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Pop Rock Nation

Category: News

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  • Chart Chat 5/21/09: It’s a Green Day

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    As expected, Green Day takes the #1 spot on this week’s Billboard charts with their new album, “21st Century Breakdown”. The pop-punk legends sold 215,000 units of the album in only three days of release, matching up favorably with 2004’s “American Idiot”, which sold a shade under 250K in its’ first full week out.

    After Green Day on the chart? Tumbleweed City, folks. The “Hannah Montana” Soundtrack is #2 with 68K sold, and after that, no other album approaches the 50K mark. As usual, “American Idol” is the biggest catalyst behind the chart’s biggest moves. OneRepublic’s 18-month old “Dreaming Out Loud” re-enters the chart at #178 with a 120% increase over the previous week’s sales, and Katy Perry is another big gainer, as a 25% increase pushes her up 25 spots on the chart and also zooms her album “One of the Boys” past the million sales mark. Conversely, looks like bad times are ahead for former platinum-selling rappers Cam’ron and Paul Wall. Cam’s “Crime Pays” opens at an impressive #3, but only scans 43K in it’s first frame, while Wall’s “Fast Life” sells barely more than half of Cam’ron’s total to land at #15. And to think that Paul Wall had a #1 album just a couple short weeks ago.

    Next week, it’s all about Slim Shady, as Eminem’s “Relapse” is scheduled to bump Green Day out of the top spot with the biggest sales week of the year, which could approach 650,000 units sold. Stay tuned, we’ll have Em’s final numbers in our Chart Chat column next week.

    Here are this week’s Top 20 Albums

    1) “21st Century Breakdown” Green Day

    2) “Hannah Montana Soundtrack” Various Artists

    3) “Crime Pays” Cam’ron

    4) “The Fame” Lady GaGa

    5) “Unstoppable” Rascal Flatts

    6) “Together Through Life” Bob Dylan

    7) “Fearless” Taylor Swift

    8) “Epiphany” Chrisette Michele

    9) “Deeper Than Rap” Rick Ross

    10) “Fantasy Ride” Ciara

    11) “Twilight Soundtrack” Various Artists

    12) “Now That’s What I Call Music 30” Various Artists

    13) “Dark Horse” Nickelback

    14) “Only by the Night” Kings of Leon

    15) “Fast Life” Paul Wall

    16) “In a Perfect World…” Keri Hilson

    17) “Foundation” Zac Brown Band

    18) “Wide Open” Jason Aldean

    19) “Townes” Steve Earle

    20) “All I Ever Wanted” Kelly Clarkson

  • First Look: Asher Roth “Be By Myself”

    OK, I’ll admit it. I don’t hate Asher Roth. At the very least, I give him props for not trying to be something he isn’t (hear that, 2009-era Eminem?). Maybe it’s because I hang out with a bunch of college kids, but “I Love College” touched my guilty-pleasure nerve and led “Asleep in the Bread Aisle” into my record collection. The album’s not great (although I wouldn’t call it my most regrettable music purchase of 2009), but Asher makes a pretty decent bid to avoid one-hit-wonderdom with his new single “Be By Myself”, which features the Round Mound of Rap, Cee-Lo Green. Man, despite the fact that this is nominally Asher’s video, don’t you wanna hear Cee-Lo rap again? (yeah, we know he can sing, but he can rhyme better…seriously…he might be the most underrated emcee *ever*).

    Anyhow, check out the video and let us know what you think…

  • New Release of the Week: Eminem’s “Relapse”

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    After a lengthy build-up, it’s finally here. Eminem ends the half-decade break between albums with his new set, Relapse.    Despite the lukewarm reception the singles from it have received, all indications point to this album being a blockbuster. Somewhat surprisingly, given the quality of the singles, reviews I’ve read for the album have been overwhelmingly positive, but then again, it doesn’t appear that Eminem is capable of doing wrong in the eyes of most rock critics. Given the current state of the industry, it’ll be interesting to see how this album does. If Em catches a brick, it may be a sign that the music industry has officially reached a point of no return.

    Here’s what else you’ll find in stores this week.

    Busta Rhymes B.O.M.B. (Back on My B.S.)– Seems like just yesterday that Slim Shady and Bussa Bus were labelmates, now they have competing albums coming out the same day. Busta’s eighth solo album has been held up for the better part of the year, with three singles having entered the marketplace without taking off. Methinks his having gone gangsta on his last record left a bitter taste in many of his fans’ mouths. Will hip-hop’s official loudmouth be able to retain his once sizable audience, or is this the beginning of the end for the man who was once one of hip-hop’s sharpest emcees?

    Lenny Kravitz Let Love Rule: 20th Anniversary Edition– Remember when Lenny Kravitz first came out, people thought he was a joke because he was married to Lisa (Denise Huxtable) Bonet and he was a neo-hippie before it was really popular to be one? Well, he who laughs last laughs best. Two decades later, Lenny is a multi-millionaire Grammy winner with a lengthy string of hit albums, and his very first effort is getting the anniversary deluxe treatment by Virgin Records. In addition to a much-needed remaster of his debut, this special edition contains live tracks and demos.

    Tori Amos Abnormally Attracted to Sin– After a moderately successful stint on Epic Records, Tori Amos moves on to label #3 (Universal) with her latest album, “Abnormally Attracted to Sin”. The always-quirky singer/songwriter/pianist delivers yet another serving of her lyrically obtuse but passionately sung music on this album.

    Lionel Richie Just Go– Folks forget about Lionel Richie sometimes, but he still has a fairly large fanbase, after all his last album went Gold. This album’s title track has a little bit of the island flavor that made “All Night Long” such a smash back in ’83, and features guest vocals from Akon. Lionel’s familiar mix of R&B and adult contemporary is here, and “Just Go” should go a long way towards proving that the man has barely lost a step, even as he approaches 60 years of age. And what’s this I hear about a Commodores reunion? Is that even necessary?

    As usual, get your complete list of new releases here.