Gettin’ tired of seeing the same names over and over? So am I. However, I still gotta give ya the charts every week, so here goes. As usual, these charts appear courtesy of the fine folks at Billboard Communications.
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Top 20 Albums
1) “All Hope is Gone” Slipknot
2) “L.A.X” The Game
3) “Rock & Roll Jesus” Kid Rock
4) “A Little Bit Longer” Jonas Brothers
5) “Mamma Mia Soundtrack” Various Artists
6) “Tha Carter III” Li’l Wayne
7) “Now That’s What I Call Country!” Various Artists
8) “Love on the Inside” Sugarland
9) “Sol-Angel & the Hadley Street Dreams” Solange
10) “Viva La Vida or Death & All His Friends” Coldplay
11) “Breakout” Miley Cyrus
12) “Good Girl Gone Bad” Rihanna
13) “The Illusion of Progress” Staind
14) “Raw Footage” Ice Cube
15) “Palabras de Silencio” Luis Fonsi
16) “Camp Rock Soundtrack” Various Artists
17) “One World-Soundtrack” Cheetah Girls
18) “Ultra Beatdown” Dragonforce
19) “Spirit” Leona Lewis
20) “One of the Boys” Katy Perry
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Top 20 Singles
1) “Whatever You Like” T.I.
2) “Disturbia” Rihanna
3) “So What?” Pink
4) “Forever” Chris Brown
5) “Paper Planes” M.I.A.
6) “Dangerous” Kardinal Offishall feat. Akon
7) “Viva La Vida” Coldplay
8) “Closer” Ne-Yo
9) “I’m Yours” Jason Mraz
10) “I Kissed a Girl” Katy Perry
11) “When I Grow Up” The Pussycat Dolls
12) “Put On” Young Jeezy feat. Kanye West
13) “Can’t Believe It” T-Pain feat. Li’l Wayne
14) “Take a Bow” Rihanna
15) “Leavin'” Jesse McCartney
16) “Got Money” Li’l Wayne feat. T-Pain
17) “One Step at a Time” Jordin Sparks
18) “Get Like Me” David Banner feat. Chris Brown
19) “A Milli” Li’l Wayne
20) “Hot N Cold” Katy Perry
*Li’l Wayne yada yada yada T-Pain yada yada yada Rihanna yada yada yada Chris Brown yada yada yada. Can we get some new blood, please?
*And by “new blood”, I don’t mean Katy Perry. (sigh) So much for her being a one-hit wonder.
*Jason Mraz scores the biggest hit of his career with “I’m Yours”, which lands in the Top 10 at #9 this week. The album the song comes from, “We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things”, has already outsold Jason’s previous album, “Mr. A-Z”, in a fraction of the time. As obnoxious and precious as he’s capable of being, I do think he’s talented, and it’s good to see his album and single becoming a success.
*As I mentioned a couple days back, metal band Slipknot edges out Compton rapper The Game on the album chart by a margin of just a few thousand units. Actually, when the charts were originally tallied, Game was on top. I know that if Game’s momma didn’t buy a copy of the album, she’s getting pistol-whipped right about now.
*Speaking of which, the final tally? The Game: 238,000 units sold. G-Unit’s first week? 102,000. I think The Game wins this one. Actually, “L.A.X.” has surpassed the G-Unit album’s total sales to date in its’ first week. What publicity stunt will Fiddy cook up next?
*I’m pretty sure Solange’s momma bought her new album, as “Sol-Angel & the Hadley Street Dreams” debuts at #9 on this week’s album chart, selling double what Ms. Knowles’ previous album, “Solo Star” did a few years back. I guess acting like a raging bitch on wheels fool during televised interviews pays off (and “inadvertently” gaining more press by confirming your sister’s marriage to Jay-Z), doesn’t it? The album pops up right above Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida or Death & All His Friends”, cornering the market on silly album titles.
*A little bit of persistence pays off, as not only is Ne-Yo nestled comfortably in the Top 10 with “Closer”, but he rockets from 98-32 on the singles chart with “Miss Independent”, the second single from his upcoming “Year of the Gentleman”. “Closer” literally took months to catch on, and this bodes well for the success of the new album, which has been pushed back further than Ne-Yo’s hairline recedes (OK, this would be a great time to post the mug shot photo, but I shall resist temptation!).
*Also as mentioned a couple days ago, Darius Rucker (better known by one and all as “Hootie”) sniffs the inside of the Top 40 for the first time this century with “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It”, which checks in at #40 this week. It also pops up at #5 on the country singles chart, marking the first time someone darker than cardboard has charted so high on that list in recent memory. Go Hootie.
*If Darius Rucker and Kim Fields made a record together, can they please be called Hootie and Tootie? And can they do a remake of “Tutti Frutti”? That would make me very happy.
*Hey, at least it started out successfully: Mariah Carey’s “E=MC2”, slides down to #86 in its’ 20th week on the chart, standing at about 1.3 million sold. Not a bad number by any means, but a far cry from the well over 6 million that “The Emancipation of Mimi” sold. Additionally, none of the two follow-up singles to her #1 hit “Touch My Body”: “Bye Bye” and “I’ll Be Lovin’ You Long Time”, have caught fire at radio. Maybe this album’s relative lack of success will send Mimi back to the lab so she can start making halfway decent music again.
*Finally, because I’m feeling just a little bit metal this morning (I said METAL, not MENTAL!!), here’s a video by Dragonforce, who debuts at #18 this week with their new album, “Ultra Beatdown”. Rock on, gentlemen. And ladies. Till next time…
