YES HE KANYE!
His new Roc-a-Fella/IDJ release, 808s & Heartbreak, a stripped-down, somber affair using Auto-Tune and synthesizers, sells 443k this week, good enough to turn back Taylor Swift’s Big Machine album Fearless, solid at #2 with 257k, up 23%.
Geffen’s long-awaited Guns N’ Roses album, Chinese Democracy, bows at #3, racking up 255k in sales, just ahead of last week’s chart-topper, Beyonce’s Columbia two-CD set, I Am… Sasha Fierce, which drops to #4.
Two more of IDJ ruler L.A. Reid’s Monday power trio follow, as DTP/Def Jam/IDJ rapper Ludacris’ Theater of the Mind enters at #5, with 213k, while The Killers’ Day & Age bows at #6, and 190k.
Roadrunner’s Nickelback (#7), Atlantic’s Twilight soundtrack (#8, +38%), UMe’s Now 29 (#9, +22%) and 19/RCA/RMG’s David Cook (#10) round out the Top 10. Disney’s High School Musical: Senior Year, at #11 (+15%), is also in six figures with 100k.
Other debuts are registered by the Capitol Records Coldplay EP, Prospekt’s March (#13), Arista/RMG’s Barry Manilow (#15), Capitol Nashville’s Trace Adkins (#30), Reprise hip-hop veteran E-40 (#38), WB’s Linkin Park live album (#43) and UMe’s Now Essential Christmas (#44).
Others gaining more than 50% include Columbia’s Harry Connick Jr. (#44-28, +73%), Capitol’s Coldplay (#50-36, +72%), Taylor Swift’s Big Machine debut (+38-25, + 70%), Hollywood’s Jonas Brothers (#27-24, +69%) and Miley Cyrus (#25-21, +66%), RPM/SMEI’s Tony Bennett (#41-31, +66%), Provident/Reunion’s Casting Crowns (#40-34, +52%) and LaFace/ZLG’s P!nk (#20, +51%).
Next week’s chart is all about Jive/ZLG’s Britney Spears, whose new Circus album hit the streets on Tuesday and, from preliminary reports, is exceeding all expectations, with a flurry of positive press, an MTV documentary, an announced tour and a performance on Good Morning America that wowed Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts. Also on tap, the new album from SRC/Universal Motown’s Akon, Freedom.
