Groban Remains No. 1 In Slow Release Week

December 05, 2007, 10:45 AM ET

Katie Hasty, N.Y.

Not a single new release arrives in the top tiers of The Billboard 200 this week, as Josh Groban's "Noel" retains its lead on the chart for a second week. The 143/Reprise effort moved 539,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, a 33% increase in sales.

The Eagles' "Long Road Out of Eden" (Eagles Recording Co.) soars 5-2 with a 70% boost to 313,000, fueled in part by the band's interview on "60 Minutes."

Alicia Keys' "As I Am" (J) slips 2-3 with 257,000 (-26%), while hits compilation "Now 26" falls 3-4 with 127,000 (-46%). Garth Brooks' Pearl set "The Ultimate Hits" descends a notch 4-5 with a 41% sales hit to 112,000. The soundtrack to Disney's "High School Musical 2" holds tight at No. 6 with 98,000, a 47% drop.

Miley Cyrus' Disney double-disc set "Hannah Montana 2 (Soundtrack)/Meet Miley Cyrus" re-enters the top 10 with a 12-7 move. The album sold 96,000, a 3% drop. Sitting at No. 8 for a second week is Celine Dion's Columbia album "Taking Chances" with 93,000 (-28%).

Carrie Underwood's "Carnival Ride" (Arista Nashville) falls 7-9 after selling 89,000 (-37%). Holiday staple Mannheim Steamroller's latest American Gramaphone effort "Christmas Song" vaults 21-10 with 77,000, a 24% uptick.

The week's biggest debut is rapper Pitbull's "The Boatlift" (TVT) at No. 50 with 22,000. Coming in with only a few dozen sales fewer is Mudvayne's fan-generated Epic collection "By the People for the People" at No. 51.

There are 26 holiday titles on The Billboard 200 this week, as compared to the 20 that graced the chart the same week last year. Sales this week (12.26 million units) are down 16.9% from the same week last year (14.75 million). This week's sum is down 12.1% from last week's.

'Oprah' Visit Helps Groban Soar To No. 1

After seven weeks on the chart, Josh Groban's holiday set "Noel" finally overtakes The Billboard 200 at No. 1. The 143/Reprise album ascends 2-1, selling 405,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. The 81% increase was fueled in part by his surprise appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" last week.

"Noel" is the first Christmas-themed set to top the chart since Kenny G's 1994 album "Miracles," and the 405,000 units marks Groban's best sales week ever.

Alicia Keys' "As I Am" (J) flip-flops with "Noel," slipping 1-2 with a 53% sales decrease to 349,000. The hits compilation "Now 26" climbs a notch 4-3 with 234,000. Garth Brooks' "The Ultimate Hits" (Pearl) moves up 5-4 with 192,000 (-6%) and the Eagles' "Long Road Out of Eden" (Eagles Recording Co.) follows suit, ascending 6-5 with 184,000 (-7%).

The soundtrack to Disney's "High School Musical 2" rockets up 14-6 with a 130% sales increase to 183,000; with that, the set surpasses Daughtry's self-titled set as the top selling album in 2007.

Carrie Underwood's "Carnival Ride" (Arista Nashville) climbs 9-7 with 141,000 and a 25% sales bump, while Celine Dion's Columbia album "Taking Chances" falls 3-8 following a 40% sales decrease to 128,000. Inching up 10-9, Chris Brown's "Exclusive" (Jive) sells 121,000 (+10%).

Jordin Sparks, who was crowned the winner on "American Idol" earlier this year, starts at No. 10 with her self-titled 19 Recordings/Jive set, moving 119,000. It is the lowest start and smallest sales debut for any of the show's winners on the tally.

Keith Urban's first best-of collection, Capitol's "Greatest Hits," debuts at No. 11 with 117,000. It's the Aussie country singer's fourth straight album to start in the top 11, dating back to 2002's "Golden Road," which also entered at No. 11. MercyMe's "All That Is Within Me" (Columbia) lands at No. 15 with 84,000 and is also the act's fourth No. 1 on Top Christian Albums.

Only two other albums bow inside of the top 50 on The Billboard 200: Philly rapper Freeway's "Free at Last" (G-Unit/Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam) starts at No. 42 with 36,000 and the soundtrack to "Enchanted" (Disney) debuts at No. 48 with 31,000.

This week, the top 11 albums all sold more than 100,000 copies, helped by the first week of the post-Thanksgiving shopping season. However, sales this week (13.94 million units) are down 18.1% from the same week last year (17.02 million). This week's sum is up 19% from last week's.

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).

The Billboard 200 #1 this Week

In a Billboard 200 first, three country debuts occupy the Nos. 1-3 slots on the chart, led by Carrie Underwood's "Carnival Ride." The 19 Recordings/Arista Nashville set sold 527,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, earning the artist her first No. 1.

The total is a much better sum than the 315,000 that greeted her No. 2 2005 debut "Some Hearts." It's also the best sales week for a female solo country artist since Shania Twain's "Greatest Hits" started with 530,000 in November 2004.

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' "Raising Sand" (Rounder) opens at No. 2, selling 112,000. It's the highest charting album for both as solo artists and Krauss' first time in the top 10.

Country singer Gary Allan's MCA Nashville set "Living Hard" enters at No. 3 with 69,000. It's not his first trip into the top five this year, however: his "Greatest Hits" debuted at No. 5 in March. "Tough All Over," his album from 2005, also achieved a No. 3 entry.

'NOW 25' Scores 12th No. 1 Album Of The Series

July 25, 2007, 10:55 AM ET
Katie Hasty, N.Y.

The "NOW! That's What I Call Music" hits compilation series adds another trophy to its collection of No. 1 albums on The Billboard 200 this week. The 25th installment debuts at the summit after moving 223,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, becoming the 12th No. 1 of the series.In fact, the last four in a row have claimed the top spot. In March, "NOW 24" started at No. 2 with 230,000 but moved to No. 1 the next week. The latest installment features hits from loyd, Justin Timberlake, Carrie Underwood, Fall Out Boy and Bow Wow, among others.Miley Cyrus' Disney double-disc set "Hannah Montana 2 (Soundtrack)/Meet Miley Cyrus" climbs 3-2 this week despite a 12% sales decrease to 113,000 units. After topping the 200 for two weeks straight, T.I.' s "T.I. vs. T.I.P." (Grand Hustle/Atlantic) slips to No. 3 with 94,000, a 47% dip. After its parent movie opened at box offices last weekend, the New Line soundtrack to "Hairspray" flies up the chart 20-4, moving 72,000 with a 95% increase in sales. "Hairspray" is the fifth soundtrack to log time in the top 10 this year, following "Hannah Montana," "Hannah Montana 2," "Dreamgirls" and "Jump In!"With help from a high-visibility campaign on iTunes and MySpace, Colbie Caillat's debut album, "Coco" (Universal Republic), enters at No. 5 with 51,000. Her single "Bubbly" was available through iTunes' free single of the week program, while the digital store is selling the album for only $7.99.

Fergie's solo debut "Duchess" ascends 8-6 in its 44th week on the chart with 50,000, a flat sales change from last week. Linkin Park's "Minutes to Midnight" (Machine Shop/Warner Bros.) keeps the No. 7 spot warm for a second week with 47,000 (-13%) while Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black" (Universal) moves 9-8 with 45,000 (-7%).In its 94th week on the chart, Nickelback's "All the Right Reasons" (Roadrunner) climbs back into the top tier 12-9 with 43,000, an uptick of 2%, aided by a reissue version of the album released July 10. Bon Jovi's Island set "Lost Highway" descends 6-10 with 42,000, a 24% decrease.Yellowcard's third Capitol album, "Paper Walls," debuts at No. 13 this week with 40,000; the band's last effort, "Lights and Sounds," bowed at No. 5 with 90,000 last year. Other big debuts this week include Rooney's sophomore set "Calling the World" (Geffen, No. 42, 15,000), the Rocket Summer's Island debut "Do You Feel" (No. 44, 15,000) and Kansas City rapper Tech N9ne Callabos' "Misery Loves Kompany" (Strange Company, No. 49, 13,000).Sales this week are down 2.2% compared to last week's sum at 8.11 million units and down 8.9% compared to the same week last year.