As expected, Luke Bryan’s “Crash My Party” spends a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, as it sells 159,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan (down 70%).
Out of 29 chart-toppers, it’s only the sixth album this year to spend multiple weeks at No. 1. That sum includes two sets that debuted at No. 1 in 2012, but then went on to spend multiple weeks atop the list this year: Taylor Swift’s “Red” and Mumford & Sons’ “Babel.”
“Crash My Party” is also the first country album by a male solo artist to spend multiple weeks atop the list since Lionel Richie’s “Tuskegee” racked up two frames at No. 1 in the spring of 2012.
Luke Bryan Nets No. 1 Album; Katy Perry’s ‘Roar’ Tops Digital Songs
The second-week sum of “Crash My Party” was enough to fend off a challenge from the set that arrives at No. 2: John Mayer’s “Paradise Valley.”
The latter starts with 144,000 and marks Mayer’s fifth consecutive solo studio set to debut in the top two. His last two albums—2012’s “Born and Raised” and 2009’s “Battle Studies”—both entered at No. 1. “Born” blew in with 219,000, while “Battle” headed in with 286,000. In total, all of Mayer’s six studio albums have reached the top 10.
“Paradise Valley” logs Mayer’s smallest start for a studio effort since his debut full-length release: 2001’s “Room for Squares.” The latter launched with 2,000 copies in May of that year, on its way to a No. 8 peak nearly two years later in March 2003.
In brighter news: Mayer’s debut of 144,000 notches the largest sales week for a rock album since June, when Black Sabbath’s “13” debuted at No. 1 with 155,000.
Mayer’s newest album is one of five bows in the top 10 this week, and Nos. 2-5 are all new arrivals as well.
Super R&B trio TGT starts at No. 3 with “Three Kings,” moving 76,000. The three leading singers—Tyrese, Ginuwine and Tank—also hit No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and the R&B Albums chart.
The bow of 76,000 for “Kings” is the largest sales week for any of TGT’s three members since May 2007. That month, Tank’s solo album “Sex Love & Pain” started with 103,000.
Combined, the three members of TGT have notched nine previous top 10 albums on their own. Ginuwine has claimed four top 10s, while Tyrese and Tank have tallied two and three, respectively.
The chart’s third debut this week comes from veteran singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who bows at No. 4 with “Songs From St. Somewhere” (55,000). The new album is his 11th top 10 set, stretching back to 1978’s “Son of a Son of a Sailor” (which peaked at No. 10). The former Billboard writer (he wrote for this publication in 1969 and 1970) didn’t return to the top 10 until 1994’s “Fruitcakes” (No. 5).
Next up on the chart this week is Earl Sweatshirt, who debuts at No. 5 with his first studio effort, “Doris.” The Odd Future member moved 49,000 copies of the set in its first week, which also enables its bow atop the Top Rap Albums chart.
Right behind him on the Rap Albums list is the fifth and final bow in the Billboard 200’s top 10: A$AP Ferg. The member of the A$AP hip-hop collective starts at No. 2 on Rap Albums and No. 9 on the Billboard 200 with his debut set, “Trap Lord” (32,000).
Earlier this year, fellow A$AP Mob crewmember A$AP Rocky debuted at No. 1 on both charts with “Long.Live.A$AP,” selling 139,000 in its first week.
Back in this week’s top 10: Robin Thicke’s former No. 1, “Blurred Lines,” slips two rungs to No. 6 with 46,000 (down 5%).
Thicke was one of a number of performers on Sunday night’s MTV Video Music Awards, and he could see a spike in sales next week. The bulk of any gain felt from the Aug. 25 show will be seen on next week’s charts, after a full week’s worth of sales have been registered, post-show. (This week’s charts reflect the sales week that ended on Sunday night, the day of the awards.)
The “Now 47” compilation falls 3-7 with 33,000 (down 36%) while the “Teen Beach Movie” soundtrack slips 7-8 with nearly 32,000 (down 2%). The album has spent six weeks in the top 10, tying “Les Misérables” and “Pitch Perfect” as the soundtracks with the most weeks in the top 10 this year.
Closing out the top 10 on the Billboard 200 this week is Jay Z’s “Magna Carta . . . Holy Grail,” which descends 6-10 with 30,000 (down 21%).
Over on the Digital Songs chart, Katy Perry’s “Roar” keeps holding firm at No. 1, selling another 392,000 downloads in its second week (down 30%).
Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” (featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams) is steady at No. 2 with 251,000 (down 14%), while Avicii’s breakout hit “Wake Me Up!” climbs 7-3 with 175,000 (up 27%).
Jay Z’s “Holy Grail,” featuring Justin Timberlake, remains at No. 4 (171,000; down 4%), and Lady Gaga’s “Applause” slips 3-5 with 163,000 (down 25% in its second week).
Lorde’s “Royals” makes a swift 10-6 jump with 145,000 sold (up 35%). The song is currently in its third week at No. 1 on the Alternative airplay chart and also jumps 39-27 on the Pop Songs airplay tally (known as Mainstream Top 40 on Billboard.biz).
Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop” descends 6-7 with 143,000 (down 3%), and Lana Del Rey & Cedric Gervais’ “Summertime Sadness” scoots 9-8 with 132,000 (up 12%).
Luke Bryan’s “That’s My Kind of Night” retreats 5-9 with 125,000 (down 24%), and Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” slips 8-10 with 115,000 (down 4%).
Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending Aug. 25) totaled 4.9 million units, down 4% compared with the sum last week (5.1 million) and down 3% compared with the comparable sales week of 2012 (5 million). Year-to-date album sales stand at 181 million, down 6% compared with the same total at this point last year (192.5 million).
Digital track sales this past week totaled 22.1 million downloads, down 4% compared with last week (23.1 million) and down 6% stacked next to the comparable week of 2012 (23.5 million). Year-to-date track sales are at 865.4 million, down 3% compared with the same total at this point last year (893.7 million).
Next week’s Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2012 when: TobyMac’s “Eye on It” debuted at No. 1 with 69,000 and Slaughterhouse’s “Welcome To: Our House” bowed at No. 2 with 52,000.