GREAT BRITNEY!!
The return of Jive's Britney Spears lived up to the hype as the "not a girl, not yet a woman" pop star dominated this week's album chart, selling 768.5k. Teenpop may have peaked, but its few remaining stars still sell a buttload of records.
Justin's, er, lady was one of two Jive debuts in the Top 10, with labelmate rapper Petey Pablo bowing at #8.
"It seems that she's been able to shed her young teen image without alienating a huge number of fans. And that's not all she's shed—nudge-nudge, wink-wink," said dirty ol' man Brant Berry of Fred Meyer, who added, "We fully expect her to stay strong for the rest of the year and beyond. She's the next Tiffanyum, I mean she's like a diamond at Tiffany's."
Brit and Pablo were joined by two other debuts in the Top 10, most notably Capitol's crazy diamonds Pink Floyd, who notched up #2 with a two-disc greatest hits set, Echoes. That record should stay strong through the holiday season, since there are plenty of stoners who couldn't get off the couch and into the stores this week, but they're sure to run out for some snacks pretty soon. MCA Nashville's George Strait debuted at #9, while Epic's Michael Jackson and Interscope's Enrique Iglesias held strong in their second weeks, charting at #3 and #5, respectively.
Other chart action includes Roadrunner/IDJ's Nickelback, who have been in the Top 10 since the record's release, at #7, and a doubling in sales for the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" ST, thanks to Album of the Year and Single of the Year honors at last week's widely watched CMAs. The best-selling album is now at #16, up from #30 last week.
