Keys Storms Chart With Mega-Selling 'As I Am'

Alicia Keys storms The Billboard 200 this week with "As I Am" (J), which debuts at No. 1 after selling 742,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That's the best sales week for a solo female artist since Norah Jones' "Feels Like Home" shifted 1 million copies in 2004.

In a week where every top 10 album shifted more than 100,000 units, Josh Groban's "Noel" (143/Reprise) zooms 6-2 with a 93% increase to 223,000. Celine Dion's "Taking Chances" (Columbia), her first new pop album in four years, opens at No. 3 with 214,000. The multi-label, multi-artist "Now 26" collection is new at No. 4 with 208,000, the third lowest opening tally for the "Now" line.

Garth Brooks' "The Ultimate Hits" (Pearl) slips 3-5 (-42%, 204,000), while the Eagles' "Long Road Out of Eden" (Eagles Recording Co.) drops 2-6 (-45%, 197,000). Led Zeppelin's two-disc retrospective "Mothership" (Swan Song/Atlantic) debuts at No. 7 after selling 136,000, 25% of which came digitally.

Last week's chart-topper, Jay-Z's "American Gangster" (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam) plummets 1-8 with a 70% decrease to 131,000, while Carrie Underwood's "Carnival Ride" (Arista Nashville) drops 5-9 despite a small 6% decrease to 113,000. Chris Brown's "Exclusive" (Jive) falls 4-10 in its second week, thanks to a 63% decline to 110,000.

Comedian Dane Cook's "Rough Around the Edges: Live From Madison Square Garden" (Comedy Central) debuts at No. 11 with 90,000. His last set, 2005's "Retaliation," made history as the highest debuting comedy album in the history of The Billboard 200 when it bowed at No. 4. That effort started with 86,000.

At No. 12, the Killers enter the chart with the rarities collection "Sawdust" (Island), which sold 82,000. George Strait's "22 More Hits" (MCA Nashville) is new at No. 13 with 80,000, while James Taylor's debut for Starbucks' Hear Music imprint, "One Man Band," arrives at No. 16 with 63,000.

Five other albums open inside the top 40 this week, led by Boyz II Men's "Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA" (Decca) at No. 27 with 42,000. Right behind are Trisha Yearwood's "Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love" (Big Machine, No. 30, 33,000), Goo Goo Dolls' "Greatest Hits, Volume 1, The Singles" (Warner Bros., No. 33, 33,000), Seal's "System" (Warner Bros., No. 35, 30,000) and Duran Duran's "Red Carpet Massacre" (Epic, No. 36, 29,000).

Album sales are up 17.9% from last week's to 11.72 million, but down 6.2% from the same week last year.

Jay-Z Leapfrogs Eagles, Britney For No. 1 Debut

November 14, 2007, 11:10 AM ET

Katie Hasty, N.Y.

Jay-Z scores his 10th No. 1 album on The Billboard 200, as "American Gangster" (Def Jam) debuts on top this week after selling 425,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The rapper thus ties Elvis Presley in second place for the most No. 1 albums on the chart; only the Beatles have had more, with 19.

Since 1998, all eight of Jay-Z's solo studio albums have hit No. 1, in addition to his "Collision Course" project with Linkin Park and his "Unfinished Business" collaboration with R. Kelly.

After bowing at No. 1 last week, the Eagles' "Long Road Out of Eden" (Eagles Recording Co.) slips to No. 2 with 359,000, a 49% sales decrease. Garth Brooks' "The Ultimate Hits" (Pearl) debuts at No. 3 after shifting 352,000 units. Brooks' last studio set, 2001's "Scarecrow," debuted at No. 1 with 466,000. His only releases since then have been Wal-Mart exclusives and were thus not eligible to appear on The Billboard 200.

Teenaged R&B heartthrob Chris Brown starts at No. 4 with his sophomore Jive album, "Exclusive," which sold 294,000. His self-titled 2005 debut opened at No. 2 with 154,000. "Exclusive" features Brown's recent Hot 100 chart-topper, "Kiss Kiss," featuring T-Pain.

Carrie Underwood's 19 Recordings/Arista Nashville set "Carnival Ride" falls 3-5 with 121,000 (-29%), while Josh Groban's holiday album, "Noel" (143/Reprise), ascends 8-6 with a 52% sales increase to 116,000.

Selling 87,000 copies, Britney Spears' "Blackout" (Jive) slips 2-7 with a 70% sales hit in its second week. At No. 8, Taylor Swift's self-titled Big Machine debut flies from No. 26 with a 156% sales increase (68,000) in its 55th week. The boost came with the album's DVD-enhanced reissue and her Horizon award win at the recent CMA Awards.

Angels & Airwaves' second Geffen album, "I-Empire," begins at No. 9 with 66,000. The band's first set, "We Don't Need to Whisper," bowed higher, at No. 4, with 127,000 in May 2006.

His first album since completing jail time and surviving a near-fatal car accident in 2006, Cassidy's Full Surface/J set "B.A.R.S. The Barry Adrian Reese Story" begins at No. 10 after shifting 63,000. His sophomore release, 2005's "I'm a Hustla," started at No. 5 with 93,000.

Other big debuts this week include Latin reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel's "Wisin Vs. Yandel: Los Extraterrestres" (Machete) at No. 14 with 53,000, country quartet Little Big Town's "Place to Land" (Equity Music Group) at No. 24 with 35,000, the Def Jam score/soundtrack to "American Gangster" at No. 36 with 21,000 and the Starbucks Entertainment holiday compilation "Stockings by the Fire" at No. 43 with 18,000.

Album sales are up 7.5% from last week at 9.95 million units and down 16.8% from the same week in 2006 (11.95 million).

Brown's 'Kiss' Still Sweet Atop Hot 100

Chris Brown's "Kiss Kiss" featuring T-Pain is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week and is also the chart's greatest airplay gainer. Timbaland's "Apologize" featuring OneRepublic remains at No. 2, while Alicia Keys' "No One" inches up 4-3 while starting a fourth week atop the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

On the Hot 100, Soulja Boy's "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" is down 3-4, while Colbie Caillat's "Bubbly" holds at No. 5 and Kanye West's "Stronger" stays put at No. 6. Baby Bash's "Cyclone" featuring T-Pain trades places with West's "Good Life" (also featuring T-Pain) with a 7-8 climb.

Rihanna's "Hate That I Love You" featuring Ne-Yo remains at No. 9 and Timbaland's "The Way I Are" featuring Keri Hilson sticks at No. 10. The chart's greatest digital gainer is Finger Eleven's "Paralyzer," which jumps 18-14. The track sold 56,000 downloads, an improvement of 17,000 units.

In a week when her new Jive album, "Blackout," debuts at No. 2 on The Billboard 200, Britney Spears has the week's top debut with "Piece of Me" at No. 65. The set's first single, "Gimme More," rebounds 16-13 as well.

On Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Keyshia Cole's "Shoulda Let You Go" featuring Amina increases 12-10 to become her sixth top 10 hit. Cole also has that chart's top debut at No. 53 with "I Remember."
Kenny Chesney's "Don't Blink" is No. 1 on Hot Country Songs for a fourth week, and Martina McBride has the chart's top debut at No. 48 with "For These Times." On the Modern Rock tally, the Foo Fighters begin a 12th week at No. 1 with "The Pretender" but are dethroned after six weeks atop Mainstream Rock by Seether's "Fake It."

Eagles Fly Past Britney To Debut At No. 1

With their first studio title in nearly 30 years, the Eagles land atop The Billboard 200 with "Long Road Out of Eden," which sold 711,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The Eagles Recording Co. album, available exclusively in the U.S. through Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and the band's Web site, scores the year's second-best first-week total, behind Kanye West's "Graduation" (960,000).

As reported last night, this marks the first time Billboard has allowed exclusive album titles that are only available through one retailer to appear on its charts.

Previously, titles that were not generally available at retail were not eligible to appear on The Billboard 200, but were entitled to chart on Billboard's Top Comprehensive Albums, which includes catalog titles and proprietary albums from retailers willing to report those sales.

Selling 290,000 copies, Britney Spears' "Blackout" (Jive) enters at No. 2. Her first album in four years is also her first studio effort to not top the chart: 2003's "In The Zone," 2001's "Britney," 2000's "Oops!... I Did It Again" and 1999's "... Baby One More Time" all started at No. 1. However, Spears becomes the only woman whose first five studio albums have debuted in the top two slots on the chart.

After starting at No. 1 last week, Carrie Underwood's 19 Recordings/Arista Nashville set "Carnival Ride" falls to No. 3 with 170,000, a sales decrease of 68%. Avenged Sevenfold's self-titled Warner Bros. set debuts at No. 4, moving 94,000. It marks the hard rock troupe's best sales and charting week, as 2005's "City of Evil," only reached No. 30 with 33,000.

Josh Turner earns his second top 10 album as "Everything Is Fine" (MCA Nashville) starts with 84,000 at No. 5. The album's lead single, "Firecracker," holds at No. 8 with a bullet on the Hot Country Songs chart this week. The country singer's last album, 2006's "Your Man," debuted at No. 2 on the big chart.

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' "Raising Sand" (Rounder) falls 2-6 in its second week, taking a 28% sales hit to 81,000. The Backstreet Boys' "Unbreakable" (Jive) starts at No. 7, with only a few dozen sales short of Plant and Krauss' total at 81,000. The pop group's last album, "Never Gone," bowed at No. 3 with 291,000 in 2005.

Josh Groban's holiday album, "Noel" (143/Reprise), descends 5-8 with 76,000, a 16% sales boost. Andrea Bocelli's first greatest hits collection, "The Best of Andrea Bocelli: Vivere" (Decca), begins at No. 9 with 68,000.

Rascal Flatts' Lyric Street album, "Still Feels Good," rounds out the top tier, slipping 8-10 with 53,000 (-7%).

Other big debuts this week include Puscifer's "V Is for Vagina" (Puscifer Entertainment) at No. 25 with 27,000, hip-hop duo Playaz Circle's "Supply & Demand" (Disturbing Tha Peace/Jive) at No. 27 with 26,000, Baby Bash's "Cyclone" (Arista) at No. 30 with 26,000 and R&B singer Will Downing's "After Tonight" (Peak/Concord) at No. 37 with 21,000.

Album sales are up 10.9% from last week at 9.25 million units and down 13.3% from the same week in 2006 (10.67 million).

#1 Again

In a slow week for album sales, Bruce Springsteen's "Magic" returns to the summit of The Billboard 200 despite a 42% sales decline. The Columbia effort moved 77,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, climbing 2-1. The album bowed at No. 1 three weeks ago with 335,000.

Album sales are down 4.9% from last week at 7.93 million units and 19.6% from the same week in 2006 (9.86 million units).

Damn whats happening with the Music Industry???

2007 #1 Albums in the U.S.

Album

Hip Hop Is Dead
21
Dreamgirls: Music from the Motion Picture
Daughtry
Late Night Special
Not Too Late
Infinity on High
Greatest Hits
Luvanmusiq
We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
Let It Go
Now 24
Now 24
The Best Damn Thing
Because of You
Call Me Irresponsible
Minutes to Midnight
It Won't Be Soon Before Long
Double Up
Epiphany
Big Dog Daddy
Lost Highway
Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus
T.I. vs. T.I.P.
Now 25
Finding Forever
UGK (Underground Kingz)
High School Musical 2
Graduation
Reba: Duets
Still Feels Good
Magic

Coming Soon: Carnival Ride

The following tracks were confirmed by Underwood that will appear on this album.

1. Flat on the Floor (Ashley Monroe, Brett James) - 3:18
2. All-American Girl (Ashley Gorley, Carrie Underwood, Kelley Lovelace) - 3:32
3. So Small (Robert Luke Laird, Hillary Lindsay, Carrie Underwood) - 3:47
4. Just a Dream (Gordie Sampson, Steven McEwan, Hillary Lindsay) - 4:44
5. Get Out of This Town (Gordie Sampson, Steven McEwan, Hillary Lindsay) - 3:02
6. Crazy Dreams (George Berry Dean, Troy Verges, Carrie Underwood) - 3:36
7. I Know You Won't (Wendell Mobley, Neil Thrasher, Steven McEwan) - 4:19
8. Last Name (Robert Luke Laird, Hillary Lindsay, Carrie Underwood) - 4:01
9. You Won't Find This (Cathy Dennis, Tom Shapiro) - 3:19
10. I Told You So (Randy Travis) - 4:17
11. The More Boys I Meet (Scott Kennedy, Steven McEwan) - 3:33
12. Twisted" (Robert Luke Laird, Hillary Lindsay, Brett James) - 3:56
13. Wheel of the World (Hillary Lindsay, Chris Lindsey, Aimee Mayo) - 4:42