Record Numbers
Radiohead hits the top of the charts.
Write this down: 2008 will be the greatest single year in human history. The proof? For the first two weeks of the year, Josh Groban's Noel was not the highest-selling album in the country. It seems like weeks since I've been able to say that. Merciful God in heaven above, what have we done to deserve this bounty?
In fact, in a complete reversal of quality and integrity, Radiohead stormed to the top of the charts, moving 122,000 copies of In Rainbows. That number is well-below the first week averages of Radiohead's last three studio albums, but those albums were not released three months earlier via the band's website for the low-low price of nothing. Considering how many hardcore fans are estimated to have downloaded the digital version, In Rainbows chart success is impressive.
Not far behind was Alicia Keys, who pushed 112,000 copies of her mega-hit As I Am. Fellow R&Ber Mary J. Blige nabbed the third spot with Growing Pains, which sold 89,000 copies after topping the chart last week. The Now 26 compilation took the fourth spot for the one billionth week in a row with 54,000, while Taylor Swift's self-titled album added another 47,000 to its total at number five.
Chris Brown won a close race for sixth with 41,000 copies of Exclusive, which barely nudged out the 39,000 copies of Garth Brooks' Ultimate Hits collection. The soundtrack to the indie comedy Juno managed to sell 38,000 copies and take the eighth spot despite the fact that digital downloads accounted for more than 99 percent of its total sales.
Colbie Calliat only sold 250 fewer albums than Juno, but it was enough to drop Bubbly to the ninth spot. The Eagles are somehow still on the charts, desperately clinging to the tenth spot with 36,000 units of Long Road Out of Eden.
Posted by Ryan Peters on Jan 10, 2008 @ 12:00 am
