Hole Debut in Top 10
Courtney’s back, but does anybody care? Punk queen-turned-Hollywood
diva Courtney Love returned to the rock arena with her band Hole‘s
anxiously-awaited, four-years-in-the-making release, Celebrity
Skin. But are fans of Love and her grunge past ready to accept
the New Courtney and Celebrity Skin‘s pop sheen? After one
week in stores, Celebrity Skin debuted at a respectable
No. 9, but sold an underwhelming 86,000 copies for the week ending
Sept. 14, according to SoundScan. (By comparison, in its first
week, the Beastie Boys’ Hello Nasty recently sold eight
times what Skin did.)
The week’s other big arrival belonged to rapper Canibus, whose
debut Can-I-Bus (produced by Fugee Wyclef Jean) came in at
No. 2, selling 127,000 copies. Like Hole, Canibus’ numbers were
lower than expected considering the buzz that has surrounded the
rapper. Neither were able to oust hip-hop’s Lauryn Hill from the
top spot. Her Miseducation of Lauryn Hill hangs on to No.
1 for the third week running.
Both Canibus and Hole used live performances on last week’s MTV
Video Music Awards show to promote their new records. Other
beneficiaries included Madonna, who performed and also walked away
with Best Video of the Year honors. Her Ray of Light
climbs from No. 42 to No. 36. Meanwhile, Dirty Boogie by
the Brian Setzer Orchestra, which closed the MTV show with the
swingin’ sounds of “Jump Jive An’ Wail,” inched its way toward the
top ten, landing at No. 11. (Even acts that didn’t perform on the
VMA’s squeezed out small sales gains last week, including Garbage,
Green Day, Aerosmith and Radiohead.)
From the top, it was The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
(selling 214,000 copies) followed by Can-I-Bus; ‘N
Sync (111,000); Hello Nasty (110,000); Back to
Titanic (107,000); the Barenaked Ladies’ Stunt
(104,000); the soundtrack to Armageddon (92,000);
Backstreet Boys (89,000); Celebrity Skin; and
Alan Jackson’s High Mileage (82,000).