US Album chart goss

Posted May 25, 200718 yr

Linkin Park top US albums chart

25 May 2007 - 15:00:00

Source; Music week

With double digit declines over 2006 occurring 17 times in the last 20 weeks, there’s a bit of relief for US album sales this week, writes Alan Jones.

Keeping the decline compared to the same week in 2006 to a still-sobering 7%, the album that made the difference is the new Linkin Park set Minutes To Midnight, which sold a 2007 best of nearly 623,000 copies last week, and cornered a sweet 7.25% share of the overall market. The album set a new record for downloads too; more than 84,000 of its buyers opted to have it delivered digitally to their desktops.

Well as it did, Minutes To Midnight nevertheless continues the trend for blockbuster acts to open lower with new albums, and its first week sales were 23.1% below the 810,000 first week sales their last release, Meteora, achieved in 2003.

Linkin Park’s nearest rival is R&B singer Tank, whose success with single Please Don’t Go – number three R&B/Hip-Hop and up 64-42 on the Hot 100 – helped him to a career high debut at number two with Sex, Love & Pain. It also earns him his first weekly sale of 100,000 plus – but only just, and at 103,000 it was outsold by a margin of six to one by Linkin Park.

There are also Top 10 debuts for new albums by Wilco, Gretchen Wilson and Megadeth.

Chicago rockers Wilco secure their eighth chart album since 1996, and their highest placing to date with Sky Blue Sky in at number four on sales of 87,000; country singer/songwriter Wilson makes it three top five albums out of three with One Of The Boys debuting at number five on sales of 73,000; and metal veterans Megadeth take eighth position with United Abominations on sales of 54,000. It’s their highest charting album since 1994, their 14th chart album, and their fourth top tenner.

There are no English or Scottish acts among the 17 who have new entries to the Top 200, though our Celtic cousins in Wales and Ireland have one apiece.

Representing Ireland, Cranberries vocalist Dolores O’Riordan’s first solo set Are You Listening arrives at number 77 on sales of 9,000, while Tales Don’t Tell Themselves by Welsh band Funeral For A Friend, debuts at number 135 with sales of 5,500. That’s marginally better than their last album, Hours, which earned them their Top 200 debut in 2005, debuting and peaking at number 139.

Their order has changed but the top three albums on the chart by British artists continue to be by female solo artists. Amy Winehouse recovers 14-12 with Back To Black on sales of 38,000; Corinne Bailey Rae’s self-titled debut continues its slow retreat, dipping 37-41 on sales of 16,500, which takes its cume to more than 1.5m; and Joss Stone ebbs 27-43 with Introducing on sales of 16,000.

Maroon 5 are a shoe-in to top the chart next week, with sales expected to be around 400,000. Meanwhile, their Makes Me Wonder singles reasserts its authority on the Hot 100, reclaiming pole position from T-Pain’s Buy U A Drank.

Ozzy Osbourne was the only Brit on the Hot 100 last week. His single I Don’t Wanna Stop climbs 85-83 this week but is joined by three re-entries. Lily Allen’s Smile is back at number 94, having peaked some time ago at number 49, while Amy Winehouse has two re-entries, claiming a best-yet 72nd slot with Rehab and 95th position with You Know I’m No Good.