Thursday, October 6, 2011

Billboard News : J. Cole Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200, Blink-182 Snags No. 2

Just one week after we saw 85-year old Tony Bennett grab his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart with "Duets II," another artist nets his first No. 1 -- but he's a little younger.

Rapper J. Cole, 26, bows in the No. 1 slot with "Cole World: the Sideline Story," selling 218,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan.

It's the Roc Nation/Columbia artist's first album and marks the first time a solo act's debut effort has entered at No. 1 since May 14, 2010. That week, B.o.B started at No. 1 with "The Adventures of Bobby Ray" with 84,000. Cole's launch is the highest sales week for any act's debut chart effort since Nicki Minaj's "Pink Friday" started with 375,000 at No. 2 on Dec. 11, 2010.



Rock trio Blink-182 returns to the Billboard 200 with its first studio album in nearly eight years as "Neighborhoods" bows at No. 2 with 151,000. The recent Billboard magazine cover stars were last on the chart with "Greatest Hits" in 2005, which debuted and peaked at No. 6 on Nov. 19 with 72,000. Before that, their last studio release, its self-titled 2003 album, bowed and peaked at No. 3 with 313,000 on Dec. 6.

The group's new album's lead single, "Up All Night," peaked at No. 3 on the Alternative Songs chart. This week, it slips a spot to No. 4, after having spent six weeks at No. 3.

Adele's "21" holds at No. 3 with 118,000 (up 1%) while last week's No. 1, Bennett's "Duets II," falls to No. 4 with 91,000 (down 49%). Lady Antebellum's former chart-topper, "Own the Night," slips 2-6 with 75,000 (down 40%).

Wilco's new "The Whole Love" takes a bow at No. 5 with 82,000, marking the fourth top 10 effort for the band. Its last release, "Wilco (The Album)," debuted and peaked at No. 4 off a 99,000 start in 2009. The act's short North American tour launched on Sept. 13 in Indianapolis and will jump over to Europe beginning on Oct. 24.

Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter IV" shifts 5-7 with 68,000 (down 20%) just ahead of Switchfoot, as its eighth studio album, "Vice Verses," bows at No. 8 with 45,000. It's the act's second top 10, following "Nothing Is Sound," which topped out at No. 3 in its opening week in 2005, shifting 131,000 copies. Their last release, 2009's "Hello Hurricane," debuted and peaked at No. 13 with 39,000.

Rock super group Chickenfoot -- Michael Anthony, Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani and Chad Smith -- debuts at No. 9 with "Chickenfoot III" (42,000). It's the act's second album, following its self-titled 2009 set, which debuted and peaked at No. 4 with 52,000.

Rock band Mastodon scores its first top 10 album as "The Hunter" bows at No. 10 with 39,000. Their previous high came with 2009's "Crack the Skye," which just missed the top 10 -- opening and peaking at No. 11 with a 41,000 launch. The act's will support the new album on the road, with a tour launching on Oct. 25 in Austin, Texas.

Just outside the top 10 this week, Pink Floyd's reissue of "Dark Side of the Moon" re-enters at No. 12 with 26,000 sold (up 3,607%). The act re-released 14 of its albums last week and a box set collecting all of the newly refurbished titles. "Dark Side" got the glossiest redux treatment, as it was available in expanded versions dubbed "Experience" and "Immersion." Each came equipped with bonus live tracks and assorted outtakes with the lavish "Immersion" edition carrying a list price of $130.

Another classic No. 1 album, but of a slightly more recent vintage, also makes a big gain this week: Nirvana's "Nevermind" bounds 146-13 with 25,000 (up 647%). The jump is owed to the 1991 album's 20th anniversary reissue packages that dropped last week. One of them, a "super deluxe" 70-track version, charts separately and debuts at No. 131 with 4,000.

Moving over to the Digital Songs chart, Adele's "Someone Like You" regains the top slot, moving 2-1 with 222,000 (up 10%), likely owed to the recent premiere of its music video. Last week's No. 1, Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger" (featuring Christina Aguilera) descends to No. 2 with 198,000 (down 15%).

Brand new at No. 3 is B.o.B's "Strange Clouds" featuring Lil Wayne, debuting with 197,000 downloads sold. B.o.B last charted as a lead act on the Digital Songs chart with "Magic," which peaked at No. 7 in 2010. "Strange" marks his best debut sales week for a single, previously held by the 137,000 launch of "Airplanes" on May 1, 2010.

Foster the People's "Pumped Up Kicks" slides 3-4 with 177,000 (down less than 1%) while LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It" skips 6-5 with 161,000 (up 16%). LMFAO's previous hit, "Party Rock Anthem," shuffles down 4-9 with 124,000 (down 17%).

Rihanna's "We Found Love" rises 7-6 with 147,000 and a 25% gain after the song saw its first full week of availability at digital retail. Her previous single, "Cheers (Drink to That)" holds at No. 10 with 96,000 (down 16%).

Gym Class Heroes' "Stereo Hearts" (featuring Adam Levine) drops 5-7 with 140,000 (up less than 1%) as David Guetta's "Without You" (featuring Usher) posts a gain at No. 8 (125,000; up 7%) but holds its position for a second week.

The second-highest debut on the Digital Songs chart is Bruno Mars' "It Will Rain," bowing at No. 13 with 80,000. It's the first single from the "Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1" soundtrack, due out Nov. 8.

Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending Oct. 2) totaled 5.57 million units, up 5% compared to the sum last week (5.28 million) and up 5% compared to the comparable sales week of 2010 (5.31 million). Year to date album sales stand at 228.50 million, up 3% compared to the same total at this point last year (221.07 million). It is the 19th week in a row where year-to-date album volume is greater than the same time in the prior year.

Digital track sales this past week totaled 20.37 million downloads, down 2% compared to last week (20.78 million) and up 5% stacked next to the comparable week of 2010 (19.44 million). Year to date track sales are at 951.74 million, up 11% compared to the same total at this point last year (860.36 million).

Next week's Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2010 when: Toby Keith's "Bullets in the Gun" shot in at No. 1 with 71,000 while Kenny Chesney's "Hemingway's Whiskey" fell to No. 2 in its second week with 65,000 (down 64%). Bruno Mars' "Doo-Wops & Hooligans" was the chart's second-highest bow, launching at No 3 with 55,000.

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