US Chart Talk: 12/1/07

[Guest Topaz Scorpio]

She's "taking chances" and it backfired.

She should have stuck to power ballads. If possible, one that's tied to a movie.

That wouldn't have helped. I don't why people expected big sales for this album. It's a different landscape now than when Celine was having big hits in the 90's. Combine that with overall declining album sales.

And honestly, she didn't really take any extreme chances. The album is really not that much different from any of her prior releases. Maybe that's one of the problems. She didn't take ENOUGH chances.

[Guest northernlad]

I don't think anyone was expecting huge cumulative sales for the album, but considering that many albums by established artists are selling anywhere from a third to a fifth of their final tally in the first week, I know I at least thought she'd top 300, if not 400k. That and the number of people seeing her Vegas show these last few years should've harped a lot of curiosity.

By the way, what would Celine taking big chances look like?

[Guest nothingfails0603]

I think Vegas really does help make artists become more nichey and tacky. Vegas was pretty much the end of the line for Elvis' music career being taken seriously.

I think Celine did Vegas way too early into her career, people like Manilow and Cher are in their 60's, they had their day, they know their days of scoring a serious hit are way behind them.

[Guest Topaz Scorpio]

I don't think anyone was expecting huge cumulative sales for the album, but considering that many albums by established artists are selling anywhere from a third to a fifth of their final tally in the first week, I know I at least thought she'd top 300, if not 400k. That and the number of people seeing her Vegas show these last few years should've harped a lot of curiosity.

By the way, what would Celine taking big chances look like?

I think Celine may have already moved into being one of those retro concert acts though. She may get sold out shows at her concerts but it doesn't translate into album sales.

[Guest Topaz Scorpio]

I think Vegas really does help make artists become more nichey and tacky. Vegas was pretty much the end of the line for Elvis' music career being taken seriously.

I think Celine did Vegas way too early into her career, people like Manilow and Cher are in their 60's, they had their day, they know their days of scoring a serious hit are way behind them.

True. That was risk for her and has moved her into a different category of artist. But really, how many artists making the type of music that Celine normally does are scoring big song hits nowadays? The time of people like Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, and Celine having big hits with AC type songs are in the past. Even AC stations have changed up their formats. Now I hear stuff like Daughtry, Kelly Clarkson, and even Kylie being played on AC stations that used to play all the slower less rockish stuff.

[thebigham]

NOW IN FINAL:

-- 1 ALICIA KEYS J RECORDS/RMG 723,125 --

AS I AM

6 2 JOSH GROBAN REPRISE 229,238 +90%

NOEL

-- 3 CELINE DION COLUMBIA 206,603 --

TAKING CHANCES

-- 4 NOW 26 EMI COMMERCIAL MARKETING 203,902 --

VARIOUS ARTISTS

3 5 GARTH BROOKS PEARL RECORDS 201,049 -43%

ULTIMATE HITS

2 6 EAGLES EAGLES RECORDING COMPANY 195,426 -45%

LONG ROAD OUT OF EDEN

-- 7 LED ZEPPELIN ATLANTIC/ATL G 133,763 --

MOTHERSHIP

1 8 JAY-Z ROC-A-FELLA/IDJMG 118,639 -73%

AMERICAN GANGSTER

5 9 CARRIE UNDERWOOD ARISTA/RMG 115,505 -5%

CARNIVAL RIDE

4 10 CHRIS BROWN JIVE/ZLG 102,904 -66%

EXCLUSIVE

-- 11 DANE COOK COMEDY CENTRAL RECORDS 93,581 --

ROUGH AROUND THE EDGES: LIVE MSG

-- 12 KILLERS AMERICAN RECORDINGS 79,982 --

SAWDUST

11 13 HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2 WALT DISNEY RECORDS 79,084 +30%

SOUNDTRACK

-- 14 GEORGE STRAIT MCA NASHVILLE 77,778 --

22 MORE HITS

19 15 HANNAH MONTANA 2 - MEET MILEY WALT DISNEY RECORDS 65,891 +54%

SOUNDTRACK

9 16 TAYLOR SWIFT BIG MACHINE 63,617 -6%

TAYLOR SWIFT

25 17 MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER AMERICAN GRAMAPHONE 60,326 +83%

CHRISTMAS SONG

-- 18 JAMES TAYLOR HEAR MUSIC 59,739 --

ONE MAN BAND

20 19 ANDREA BOCELLI DECCA 57,994 +37%

BEST OFANDREA BOCELLI - VIVERE

17 20 COLBIE CAILLAT UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 55,104 +15%

COCO

12 21 REBA MCENTIRE MCA NASHVILLE 52,815 -8%

DUETS

16 22 RASCAL FLATTS LYRIC STREET 52,083 +3%

STILL FEELS GOOD

14 23 ROBERT PLANT & ALISON KRAUSS ROUNDER 51,847 -8%

RAISING SAND

13 24 SUGARLAND ISLAND/MERCURY NASHVILLE 50,954 -10%

ENJOY THE RIDE

7 25 BRITNEY SPEARS JIVE/ZLG 50,809 -38%

BLACKOUT

22 26 KEYSHIA COLE GEFFEN 45,341 +11%

JUST LIKE YOU

-- 27 BOYZ II MEN DECCA 41,483 --

MOTOWN: A JOURNEY THROUGH...

23 28 KID ROCK ATLANTIC/ATL G 38,401 +6%

ROCK N ROLL JESUS

24 29 SOULJA BOY TELL'EM INTERSCOPE 36,050 +9%

SOULJABOYTELLEM.COM

27 30 JONAS BROTHERS HOLLYWOOD 33,191 +4%

JONAS BROTHERS

18 31 JOSH TURNER MCA NASHVILLE 31,981 -29%

EVERYTHING IS FINE

-- 32 GOO GOO DOLLS WARNER BROS. 31,536 --

GREATEST HITS, VOL. 1

29 33 BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN COLUMBIA 31,179 +4%

MAGIC

-- 34 TRISHA YEARWOOD BIG MACHINE 30,861 --

HEAVEN HEARTACHE & THE POWER OF

-- 35 SEAL WARNER BROS. 30,583 --

SYSTEM

28 36 KANYE WEST ROC-A-FELLA/IDJMG 30,566 -2%

GRADUATION

-- 37 DISNEY CHANNEL HOLIDAY WALT DISNEY RECORDS 29,656 --

VARIOUS

15 38 WISIN Y YANDEL MACHETE MUSIC 27,727 -49%

WISIN VS. YANDEL

31 39 FERGIE A&M/INTERSCOPE 27,472 +5%

THE DUTCHESS

30 40 NICKELBACK ROADRUNNER 27,149 +1%

ALL THE RIGHT REASONS

40 41 MATCHBOX TWENTY ATLANTIC/ATL G 25,229 +25%

EXILE ON MAINSTREAM

-- 42 DURAN DURAN EPIC 24,848 --

RED CARPET MASSACRE

34 43 KENNY CHESNEY BNA/SBMG NASHVILLE 24,515 +2%

JUST WHO I AM: POETS & PIRATES

45 44 HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL WALT DISNEY RECORDS 23,958 +29%

SOUNDTRACK

-- 45 TOBY KEITH SHOW DOG/UNIVERSAL NASH 23,822 --

CLASSIC CHRISTMAS

21 46 PAUL POTTS COLUMBIA 23,566 -43%

ONE CHANCE

46 47 HANNAH MONTANA WALT DISNEY RECORDS 22,406 +21%

SOUNDTRACK

39 48 DAUGHTRY RCA/RMG 22,354 +10%

DAUGHTRY

36 49 J. HOLIDAY CAPITOL 22,319 -5%

BACK OF MY LAC

33 50 TIMBALAND INTERSCOPE 22,180 -9%

TIMBALAND PRESENTS SHOCK VALUE

[Guest nothingfails0603]

True. That was risk for her and has moved her into a different category of artist. But really, how many artists making the type of music that Celine normally does are scoring big song hits nowadays? The time of people like Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, and Celine having big hits with AC type songs are in the past. Even AC stations have changed up their formats. Now I hear stuff like Daughtry, Kelly Clarkson, and even Kylie being played on AC stations that used to play all the slower less rockish stuff.

that's true, but even though someone like Rod Stewart doesn't score hits anymore, he still sells records. Celine has always been a stronger album seller than hit maker, so it's surprising opening sales are so anemic for her considering it's a relatively strong sales week and she did Oprah, etc... People like Josh Groban, Norah Jones, Rod Stewart, etc... are pretty much solely album artists, but yet Celine's not even doing that hot for albums.

What is funny about all of this is that Celine has been talking about how she wants to be the next Streisand, but when Streisand was the age Celine is right now, she was enjoying her most commercially successful period and was riding high on her most successful worldwide album (Guilty) yet Celine is viewed as some over the hill Vegas performer

[HolidayGuy]

Consumers sure ain't sayin' "gimme mo" with the Blackout album, eh?

RE Babs/Celine- Babs wasn't as commercially successful (in terms of album sales) as Dion. But, Dion always came off as a Babs wanna-be, minus the chutzpuh and overall presence, of course.

[Guest boytoyville]

Hope the Spice Girls end up in the top 100!

[Guest boytoyville]

Hope the Spice Girls end up in the top 100!

[Guest Topaz Scorpio]

that's true, but even though someone like Rod Stewart doesn't score hits anymore, he still sells records. Celine has always been a stronger album seller than hit maker, so it's surprising opening sales are so anemic for her considering it's a relatively strong sales week and she did Oprah, etc... People like Josh Groban, Norah Jones, Rod Stewart, etc... are pretty much solely album artists, but yet Celine's not even doing that hot for albums.

Yeah, but Celine has also been around now for about 17 years so of course she is going to experience lower album sales than newer artists like Groban or Jones. And I think Rod Stewart's last two album releases were cover collections. It's possible for older artists to score reasonable sales with collections like that or Greatest Hits. I think Tina Turner did pretty well with her Greatest Hits a few years back due to Oprah and Starbucks helping it along. I think Celine might've actually scored better with a comprehensive Greatest Hits and "Taking Chances" as a new track on it.

There's just so many factors at work here that honestly it is hard to predict how some albums or singles will do. I mean who (besides HolidayGuy) would've predicted that "Blackout" would be such a major flop after "Gimme More" did so well?

[Guest nothingfails0603]

I had a feeling Blackout wasn't going to have much staying power considering the artist who released it isn't trying at all

[HolidayGuy]

But "Gimme" did not do so well at radio (I think No. 48 Hot 100 Airplay peak)- then again, she never was a big radio act. The digital sales were strong the first few weeks and such- but then it kinda faded.

[Joey]

5 9 CARRIE UNDERWOOD ARISTA/RMG 115,505 -5%

CARNIVAL RIDE

YAY

still top 10

[Alexz]

bks at Pulse

BILLBOARD HOT DIGITAL SONGS - TOP 50

5 1 KEYS*ALICIA NO ONE 209776 89 111120 864950

3 2 FLO RIDA LOW 170859 31 130905 307471

1 3 TIMBALAND FEAT. ONEREPUBLIC APOLOGIZE 130720 -16 155871 1453839

2 4 BROWN*CHRIS KISS KISS 101972 -32 149692 749404

4 5 SOULJA BOY TELL'EM CRANK THAT (SOULJA BOY) 93112 -20 116224 2260839

8 6 FERGIE CLUMSY 87614 7 81729 386459

6 7 CAILLAT*COLBIE BUBBLY 85717 -14 99540 1290864

9 8 FINGER ELEVEN PARALYZER 74592 -8 81340 759225

7 9 BABY BASH FEATURING T-PAIN CYCLONE 67123 -20 84222 871208

11 10 MATCHBOX TWENTY HOW FAR WE'VE COME 59438 -6 62929 809163

10 11 WEST*KANYE STRONGER 51667 -18 63063 1987378

14 12 SPARKS*JORDIN TATTOO 49845 6 47047 294951

23 13 BEDINGFIELD*NATASHA FEATURING LOVE LIKE THIS 41019 14 36056 158735

20 14 GOOD CHARLOTTE I DON'T WANNA BE IN LOVE (DANC 38463 -2 39153 396881

26 15 BROWN*CHRIS WALL TO WALL 38143 7 35631 118576

12 16 SPEARS*BRITNEY GIMME MORE 38117 -20 47852 745258

21 17 SANTANA FEATURING CHAD KROEGER INTO THE NIGHT 37096 -1 37601 212810

27 18 DJ FELLI FEL FEAT. DIDDY,AKON, GET BUCK IN HERE 37027 5 35278 72305

17 19 WEST*KANYE FEAT. T-PAIN GOOD LIFE 35762 -16 42776 530627

13 20 RIHANNA HATE THAT I LOVE YOU 35364 -26 47819 489134

18 21 DJ KHALED;T-PAIN;TRICK DADDY I'M SO HOOD 35348 -17 42712 300050

15 22 SWIFT*TAYLOR OUR SONG 35227 -23 45908 412328

40 23 KINGSTON*SEAN TAKE YOU THERE 34524 48 23252 121071

24 24 TIMBALAND FT. KERI HILSON & JO WAY I ARE 34291 -5 36001 1706931

33 25 CSS MUSIC IS MY HOT HOT SEX 34043 23 27762 81302

-- 26 DION*CELINE TAKING CHANCES 32991 776 3764 73668

29 27 JEAN*WYCLEF FEATURING AKON, LI SWEETEST GIRL (DOLLAR BILL) 32632 -1 32846 285823

22 28 NICKELBACK ROCKSTAR 32166 -14 37214 1640138

16 29 SUGARLAND STAY 31642 -28 43868 206463

-- 30 LED ZEPPELIN STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN 30793 999 0 30903

32 31 FERGIE BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY 30381 -1 30543 2292573

31 32 DAUGHTRY OVER YOU 29857 -4 31184 492387

34 33 MAROON 5 WAKE UP CALL 28132 3 27240 520268

28 34 PLIES FEATURING AKON HYPNOTIZED 27643 -17 33278 202043

30 35 50 CENT FT. JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE AYO TECHNOLOGY 26893 -18 32786 817273

25 36 UNDERWOOD*CARRIE SO SMALL 25733 -28 35711 350389

-- 37 KEYS*ALICIA LIKE YOU'LL NEVER SEE ME AGAIN 23965 999 0 23965

39 38 PARAMORE MISERY BUSINESS 23663 1 23545 527035

19 39 LIFEHOUSE FROM WHERE YOU ARE 22891 -45 41517 64408

38 40 SPEARS*BRITNEY PIECE OF ME 21932 -11 24676 80753

44 41 PINK WHO KNEW 21478 -1 21652 827821

-- 42 LED ZEPPELIN KASHMIR 21465 999 0 21465

37 43 THE-DREAM SHAWTY IS A 10 20909 -16 24763 197120

45 44 PLAIN WHITE T'S HEY THERE DELILAH 20757 -2 21268 2381186

76 45 BLIGE*MARY J. JUST FINE 20713 51 13696 43696

46 46 FALL OUT BOY I'M LIKE A LAWYER...(ME & YOU) 19672 -6 20888 110762

36 47 CASSIDY FEATURING SWIZZ BEATZ MY DRINK N' MY 2 STEP 19503 -24 25815 135945

43 48 FEIST 1234 18916 -15 22381 529994

42 49 J. HOLIDAY BED 18277 -20 22902 482014

35 50 PLAYAZ CIRCLE DUFFLE BAG BOY 17774 -35 27183 195339

A FEWBONUSES

-- 59 KEYS*ALICIA LESSON LEARNED 16840 999 0 16840

-- 63 LED ZEPPELIN OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY 16442 999 0 16442

-- 66 LED ZEPPELIN BLACK DOG 15290 999 0 15324

-- 71 LED ZEPPELIN IMMIGRANT SONG 14471 999 0 14737

-- 81 DION*CELINE ALONE 12535 999 0 12535

160 84 CAREY*MARIAH ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YO 11794 81 6520 612517

-- 92 LED ZEPPELIN RAMBLE ON 11265 999 0 11265

-- 97 LEWIS*BLAKE BREAK ANOTHA 10824 999 0 10824

-- 101 LED ZEPPELIN WHOLE LOTTA LOVE 10474 999 0 11593

-- 106 KEYS*ALICIA SUPERWOMAN 9927 999 0 9927

-- 112 LED ZEPPELIN ALL MY LOVE 9611 999 0 9611

-- 116 LED ZEPPELIN D'YER MAK'ER 9028 999 0 9028

135 120 RIHANNA DON'T STOP THE MUSIC 8735 14 7662 142077

-- 123 SEAL AMAZING 8638 124 3854 35702

-- 131 LED ZEPPELIN ROCK AND ROLL 8000 999 0 8003

-- 138 LED ZEPPELIN FOOL IN THE RAIN 7855 999 0 7855

-- 184 DURAN DURAN FALLING DOWN 7347 125 3267 27951

-- 189 LED ZEPPELIN GOING TO CALIFORNIA 7063 999 0 7080

[franxisco66]

BILLBOARD TOP 200 - Top 15

N 1 KEYS*ALICIA AS I AM 742,426 999 1,175 743,612

6 WAR 8 6 2 GROBAN*JOSH NOEL 223,306 93 115,562 599,958

N 3 DION*CELINE TAKING CHANCES 214,381 999 161 214,556

N 4 VARIOUS NOW 26 208,043 999 111 208,154

3 5 BROOKS*GARTH ULTIMATE HITS 203,591 -42 351,793 555,833

2 6 EAGLES LONG ROAD OUT OF EDEN 197,491 -45 359,261 1,267,698

N 7 LED ZEPPELIN MOTHERSHIP 136,368 999 603 137,015

1 8 JAY-Z AMERICAN GANGSTER 130,577 -69 424,959 556,438

5 9 UNDERWOOD*CARRIE CARNIVAL RIDE 113,234 -6 120,771 931,631

4 10 BROWN*CHRIS EXCLUSIVE 109,601 -63 294,498 404,635

N 11 COOK*DANE ROUGH AROUND THE EDGES-LIVE FR 90,171 999 176 90,347

N 12 KILLERS SAWDUST 81,910 999 124 82,036

N 13 STRAIT*GEORGE 22 MORE HITS 80,186 999 107 80,299

11 14 HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2 SOUNDTRACK 79,528 36 58,547 2,117,806

20 15 HANNAH MONTANA 2: MEET MILEY C SOUNDTRACK 66,380 56 42,579 1,649,396

Thanks to bks (Pulse)

Edited November 21, 2007 by franxisco66

[HolidayGuy]

Most excellent numbers for Keys- especially since it's pre-holiday effect. Course, sales will go down next week, even though it's the kickoff of the holiday season, but still should do well.

Garth Brooks should sell well through year's end.

[Guest Hafo]

Jay-Z, the latest victim of the 70% drop in second week

This is what TERRIFIES me more about the state of the charts these days!

[HolidayGuy]

ITZ DA TREND, GET USED 2 IT PUNK.

[thebigham]

Billboard.com:

Keys Storms Chart With Mega-Selling 'As I Am'

by Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Alicia Keys storms The Billboard 200 this week with "As I Am" (J), which debuts at No. 1 after selling 742,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That's the best sales week for a solo female artist since Norah Jones' "Feels Like Home" shifted 1 million copies in 2004.

In a week where every top 10 album shifted more than 100,000 units, Josh Groban's "Noel" (143/Reprise) zooms 6-2 with a 93% increase to 223,000. Celine Dion's "Taking Chances" (Columbia), her first new pop album in four years, opens at No. 3 with 214,000. The multi-label, multi-artist "Now 26" collection is new at No. 4 with 208,000, the third lowest opening tally for the "Now" line.

Garth Brooks' "The Ultimate Hits" (Pearl) slips 3-5 (-42%, 204,000), while the Eagles' "Long Road Out of Eden" (Eagles Recording Co.) drops 2-6 (-45%, 197,000). Led Zeppelin's two-disc retrospective "Mothership" (Swan Song/Atlantic) debuts at No. 7 after selling 136,000, 25% of which came digitally.

Last week's chart-topper, Jay-Z's "American Gangster" (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam) plummets 1-8 with a 70% decrease to 131,000, while Carrie Underwood's "Carnival Ride" (Arista Nashville) drops 5-9 despite a small 6% decrease to 113,000. Chris Brown's "Exclusive" (Jive) falls 4-10 in its second week, thanks to a 63% decline to 110,000.

Comedian Dane Cook's "Rough Around the Edges: Live From Madison Square Garden" (Comedy Central) debuts at No. 11 with 90,000. His last set, 2005's "Retaliation," made history as the highest debuting comedy album in the history of The Billboard 200 when it bowed at No. 4. That effort started with 86,000.

At No. 12, the Killers enter the chart with the rarities collection "Sawdust" (Island), which sold 82,000. George Strait's "22 More Hits" (MCA Nashville) is new at No. 13 with 80,000, while James Taylor's debut for Starbucks' Hear Music imprint, "One Man Band," arrives at No. 16 with 63,000.

Five other albums open inside the top 40 this week, led by Boyz II Men's "Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA" (Decca) at No. 27 with 42,000. Right behind are Trisha Yearwood's "Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love" (Big Machine, No. 30, 33,000), Goo Goo Dolls' "Greatest Hits, Volume 1, The Singles" (Warner Bros., No. 33, 33,000), Seal's "System" (Warner Bros., No. 35, 30,000) and Duran Duran's "Red Carpet Massacre" (Epic, No. 36, 29,000).

Album sales are up 17.9% from last week's to 11.72 million, but down 6.2% from the same week last year

[Guest Hafo]

Poor Seal and Duran Duran Can't believe a Goo Goo Dolls GH outsold them!

[thebigham]

2m at Pulse:

Top 10 sales weeks 2007

1 09/29/09 GRADUATION KANYE WEST 956,936

2 11/24/07 AS I AM ALICIA KEYS 742,426

3 11/17/07 LONG ROAD OUT OF EDEN EAGLES 710,946

4 09/29/09 CURTIS 50 CENT 691,304

5 06/02/07 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT LINKIN PARK 622,827

6 09/01/07 HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2 SOUNDTRACK 615,361

7 10/13/07 STILL FEELS GOOD RASCAL FLATTS 546,505

8 11/10/07 CARNIVAL RIDE CARRIE UNDERWOOD 527,101

9 07/14/07 T.I. Vs. T.I.P. T.I. 467,737

10 06/09/07 IT WON'T BE SOON BEFORE LONG MAROON 5 429,484

[Guest Beautiful Stranger]

PLEASING that Dane Cook's latest comedy album missed the Top 10.

And it sucks that the Killers missed the Top 10. But then again I guess #12, during a busy sales week especially, is good for a B-Sides/Rarities collection that had no single to promote it.

[Guest Deacon]

Poor Duran Duran Can't believe a Goo Goo Dolls GH outsold them!

Aw well. That's the way the cookie crumbles when you've been around forever. It's a fucking brilliant record though. "Falling Down" just didn't connect for them, but maybe the second single can do the business. We'll see. I'm just chuffed they made their best record in 25 years.

[thebigham]

Billboard Chart Alert:

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_dis...caf2cff3b560fea

[Matt]

Wow at Alicia! Celine will reach platinum but that it i guess. And Britney, poor girl. Good album but the rest of her sucks bad!

It will be interesting to see how everyone will do for the rest of the year.

[thebigham]

MTV.com:

Alicia Keys Lands Fourth Consecutive #1 On Billboard Chart With As I Am

Celine Dion, Led Zeppelin, Now! 26 enter chart's top 10 during busy sales week.

By Chris Harris

She's released four albums over the course of her career, and all four have debuted at #1 on the Billboard top 200, including her most recent studio offering, As I Am, which first landed in record shops last week. What this all means, at least in sports terms, is that R&B songbird Alicia Keys has a perfect 4-for-4 record.

But a fourth #1 opening isn't the only thing Keys is thankful for this week. With 742,400 copies sold, As I Am earns the distinction of being the singer's best-performing debut. Her 2001 LP Songs in A Minor sold 235,800 copies to enter the top 200 at #1 while 2003's The Diary of Alicia Keys scanned more than 618,300 copies; her 2005 Unplugged set sold close to 196,000 units. Plus, As I Am, according to the latest SoundScan totals, walked away with the chart's peak position, with her closest competitor, Josh Groban's Christmas-themed Nëel, trailing at #2 with sales reported at 223,000.

Keys' newest was one of 24 new releases to enter next week's chart, during what was a healthy week for album sales overall. During the previous week, the records comprising the top 200 sold a total of 4.2 million and change, while next week's top 200 scanned close to 5.4 million, which can means the holiday shopping season is once again upon us.

Four albums, including As I Am, bowed in the top 10, including Celine Dion's latest, Taking Chances, at #3 with 214,400 sold, and the 26th installment in the Now That's What I Call Music! compilation franchise follows at #4, scanning around 208,000 units; this latest edition to the family features tracks by the likes of Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Kanye West, the Plain White T's, Daughtry, Nickelback and more. Coming in at #7, with 136,400 copies snatched up, its Mothership, a two-disc compilation set chronicling the works of Led Zeppelin.

Meanwhile, the rest of the top 10's saturated with some of music's biggest names. Garth Brooks' Ultimate Hits sits in the #5 position, with 203,600 in second-week scans, followed at #6 by the Eagles' Long Road Out of Eden, selling another 197,500 copies. Jay-Z's American Gangster drops seven spots to #8 on sales of 130,600; week-two sales of the album declined by nearly 70 percent. Carrie Underwood, fresh off her American Music Award wins, owns the #9 spot, selling 113,200 copies of her Carnival Ride, while Chris Brown's Exclusive rounds things out at #10, with 109,600 scans.

Comedian Dane Cook's latest, Rough Around the Edges: Live From Madison Square Garden, enters the chart at #11, with 90,200 copies flying off store shelves, while the Killers' Sawdust comes in at #12, with 81,900 scans. George Strait's 22 More Hits opens at #13 with 80,200 sold, and at #17 with sales of 63,000, it's James Taylor's new one, One Man Band. Boyz II Men return to the chart at #27 with Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA, an album that pays tribute to some of the legendary label's classic tracks; the set sold 41,700 units. Trisha Yearwood's Heaven, Heartache, and the Power of Love comes in at #30, selling 33,000 copies.

The Goo Goo Dolls' Volume 1: Greatest Hits, which implies a second installment somewhere down the line, finishes at #33 with 32,600 sold, while Seal's System follows at #35 with 30,200 scans. Duran Duran's Red Carpet Massacre bows at #36 with sales reported at 28,800, and coming in at #54 with 20,400 sold is Aretha Franklin's Jewels in the Crown: All-Star Duets With the Queen. Now That's What I Call Party Hits!, a compilation featuring contributions from Shop Boyz, Mims, Kelis, Amerie, Nelly Furtado and more, enters at #60 with 17,800 sold, followed at #65 by the Hives' Black and White Album, which scanned 17,200 copies.

T.H.U.G.S., an album of unreleased Bone Thugs-n-Harmony material, opens at #73 with 15,200 copies grabbed up, while David Gray's Greatest Hits enters at #96, selling 10,400. Aventura's K.O.B. Live comes in at #97 with sales of just over 10,300, with A.F.I.'s I Heard a Voice: Live from Long Beach Arena debuting at #133 with 7,400 scans. Meanwhile, the Dillinger Escape Plan's Ire Works enters at #142, with 7,000 sold. Ska kings Streetlight Manifesto's Somewhere in the Between opens at #154 with 6,300 scans, and finally, coming in at #173 with 5,500 sold, its Take Cover, a covers collection from American metallers Queensryche.

[Guest nothingfails0603]

Jay-Z, the latest victim of the 70% drop in second week

This is what TERRIFIES me more about the state of the charts these days!

Jay-Z has always been one of those "huge first week" artists that is off the chart six months later. Hard Knock Life was the only one I can think of that really had longevity, and that was mainly because Jay-Z was new at the time and breaking through to the mainstream. Ever since then, he has a huge #1 debut and then the album fades afterwards

[thebigham]

HITS:

November 21, 2007

Pass the drumstick as J Records’ Alicia Keys and Reprise’s Josh Groban fight it out for the gravy.

Keys’ chart-topping As I Am and Groban’s Noel will battle it out for #1 on next week’s HITS album chart, with both in the 300-350k range heading into what retailers hope will be a profitable Black Friday.

Helping boost Groban's chances was an appearance on yesterday’s Oprah, where he sang two songs from the disc.

Jostling for top debut will be Jive/ZLG’s Idol-winning Jordin Sparks (125k-150k) and Capitol’s Mr. Kidman, unh, Keith Urban, with a greatest hits collection (125k).

Interscope’s OneRepublic, the L.A.-by-way-of-Colorado group fronted by hit songwriter Ryan Tedder, has stormed the charts thanks to Timbaland’s remix of their #1 smash, “Apologize,” and is looking at a first-week total of 70k, followed by Mercy Me, a group being boosted by a large Christian bookstore number, which could sell between 60-70k for their INO Records release, All That Is Within Me. The Grammy-nominated band from Texas has five previous albums, one of which has gone double-platinum and three others gold.

RBD, the co-ed Mexican pop group which gained fame from starring in the hit Televisa telenovela Rebelde, has sold over 10 million albums worldwide in a little over three years. Their latest for EMI, Empezar Desde Zero (Starting from Zero), looks like it could do between 35-40k, with a big Puerto Rican number.

Roc-A-Fella/IDJ Philly rapper Freeway is looking at 35k for his sophomore album, Free At Last, the long-awaited follow-up to his 2003 debut, Philadelphia Freeway.

Universal Republic is releasing Amy Winehouse’s U.K. debut, Frank, for the first time in the States, with early reports indicating it could do around 25k.

Overall, the market was up 18% vs last week, down 6% vs. same week last year and now down 14.3% year-to-date.

Are you finished with the candied yams and cranberry sauce yet?

http://hitsdailydouble.com/news/newsPage.cgi?news06889m01

[Guest Hafo]

No info about Miss Dion?

I wasn't aware that Puerto Rico contributed to Soundscan for the US market, a pleasant surprise! And it's Empezar desde Cero" btw