GAME ON, STREISAND, TOO
That might be the last time you read the names of the West Coast gangsta rapper and the Broadway diva in the same sentence, but they will be the two biggest debuts on next week’s HITS Album sales chart.
Game’s new Interscope release, The R.E.D. Album, is slated to do in the range of 90-95k in sales, according to one-day reports from those music retailers who haven’t closed up shop and set up Ludo Bites pop-up restaurants. It’s the rap star’s first album since 2008’s LAX and stands for his self-declared “Rededication to hip-hop.” And, oh yeah, dropping the "The" from his name.
Barbra Streisand, in the midst of well-publicized contract negotiations with her longtime Columbia Records home, returns with an estimated 65-70k in sales for her new album What Matters Most, down from her previous debut of 181k back in Sept. ’09. The two-disc set includes Streisand covering songs by longtime collaborators Alan and Marilyn Bergman she’s never recorded on one and previously released versions on the other.
Columbia Nashville’s Pistol Annies, the band formed by Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley, should do 35-40k for their nicely named debut, Hell on Heels. Lambert’s husband, Blake Shelton, co-wrote the closing track on the album, “Family Feud.”
Disney’s Muppets: The Green Album is up next, with 15-20k, including tracks from such alternative stalwarts (and fans) as Weezer, OK Go, The Fray, My Morning Jacket, The Airborne Toxic Event, Andrew Bird, Alkaline Trio, Andrew Bird, Matt Nathanson and Rachael Yamagata, among others.
Universal Republic Nashville singer/songwriter Sunny Sweeney’s Concrete, which is on target for 12-15k in sales, features her country hit, “From a Table Away.” The native
Album sales are down 10% vs. last week, up 5% vs. same week last year and up 2% year to date.
Track sales are up 1% vs. last week, up 14% vs. same week last year and up 11% year to date.
TEA (Track Equivalent Album) sales are down 7% vs. last week, up 8% vs. same week last year and up 5% year to date.
