Country singer Gretchen Wilson's second album opened at No. 1 on the U.S. pop charts Wednesday, ahead of new releases by Sheryl Crow, Toni Braxton and incarcerated rapper Lil' Kim.
Wilson's "All Jacked Up" sold 264,000 units in the week ended October 2, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Her Grammy-winning Epic debut, "Here For the Party," registered the best sales week by any country newcomer with 227,000 copies in 2004. It has moved 3.9 million to date.
Last week's champion, rock band Disturbed's "Ten Thousand Fists," slid seven places to No. 8 with 92,000 copies.
Crow's first studio set in three years, "Wildflower" (A&M), earned the No. 2 spot with 140,000 copies. She also opened at No. 2 with 2002's "C'Mon, C'Mon," which started with 185,000 and has sold 2.1 million to date.
Three 6 Mafia bowed at No. 3 with "Most Known Unknown" (Hypnotize Minds/Columbia). With 115,000 units, the album fared a bit better than 2003's "Da Unbreakables," which bowed at No. 4 with 95,000 units. To date, it has sold 503,000.
Braxton's fifth studio set, "Libra" (Blackground), opened at No. 4 with 114,000, an improvement over her previous album, "More Than a Woman." That release started at No. 13 with 98,000 in 2002 and has sold 435,000 so far. Her best-selling album to date remains 1996's "Secrets" with a 5.3 million total.
Rapper Kanye West's "Late Registration" (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam) fell two places to No. 5 with 110,000 units.
Lil' Kim, serving 366 days for perjury, has something to celebrate from her Philadelphia jail cell as her latest album, "The Naked Truth" (Queen Bee/Atlantic), entered the chart at No. 6 with 109,000 copies. Though not far behind from 2003's "La Bella Mafia," that project started at No. 5 with 166,000 and has sold 1.1 million to date.
Jamaica native Sean Paul scored the highest opening sales week for a reggae album since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991. "The Trinity" (Atlantic) opened at No. 7 with 107,000 copies, also the career-best sales week and highest Billboard 200 chart position for the artist. His previous effort, "Dutty Rock" started at No. 26 with 60,000 in 2002 before peaking at No. 9 and shifting 2.6 million to date.
Bon Jovi and the Black Eyed Peas maintained top-tier status at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively. The former's "Have a Nice Day" (Island) was down seven places with 89,000 units in its second week, while the latter's "Monkey Business" (A&M/Interscope) fell two places with 77,000.
At No. 11 with 72,000 units, Neil Young's "Prairie Wind" (Reprise) earned the artist his highest sales week since 1995's collaboration with Pearl Jam, "Mirror Ball." That album started with 98,000 copies at No. 5 and has sold 475,000 overall.
With 46,000 copies, Finnish act HIM scored the No. 18 slot with its Sire/Warner Bros. debut, "Dark Light." This is the best showing by far for the goth rock group, whose "Love Metal" -- released in Europe in 2003 -- appeared earlier this year at No. 117.
Top 50 debuts this week included Bloodhound Gang's "Hefty Fine" (Geffen, No. 24); Wynonna's "Her Story: Scenes From a Lifetime" (Curb, No. 25); Ryan Adams & the Cardinals' "Jacksonville City Night Nights" (Lost Highway, No. 33) and David Crowder Band's "A Collision" (Sparrow, No. 39).
At 10.3 million units, overall U.S. album sales were up 4.5% from the previous week, but down 4.6% from the same week last year. Year-to-date sales continued behind those of 2004 by 10.4% at 415 million units. |
