.
— Neon Trees: The band’s “Animal” becomes the first song to top the Alternative chart and reach the top 20 of the Hot 100 since Linkin Park’s “New Divide” in June 2009. Driving the song’s climb is pop radio airplay (19-15 on Mainstream Top 40) and that format’s download sales effect as the title posts its best sales week yet with 53,000.
— Glee Cast: As mentioned earlier in the week, the “Glee” Cast sets a notable Hot 100 chart record as the ensemble debuts an additional six songs on the chart from its Britney Spears-inspired episode, led by the troupe’s rendition of “Toxic” at No. 16. That song sells 109,000 to start at No. 9 on Digital Songs while the half-dozen entries sell a cumulative 406,000, down from the 409,000 shifted by last week’s five new entries.
— Paramore: Profiting from the “Glee” effect is Paramore’s “The Only Exception,” the only non-Britney Spears song performed on the Sept. 28 episode. While the cast’s cover of the song moves 89,000 and debuts at No. 26 on the Hot 100, Paramore’s original sells 71,000 (up 176%), a one-week high for the track as it rebounds 57-25 as the Digital Gainer honoree. The song’s previous best download frame was on the chart dated Aug. 28 (49,000) when it reached its Hot 100 peak at No. 24.
— Lil Wayne: The rapper also makes multiple debuts on the Hot 100 with four new tracks from his No. 2-debuting album “I Am Not A Human Being.” Leading the charge is the non-pleasantly titled “Gonorrhea” at No. 17, which opens at No. 10 on Digital Songs with 107,000.
— Ready Set: The stint as MTV’s PUSH artist for the week of Sept. 27 results in the one man act’s best-ever download frame (46,000, up 38%) and a jump of 56-38 on the Hot 100. The song is scoring at pop radio, moving 27-26 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart with a 10% gain is plays.
