CHART PREVIEW: AUDIOSLAVE RAGES TOWARD #1
Indeed, as of Tuesday morning, Audioslave’s Out of Exile (Interscope/Epic) continued to peel away from the pack, looking like a lock for #1 on this week's chart, with final sales for the album’s debut week expected to come in at 270k-280k.
That a good 70k or so ahead of the expected sales of this week’s #2 album, which at this point still could be either the debuting Common, whose Be (Geffen) is expected to come in at around 200k-210k, or System of a Down’s Mezmerize (Columbia), which is expected to see a second-week number in the same range following the album’s mighty 465k debut last week.
And then there’s Mariah Carey’s The Emancipation of Mimi (Island), which has held its ground for weeks now and isn’t giving any up just yet. The latest projections indicated a showing of 180k-190k for the week, but her appearance on Oprah last week could give her enough of a bounce to put her in contention for #2 as well. Keep your eyes glued on the chart as it builds to its thrilling conclusion this afternoon to see how this plays out.
Besides Audioslave and Common, several other notable albums will be making their chart debuts today: Gorillaz’ Demon Days (Virgin) are expected to do 90k-100k; Young Gunz’ Brothers from Another (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam) and Seether’s Karma and Effect (Wind-up) are looking like 70k-75k each; Marquez Houston’s Naked (Universal) projects to 65k-70k; B.G.’s The Heart of Tha Streetz (Koch) should do 60k-65k; and the Alkaline Trio’s Crimson (Vagrant), The Longest Yard soundtrack (Universal) and Pretty Ricky’s Bluestars (Atlantic) each should finish with 45k-50k sold for the week.
Again, tune in to the final chart this afternoon to find out what really happens. Thank you.
