The Album Charts Are Starting To Feel A Little Comfortable

For another week, Lil Wayne and Coldplay make up the album charts’ 1-2 punch, with Tha Carter III taking the top spot (125,000 copies sold) and Coldplay serving as Wayne’s best men (113,000 sold). According to Hits, Nas’ untitled album is set to break this log jam next week, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

Biggest Debuts: Beck’s Modern Guilt became the latest entry on this year’s list of albums with first-week scans that were nearly equivalent to the number of words spilled about them before their release, selling 84,000 copies and debuting at No. 4. Meanwhile, the Abba-saluting soundtrack to Mamma Mia! sold 48,000 and entered the chart at No. 8, while the Willie Nelson/Wynton Marsalis collaboration Two Men With The Blues sold 22,000 copies and entered at No. 20, Willie’s highest Soundscan chart mark yet.

Notable Jumps: In a week where most of the sales tallies went from “off from last week” to “yikes,” Kid Rock’s Rock N’ Roll Jesus, no doubt aided by the no-single strategy for his Zevon-biting hit “All Summer Long,” provided an actual bright spot near the top of the charts; it was up 35% week-to-week, selling 61,000 copies and bumping up to No. 5.

Dropping Off: The latest album from 50 Cent and his remaining G-Unit disciples, Terminate On Sight, was down 66% week-to-week, dropping from No. 4 to No. 9 on sales of 36,000 copies. Ahh, nothing like some 50 Cent sales schadenfreude to brighten up an otherwise crummy week, eh?

Nickelback Award For Inexplicable Durability: Thanks to my being forced to sit through two 3 Doors Down songs pre-Home Run Derby on Tuesday night (as well as a personal desire to stay in a state of semi-denial about the staying power of Katy Bleaty Perry), I’m nominating them for this category. Their latest self-titled album sold 22,000 copies and bumped up its chart position from No. 21 to No. 19, despite taking a 6% week-to-week sales hit, and despite the at-least-memorable “Kryptonite” not being on the new album. I know that mainstream rock and my tastes have at least a little bit of a gulf between them, but man oh man.

The top 20 albums, with sales totals in parentheses: 1. Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III (125,000) 2. Coldplay, Viva La Vida (113,000) 3. Camp Rock soundtrack (88,000) 4. Beck, Modern Guilt (84,000) 5. Kid Rock, Rock N’ Roll Jesus (61,000) 6. Now 28 (48,000) 7. Mamma Mia! soundtrack (48,000) 8. Rihanna, Good Girl Gone Bad (47,000) 9. G-Unit, Terminate On Sight (36,000) 10. John Mayer, Where The Light Is (34,000) 11. Usher, Here I Stand (33,000) 12. Katy Perry, One Of The Boys (32,000) 13. Disturbed, Indestructible (30,000) 14. Taylor Swift (29,000) 15. Leona Lewis, Spirit (27,000) 16. Three 6 Mafia, Last 2 Walk (24,000) 17. Plies, Definition Of Real (24,000) 18. Journey, Revelation (24,000) 19. 3 Doors Down (22,000) 20. Nelson/Marsalis, Two Men With The Blues(22,000)

The top 10 digital albums, with sales totals in parentheses: 1. Beck, Modern Guilt (31,000) 2. Coldplay, Viva La Vida (29,000) 3. John Mayer, Where The Light Is (12,000) 4. Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III (10,000) 5. Camp Rock soundtrack (7,300) 6. Katy Perry, One Of The Boys (6,200) 7. Maroon 5, Live From Le Cabaret (5,900) 8. Nelson/Marsalis, Two Men With The Blues (5,100) 9. Maine, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop (4,800) 10. Mamma Mia! soundtrack (4,600)