Funk Sells, but the Backstreet Boys and Ricky Are Truly Red Hot
The arrival of a new Red Hot Chili Peppers album in 1999 may not
create quite the same stir that it would have circa 1991, but
judging from the No. 3 debut of the alt-funksters’
Californication, there’s still a couple hundred thousand
faithful fans that will make a concerted effort to hear it first.
Californication was one of just two new albums in the Top
Ten this week, according to SoundScan; the second was Smash Mouth’s
Astro Mouth, which entered at No. 10.
As for the No. 1 slot, anyone still in the dark about that is
probably still waiting for the first Star Wars prequel to
hit the screens. For the fourth week in a row, the Backstreet Boys
ruled the top slot with Millennium, which is already the
third highest-selling album of 1999 with total sales of 2,565,000
— just behind Britney Spears’ …Baby One More Time and
TLC’s Fan Club. Hanging on to No. 2 for the third straight
week, after being dethroned by Nick Carter and Co., is Ricky Martin
(incidentally, the sixth best-selling album of the year).
Of last week’s four Top Ten debuts, only Ja Rule’s Venni Vetti
Vecci is still in the neighborhood, though it slipped from No.
3 to No. 5. Jennifer Lopez’s On the 6, which had fellow
Latin sensation Ricky Martin in its sights last week with an
impressive No. 8 debut, fell to No. 12. Blink-182’s Enema of
the State tumbled from No. 9 to No. 14, and Da Crime
Family by Tru dropped all the way from No. 5 to No. 15.
Elsewhere, high-gloss, Eighties’ style pop metal made a strong
comeback in the form of Def Leppard’s Euphoria, which
debuted at No. 11, just a nudge away from Smash Mouth’s No. 10
spot. Less impressive was Jamiroquai’s Synkronized, in at
No. 28. Rapper MC Eiht’s Section 8 debuted at No. 54,
punkers Pennywise at No. 62 with Straight Ahead, and jazz
pianist Diana Krall at No. 68. Ministry’s Dark Side of the
Spoon, banned from K-Mart for its cover art, debuted at No.
92, and Pavement’s Terror Twilight bowed at No. 95.
From the top, it was Millennium (371,000); Ricky
Martin (310,000); Californication (189,000);
…Baby One More Time (148,000); Venni Vetti
Vecci (120,000); Kid Rock’s Devil Without a Cause
(109,000); Shania Twain’s Come On Over (107,000); the
soundtrack to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
(104,000); Fan Mail (100,000); and Astro Lounge
(99,000).