ONE-DAY SALES: KORN AS HIGH AS AN ELEPHANT’S EYE

Could be, if early reports from national accounts are to be believed (and we firmly believe they should be).

Yes, as expected, Korn’s Untouchables (Immortal/Epic) is coming on strong out of the box, with early sales suggesting it will sell more than 500k by the end of the week. Now that’s news we can use…to make us feel like albums can still have splashy debuts.

Eminem, of course, has been doing a pretty good job of that over the past couple of weeks. And with last week’s tally for The Eminem Show (Interscope) at just shy of 765k, how Detroit’s finest Dr. Dre protege performs over the course of this week will determine whether Korn has a shot at #1.

It’s still too early to tell, but it looks like it could be a horserace.

Meanwhile, the week’s other big story is a little emo band from Florida called New Found Glory. Their new release, Sticks and Stones is on track to sell over 100k, which is not only a big surprise but a feather in MCA’s cap as they take a giant stride toward breaking the band wide open.

Sticks is the beneficiary of one o’ them newfangled rebate programs, this one set at $3 for the first week. Best Buy has led the discount sales charge by pricing the album at $7.99, but prices are low across the board.

One problem: Demand is such that stock is a problem in some places. Word is MCA is solving these problems, but as of now it’s too early to tell how much any shortage will affect the album’s first-week tally. If they keep the album in the stores, it could sell well over 100k.

But, as we like to say over and over again, “it’s too early to tell.” It helps us feel better when that limb we’ve gone out on snaps underneath us like a toothpick.

Thank you.