It's nice to see two big selling albums in the same week, although in this case it costs Dr. Dre a #1 that he could have had if he'd released last week or plenty of other weeks this year. In fact he still doesn't have a #1 album, as The Chronic peaked at #3 and 2001 at #2. Luke Bryan, on the other hand, gets his third in a row. Kill The Lights generated 345K units and 320K proper sales, a significant decrease from his previous album which sold 528K on its first week in 2013. But it's still the third highest sales total this year, behind Drake and Kendrick.

Much further down, Chief Keef debuts at #131, did everyone forget he exists?

 

01 NE 01 Luke Bryan, Kill The Lights (345,000 (320,000 | 25,000 SEA/TEA))

02 NE 01 Dr. Dre, Compton (295,000 (276,000 | 19,000 SEA/TEA))

03 NE 01 Various Artists, NOW 55 (76,000)

04 NE 01 tobyMac, This Is Not A Test (38,000 (35,000 | 3,000 SEA/TEA))

05 03 42 Taylor Swift, 1989 (33,000)

06 04 60 Ed Sheeran, x (33,000)

07 02 04 Future, DS2 (31,000)

08 01 02 Soundtrack, Descendants (30,000)

09 06 42 Sam Hunt, Montevallo (27,000)

10 10 27 Drake, If You're Reading This It's Too Late (21,000)

11 08 13 twenty one pilots, Blurryface

12 14 31 Meghan Trainor, Title

13 11 07 Meek Mill, Dreams Worth More Than Money

14 16 30 Fall Out Boy, American Beauty / American Psycho

15 15 61 Sam Smith, In The Lonely Hour

16 20 16 Zac Brown Band, Jekyll + Hyde

17 28 18 Shawn Mendes, Handwritten

18 24 11 Major Lazer, Peace Is The Mission

19 05 03 Jill Scott, Woman

20 25 36 J. Cole, 2014 Forest Hills Drive

21 NE 01 Michael Ray, Michael Ray

22 78 53 Trey Songz, Trigga

23 55 11 Jason Derulo, Everything Is 4

24 26 79 Eric Church, The Outsiders

25 NE 01 Mac DeMarco, Another One

26 23 50 Maroon 5, V

27 18 05 Tyrese, Black Rose

28 53 04 Jason Isbell, Something More Than Free

29 46 22 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly

30 97 84 N.W.A., Straight Outta Compton

31 30 35 Nicki Minaj, The Pinkprint

32 57 55 Sia, 1000 Forms Of Fear

33 33 25 Big Sean, Dark Sky Paradise

34 31 43 Little Big Town, Pain Killer

35 27 14 Rachel Platten, Fight Song (EP)

36 19 45 Hozier, Hozier

37 NE 01 Fear Factory, Genexus

38 32 04 Alan Jackson, Angels And Alcohol

39 40 28 Andy Grammer, Magazines Or Novels

40 38 44 Florida Georgia Line, Anything Goes

41 43 32 Rae Sremmurd, SremmLife

42 42 25 Skrillex & Diplo, Skrillex & Diplo Present Jack U

43 41 27 Soundtrack, Fifty Shades Of Grey

44 21 03 Soundtrack, Southpaw: Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture

45 45 28 Fifth Harmony, Reflection

46 62 105 Luke Bryan, Crash My Party

47 63 08 Tori Kelly, Unbreakable Smile

48 36 37 WALK THE MOON, TALKING IS HARD

49 NE 01 Miss May I, Deathless

50 35 05 Kidz Bop Kids, Kidz Bop 29

51 37 09 Charlie Puth, Some Type Of Love EP

52 NE 01 Never Shout Never, Black Cat

53 59 07 X Ambassadors, VHS

54 50 12 A$AP Rocky, At.Long.Last.A$AP

55 44 45 Jason Aldean, Old Boots, New Dirt

56 64 15 Mumford & Sons, Wilder Mind

57 54 65 Brantley Gilbert, Just As I Am

58 56 22 Soundtrack, Furious 7

59 58 08 Breaking Benjamin, Dark Before Dawn

60 22 40 Zac Brown Band, Greatest Hits So Far...

61 48 04 Tame Impala, Currents

62 139 124 Dr. Dre, Dr. Dre -- 2001

63 68 11 Florence + The Machine, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful

64 71 38 Pitbull, Globalization

65 84 55 Soundtrack, Guardians Of The Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1

66 87 128 Drake, Take Care

67 72 26 Imagine Dragons, Smoke + Mirrors

68 RE 239 Michael Jackson, Thriller

69 NE 01 Frank Turner, Positive Songs For Negative People

70 51 16 Elle King, Love Stuff

71 86 141 Florida Georgia Line, Here's To The Good Times

72 80 52 twenty one pilots, Vessel

73 77 96 Drake, Nothing Was The Same

74 91 228 Eminem, The Eminem Show

75 198 90 Dr. Dre, The Chronic

76 49 39 One Direction, Four

77 88 185 Lana Del Rey, Born To Die

78 76 51 Ariana Grande, My Everything

79 75 46 Tove Lo, Queen Of The Clouds

80 100 146 Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city

81 73 19 Flo Rida, My House (EP)

82 39 03 Lamb Of God, VII: Sturm Und Drang

83 74 07 Miguel, Wildheart

84 07 02 Lil Dicky, Professional Rapper

85 79 36 Carrie Underwood, Greatest Hits: Decade #1

86 RE 20 Kid Rock, First Kiss

87 89 37 David Guetta, Listen

88 85 154 Imagine Dragons, Night Visions

89 09 43 Led Zeppelin, In Through The Out Door

90 93 76 The Weeknd, Trilogy

91 70 377 Bob Marley And The Wailers, Legend: The Best Of Bob Marley And The Wailers

92 12 18 Led Zeppelin, Coda

93 94 98 Fleetwood Mac, Greatest Hits

94 122 17 Alabama Shakes, Sound & Color

95 92 47 Kenny Chesney, The Big Revival

96 115 09 Tim McGraw, 35 Biggest Hits

97 131 125 OneRepublic, Native

98 66 46 Blake Shelton, Bringing Back The Sunshine

99 96 31 Mark Ronson, Uptown Special

100 NE 01 Cattle Decapitation, The Anthropocene Extinction

101 99 14 Lauren Daigle, How Can It Be

102 105 55 5 Seconds Of Summer, 5 Seconds Of Summer

103 47 50 Chase Rice, Ignite The Night

104 98 07 Soundtrack, Home

105 69 03 Bea Miller, Not An Apology

106 NE 01 Various Artists, NOW That's What I Call New Wave 80s

107 109 369 Journey, Journey's Greatest Hits

108 90 29 George Ezra, Wanted On Voyage

109 145 202 Luke Bryan, Tailgates & Tanlines

110 102 239 Bruno Mars, Doo-Wops & Hooligans

111 106 76 Cole Swindell, Cole Swindell

112 116 157 Ed Sheeran, +

113 13 32 Led Zeppelin, Presence

114 140 05 Cam, Welcome To Cam Country (EP)

115 107 12 Hillsong UNITED, Empires

116 101 14 Soundtrack, Pitch Perfect 2

117 83 09 James Taylor, Before This World

118 NE 01 Gungor, One Wild Life: Soul

119 119 254 Eminem, Curtain Call: The Hits

120 124 57 G-Eazy, These Things Happen

121 65 105 Foo Fighters, Greatest Hits

122 114 121 Fall Out Boy, Save Rock And Roll

123 130 93 Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP 2

124 NE 01 Gregg Allman, Gregg Allman Live: Back to Macon, GA: January 14, 2014

125 120 04 Queen, Greatest Hits I II & III: The Platinum Collection

126 82 15 Various Artists, NOW 54

127 133 126 Michael Jackson, Bad

128 143 10 Various Artists, NOW That's What I Call Country, Volume 8

129 129 107 2Pac, Greatest Hits

130 NE 01 Chelsea Wolfe, Abyss

131 NE 01 Chief Keef, Bang 3

132 RE 59 Kelly Clarkson, Greatest Hits: Chapter One

133 135 122 Taylor Swift, Red

134 117 08 Leon Bridges, Coming Home

135 137 234 Adele, 21

136 141 88 Beyoncé, Beyoncé

137 134 42 Billy Joel, The Essential Billy Joel

138 17 02 Migos, Yung Rich Nation

139 118 08 Kacey Musgraves, Pageant Material

140 161 21 James Bay, Chaos And The Calm

141 125 96 Metallica, Master Of Puppets

142 95 142 Michael Jackson, The Essential Michael Jackson

143 104 75 One Direction, Midnight Memories

144 103 131 Amy Winehouse, Back To Black

145 138 94 Metallica, ...And Justice For All

146 RE 12 Avril Lavigne, Avril Lavigne

147 132 09 Adam Lambert, The Original High

148 168 63 Miranda Lambert, Platinum

149 149 13 Zedd, True Colors

150 121 16 Josh Groban, Stages

151 RE 301 Nirvana, Nevermind

152 127 125 Blake Shelton, Based On A True Story ...

153 152 113 Green Day, American Idiot

154 176 30 J. Cole, Born Sinner

155 160 52 Wiz Khalifa, Blacc Hollywood

156 142 14 Kari Jobe, Majestic

157 154 13 Kelsea Ballerini, The First Time

158 155 06 Old Dominion, Old Dominion (EP)

159 163 191 AC/DC, Back In Black

160 174 101 Arctic Monkeys, AM

161 183 40 J. Cole, Cole World: The Sideline Story

162 156 10 Of Monsters And Men, Beneath The Skin

163 158 90 Soundtrack, Frozen

164 RE 39 Nick Jonas, Nick Jonas

165 RE 94 Beyoncé, I Am...Sasha Fierce

166 146 25 Travis Tritt, The Very Best Of Travis Tritt

167 175 80 Five Finger Death Punch, The Wrong Side Of Heaven...Volume 1

168 148 45 Echosmith, Talking Dreams

169 173 241 Creedence Clearwater Revival, Chronicle The 20 Greatest Hits

170 167 41 Calvin Harris, Motion

171 166 326 Guns N' Roses, Greatest Hits

172 170 200 Eminem, Recovery

173 157 23 Luke Bryan, Spring Break... Checkin' Out

174 182 47 Chris Brown, X

175 162 94 Katy Perry, Prism

176 172 26 Omarion, Sex Playlist

177 RE 14 Jason Isbell, Southeastern

178 RE 31 Destiny's Child, #1's

179 34 02 Joss Stone, Water For Your Soul

180 60 02 Buddy Guy, Born To Play Guitar

181 191 24 Kelly Clarkson, Piece By Piece

182 165 11 Def Leppard, Mirrorball: Live & More

183 RE 88 Elton John, Greatest Hits 1970-2002

184 180 240 Taylor Swift, Fearless

185 179 224 Katy Perry, Teenage Dream

186 159 133 Bruno Mars, Unorthodox Jukebox

187 192 17 Frank Sinatra, Ultimate Sinatra

188 113 08 Soundtrack, Teen Beach 2

189 197 85 Childish Gambino, Because The Internet

190 RE 62 Jason Derulo, Talk Dirty

191 150 05 R5, Sometime Last Night

192 RE 09 ODESZA, In Return

193 184 32 NEEDTOBREATHE, Rivers In The Wasteland

194 193 33 Lady Antebellum, 747

195 181 165 Blake Shelton, Red River Blue

196 RE 127 John Mayer, Continuum

197 196 912 Pink Floyd, The Dark Side Of The Moon

198 126 210 Led Zeppelin, Mothership

199 190 72 Dierks Bentley, Riser

200 177 96 Lorde, Pure Heroine

Luke Bryan Bows at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart, Dr. Dre Debuts at No. 2

By Keith Caulfield | August 16, 2015 6:13 PM EDT

 

Combined, the albums launch with 640,000 overall units earned in their first week.

 

Luke Bryan celebrates his third No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart as his new release Kill the Lights makes a smashing debut atop the list. The album -- which was released on Aug. 7 through Capitol Records Nashville -- moved 345,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Aug. 13, according to Nielsen Music.

 

Of that sum, 320,000 were pure album sales.

 

Thus, Kill the Lights tallies the third-largest week of 2015 for an album, both in overall units and album sales. The only larger frames were racked by the debuts of Drake’s surprise album If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (535,000 in overall units; 495,000 in album sales -- week ending Feb. 15.) and Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly (363,000 units; 324,000 album sales -- week ending March 22).

 

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Aug. 29-dated chart (where Bryan debuts at No. 1) will be posted in full to Billboard’s websites on Tuesday, Aug. 18.

 

Kill The Lights’ start is also the largest sales week for a country album in three years -- since Bryan’s last studio effort, Crash My Party, started at No. 1 with 528,000 in the week ending Aug 18, 2013.

 

In addition to Kill the Lights and Crash My Party, Bryan also led the list with his Spring Break… Here to Party compilation in 2013.

 

Naturally, Kill the Lights also debuts at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart, marking his sixth leader on that list.

 

Back on the Billboard 200, Dr. Dre’s new Compton album makes a strong start at No. 2 with 295,000 equivalent album units (of which 276,000 are pure sales). The set -- his third, and first in nearly 16 years -- is exclusively available for purchase through the iTunes Store, and streaming through the Apple Music service. (The album, released through Aftermath/Interscope Records, is exclusive to Apple and iTunes for its first two weeks of release.)

 

Though the album is named Compton, it is not a soundtrack to Straight Outta Compton, the new film about Dre's breakthrough years in the group N.W.A. (There is no soundtrack album for the movie.) Certainly, interest in the film helped the album's debut, and vice versa. The movie opened with $56 million earned at the U.S. and Canada box office over the Aug. 14-16 weekend.

 

Dre’s previous album, Dr. Dre — 2001, was released in 1999 and peaked at No. 2. It spent four nonconsecutive weeks in the runner-up slot. Dre’s first album, The Chronic, peaked at No. 3 for six nonconsecutive weeks in 1993.

 

Compton also debuts at No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, his third chart-topper on that list. The Chronic ruled for eight weeks and 2001 led the ranking for four frames.

 

Bryan and Dre’s handsome debuts are a welcome sight on the chart, following a woeful week at the top of the list. A week ago, the Descendants soundtrack opened at No. 1 with both the lowest overall unit total (42,000) for a chart-topping set, and the smallest weekly sales figure (30,000) for a No. 1 since Nielsen Music started tracking sale in 1991. This week, the Descendants album falls to No. 8 with 30,000 units (down 27 percent).

 

Combined, Kill the Lights and Compton moved 640,000 overall units, and sold 596,000 albums. To put those numbers in perspective, the 640,000 sum is more than the combined total of Nos. 3-32 albums on the new Billboard 200. Further, the 596,000 sales tally -- which places the albums at Nos. 1 and 2 on the Top Album Sales chart -- is greater than the Nos. 3-65 titles on the Album Sales list.

 

Also, this week marks the first time two albums have shifted at least 294,000 units in a week since the Billboard 200 transitioned to ranking popularity based on overall units earned in December of 2014. Previously, the closest the chart came to that distinction was on the Feb. 28, 2015-dated list, when Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late started at No. 1 with 535,000 units, followed by the debut of the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack at No. 2 with 258,000 units.

 

And finally, this is the first week in eight months where two albums have sold at least 275,000 copies each. It last happened on the Dec. 27, 2014-dated chart (reflecting the sales week ending Dec. 14, in the thick of the Christmas shopping season), where J. Cole’s 2014 Forest Hills Drive debuted at No. 1 with 354,000 and Taylor Swift’s 1989 moved 278,000 copies at No. 2 (its seventh week on the chart).

 

Outside of the excitement at Nos. 1 and 2 on the new Billboard 200, there is of course other news in the Top 10.

 

The new Now 55 compilation debuts at No. 3 with 76,000 units (all from album sales). The arrival continues the long-running Now That’s What I Call Music series’ hit track record, as every one of the numbered Now titles have reached the Top 10.

 

TobyMac’s This Is Not a Test enters at No. 4 with 38,000 units (of which 35,000 are pure album sales). The album is the follow-up to TobyMac’s chart-topping Eye on It, which debuted atop the list dated Sept. 15, 2012.

 

On the Christian Albums chart, This Is Not a Test concurrently debuts at No. 1 -- the artist’s fourth chart-topper.

 

Rounding out the rest of the Top 10 on the Billboard 200: Taylor Swift’s 1989 descends 3-5 (just over 33,000 units; down 4 percent), Ed Sheeran’s X dips 4-6 (33,000; but up 10 percent), Future’s DS2 slides 2-7 (31,000; down 16 percent), Sam Hunt’s Montevallo falls 6-9 (27,000; up 1 percent) and Drake's If You're Reading This It's Too Late is steady at No. 10 (21,000; down 7 percent).