This week on the Billboard 200, Robin Thicke nabbed his first No. 1 album — a little over a decade after his debut. “Blurred Lines,” led by the smash single of the same name, opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with 177,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It was one of five debuts in the top 10 this week.
Outside the top 10 on the Billboard 200 there were a number of movers and shakers, as usual. Let’s take a look at some of them…
— Buddy Guy, “Rhythm & Blues” (No. 27): 77-year-old blues legend Buddy Guy nets his highest charting album ever on the Billboard 200, as “Rhythm & Blues” debuts at No. 27 with 11,000 sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. On Blues Albums, it marks Guy’s fourth No. 1.
The double-album includes an array of bold-faced guests including Keith Urban, Kid Rock, Beth Hart, Gary Clark, Jr. and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and Brad Whitford.
“Rhythm & Blues” also gives Guy his best sales week since SoundScan launched in 1991. His previous high came with his last set, 2010’s “Living Proof” (9,000; No. 46 debut and peak). In fact, his last four studio albums have also started with a larger debut week than the previous, starting with 2005’s “Bring ‘Em In” (7,000; No. 152) and continuing with 2008’s “Skin Deep” (just under 9,000; No. 68) and “Living Proof.”
— Imagine Dragons, “Night Visions” (No. 11): The album nets the longest streak of 20,000-plus sales weeks this year, as it scores its 25th consecutive frame above 20,000. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “The Heist” tallied 24 straight weeks of 20,000-plus sales from the charts dated Feb. 16 through July 27.
— Bruno Mars, “Unorthodox Jukebox” (No. 12): Bruno Mars’ incredible run in the top 20 continues as his album spends its 34th week in the top 20 — its entire chart life. The last album by a male artist to spend its first 34 weeks in the top 20 was Eminem’s “The Eminem Show” with 38 straight frames, ending on Feb. 22, 2003.
— Billy Joel, “The Essential Billy Joel” (No. 15): A big catalog sale in the iTunes Store yield big results on the chart. An assortment of older greatest hits albums were priced at $6.99, including Billy Joel’s “The Essential Billy Joel,” which re-enters at No. 15 with 17,000 sold (up 1,060%). Other albums that see sale price-powered gains are the Rolling Stones’ “Hot Rocks 1964-1971” (a re-entry at No. 18 with 17,000; up 1,273%) and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits” (rising 133-22 with 15,000; up 402%).
— Vince Gill & Paul Franklin, “Bakersfield” (No. 25): The collaborative tribute set to the California city’s two biggest musical figures (Merle Haggard and Buck Owens), debuts at No. 25 with 12,000 sold. Over on Top Country Albums, it arrives at No. 4.
On the latter chart, it’s only the fourth tribute or concept-style album to open inside the top five during the 22-year old SoundScan era. It follows Jamey Johnson’s “Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran,” which bowed at No. 3 last fall. The short list of lofty starts also includes the multi-artist R&B tribute project “Rhythm Country & Blues,” which popped on at No. 2 in 1994, and “Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles,” a various artists tribute that bowed at No. 3 in 1993.
The new album marks Country Music Hall of Fame honoree Gill’s 23rd charted title on Top Country Albums, and the first for steel guitar master Franklin.
— The Rolling Stones, “Hyde Park Live” (No. 176): The band’s iTunes-exclusive album slips by 82% and 157 rungs on the Billboard 200 in its second week, the fifth-largest positional fall this year. (It bowed at No. 19 last week.) The largest tumble of 2013 belongs to How to Destroy Angels’ “Welcome Oblivion,” which fell 165 spots on March 30, from No. 30 to No. 195.
