Chris Brown’s eponymous debut was edged out of the No. 1 spot on The Billboard 200 this week by a stronger finish from “NOW! That’s What I Call Music 20.” The popular compilation album from Sony BMG/Zomba/EMI/UME returns to the top spot in its fifth week on the chart with sales of 158,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Despite its leading position on the chart, sales of “NOW!” were down 45% from the previous week, when it ranked third behind albums by System Of A Down and Kenny Chesney. With the exception of the debuts by Brown and Shakira, all albums in the top 10 experienced a drop in sales.
With the holiday shopping season in full swing, CD sales were down 9% from the previous week at 15.5 million units, 10% off of the same week a year ago. At 525 million units, sales in 2005 lag behind 2004 by 13%.
Brown’s self-titled Jive/Zomba effort, which features the hit single “Run It!,” sold 154,000, good enough for a No. 2 start on The Billboard 200 and a No. 1 berth on the Top Hip-Hop/R&B Albums chart. Brown was among the celebrities on hand to present an award last night (Nov. 6) at the 2005 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas.
Carrie Underwood’s Arista debut, “Some Hearts,” rebounded 7-3 despite an 18% slip in sales to 154,000. Chesney’s “The Road and the Radio” (BNA) dropped 2-4 with 138,000 copies (-55%).
The top 10’s second debut, Shakira’s English-language “Oral Fixation Vol. 2” (Epic) bowed at No. 5 with 128,000. The set arrived just six months after the Spanish-language “Fijacion Oral Vol. 1,” which entered at No. 4 with 157,000.
Sales of 116,000 (-35%) resulted in an 8-6 climb for Enya’s “Amarantine” (Warner Bros.), while Mariah Carey’s “The Emancipation Of Mimi” (Island) slid 6-7 with 110,000 units (-46%). Madonna’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor” (Warner Bros.) dipped 4-8 with 105,000 (-50%).
Nickelback re-entered the top 10 with an 11-9 move for its Roadrunner release “All the Right Reasons,” which sold 105,000 (-16%). After becoming System Of A Down’s second chart topper of the year a week ago, the group’s “Hypnotize” slid to No. 10 on a 68% fall to 102,000 copies.
Elsewhere in the top half of the chart, INXS’ “Switch” (Epic) took the No. 17 spot. It’s the group’s first album without late founding member Michael Hutchence, who was replaced by JD Fortune, the winner of the summer reality show “Rock Star: INXS.”
Dave Matthews Band debuted at No. 37 with the live album “Weekend on the Rocks” (RCA), while the Darkness returned with its second Atlantic album, “One Way Ticket to Hell… and Back,” at No. 58.
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