NELLY LETS LOOSE AT #1
The Geffen songstress debuts at #1 with her new album, Loose, thanks to the smash Timbaland collaboration, tallying 224k in sales for the week, the only release to register more than 100k in sales, thanks to radio support and Verizon TV exposure.
Tooth & Nail holy rock & rollers Underoath score the #2 spot for the EMI-owned label, with a first week of 95k for their Define the Great Line. Interscope’s Keane bow at #4, chalking up 80k for their Britpop, giving Jimmy Iovine’s IGA label group four of the Top 50, with last week’s chart-topping Busta Rhymes effort coming in at #5, sporting 66k in sales. Field Mob’s Geffen album Light Poles and Pine Trees, which enters at #6 with 62k in sales, and Interscope goth-rockers AFI at #8 enables the Cat in the Hat to score five of the Top 10.
Open Wide/Monument/Columbia’s Dixie Chicks hangs in there at #3, with 87k, with Walt Disney’s High School Musical (#7), Downtown/Atlantic’s Gnarls Barkley (#9) and Lyric Street’s Rascal Flatts (#10) rounding out the Top 10.
Other chart newcomers include LaFace/ZLG’s Donell Jones (#15) and Capitol’s impressive rookie Corinne Bailey Rae (#16), helped in large part by support from VH1’s “You Oughta Know” new artist initiative.
Madonna’s WB CD/DVD of her 2004 tour, I’m Going to Tell You a Secret (#30), Reprise’s Guster (#34) and Universal Motown’s Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift soundtrack (#39) represent the other Top 50 bows.
Def Jam/IDJ’s Rihanna (#11, +16%), Fueled by Ramen/WMG’s Panic! at the Disco (#23-17, +8%), Epic’s The Fray (#34-26, +3%) and Def Jam/IDJ's Ne-Yo (#37-33, +1%) all register positive sales flows.
Next week, Vagrant’s Dashboard Confessional will top the list of new releases as they eye a #1 bow in the 150-200k range, with Universal Motown’s India.Arie, Def Jam/IDJ’s Shawnna, Columbia’s Lostprophets and Koch’s Jim Jones all flirting with 100k+ numbers.
