Jay-Z Bounces Britney
A star-laden concert at New York City’s Madison Square Garden and a lack of juggernaut debuts helped Jay-Z reclaim Number One with The Black Album, which sold 260,000 copies, according to SoundScan. The Black Album ousted last week’s chart topper, Britney Spears‘ In the Zone, which fell to Number Three with sales of 251,000. Sandwiched in between was the week’s strongest debut, No Doubt’s new compilation Singles Collection, which sold 253,000 copies.
While the week didn’t produce a high six-figure blockbuster, sales in the Top 200 were up to 9 million from last week’s 7.7 million. Almost all of the albums in the Top Fifty enjoyed sales increases from the previous week, and a big set of debuts also posted strong tallies. Hilary Duff’s Metamorphosis zipped from Number Eighteen to Number Four and more than doubled its sales from last week’s chart to 224,000, while Korn’s Take a Look in the Mirror, which appeared dead in the water, surged from Number Nineteen to Number Nine, nearly doubling its sales to 179,000.
As for the newcomers, Nelly remix record, Da Derrty Versions, sold 144,000 copies at Number Twelve. Missy Elliott’s This Is Not a Test! was good for six-figure sales (144,000). But Elliott might be suffering the ill effects of market saturation. Test is her third album since the spring of 2001, and its number falls more than 100,000 copies below her previous two first-week sales marks. After a Number Three bid for Under Construction a year ago and a Number Two debut for Miss E . . . So Addictive in 2001, Test seems to be suffering from the lack of a monster single like “Get Ur Freak On” or “Work It.”
Elsewhere on the charts, Puddle of Mudd made a strong showing with Life on Display, which sold 103,000 at Number Twenty; Enrique Iglesias is showing some chart fatigue, as Seven crept in at Number Thirty-one with sales of 77,000; and Nelly Furtado’s Folklore (Number Thirty-eight, 68,000) is going to need some hits to repeat the success of her debut.
Next week’s chart will pit the stronger veterans against Alicia Keys’ The Diary of Alicia Keys, which looks poised to make a big first-week splash.
This week’s Top Ten: Jay-Z’s The Black Album; No Doubt’s Singles Collection; Britney Spears’ In the Zone; Hilary Duff’s Metamorphosis; Now That’s What I Call Music! 14; Toby Keith’s Shock N Y’all; Josh Groban’s Closer; G Unit’s Beg for Mercy; Korn’s Take a Look in the Mirror; and OutKast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.