SWIFT MILLION!
In what represents the eighth largest first-week debut in modern chart history, Swift’s fourth studio album, the follow-up to 2010’s Speak Now, debuts at #1 with a gargantuan total of 1.21 million, beating that last record’s 1.05m.
It’s the highest first-week total in a decade, since Eminem’s The Eminem Show debuted with 1.3m in June 2002, finishing behind The Beatles’ 1 compilation, which sold 1.26 in January 2001. Swift’s the first artist since Eminem to have two first-week million sellers in a row. In addition, Swift will set the record for largest, non-99-cent-sale-priced digital album, besting the 420k digital first week most recently set by Mumford & Sons'
And that was with Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the East Coast as the album completed its sales week.
Swift wasn’t the only news of the week. Aftermath/Intersope’s Kendrick Lamar scores an impressive 242k, #2 bow for his debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city, as the latest heir to the South Central L.A. rap throne, hand-picked by Dr. Dre himself.
The week’s other Top 10 debuts include Columbia legend Tony Bennett’s Latin-flavored Viva Duets (#5), Roadrunner rockers Stone Sour’s House of Gold & Bones Part 1 (#6), Warner Bros. critically acclaimed blues guitar-slinger Gary Clark Jr.’s Blak & Blu (#8) and Capitol Nashville’s Lady Antebellum Christmas album, On This Winter’s Night (#9).
Last week’s chart-topper, Broken Bow country rocker Jason Aldean’s Night Train, dips down to #3, with Glassnote’s Mumford & Sons (#4), RCA pop/R&B divas P!nk (#7) and Brandy (#10) the only other holdovers.
Other Top 50 newcomers include Astralwerks’ Swedish House Mafia (#15), Razor & Tie’s The Sword (#18), Hollywood’s Disney Channel star Bridgit Mendler (#27), Soul Temple’s RZA-directed, Eli Roth-produced The Man with the Iron Fists soundtrack (#36) and Warner Bros. Nashville’s Blake Shelton holiday collection, Cheers, It’s Christmas (#43).
A&M/Octone act Maroon 5’s Overexposed continues to over-perform as the week’s biggest double-digit gainer, moving #16-14, +14%.
Hitting this week are Warner Bros. rapper Meek Mill, Show Dog’s Toby Keith, Verve’s Rod Stewart, Reprise’s Neil Young, A&M/Octone’s Flyleaf and Lava/Republic’s Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
