This week on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Jack Johnson scored his fourth No. 1, as “From Here to Now to You” arrived atop the list with 117,000 sold in its first week (according to Nielsen SoundScan). Also noteworthy was how there were five country albums in the top 10 for only the fourth time since the chart began using SoundScan data in May of 1991.
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:
— Robin Thicke, “Blurred Lines” – No. 12 – His sixth album, “Blurred Lines,” becomes his second-largest seller this week, as it moves another 19,000 (down 10%, according to Nielsen SoundScan) to bring its cumulative sum to 489,000. Of his releases, only 2006’s “The Evolution of Robin Thicke” has sold more, with 1.7 million.
— Elvis Costello and the Roots, “Wise Up Ghost and Other Songs 2013” – No. 16 – Costello’s collaboration with the Roots gives him his fourth-highest charting album ever. Only “Armed Forces” (No. 10, 1979), “Get Happy!!” (No. 11, 1980) and “Secret, Profane & Sugarcane” (No. 13, 2009) have gone higher.
— Grateful Dead, “Sunshine Daydream: Veneta, Oregon – August 27, 1972” – No. 19 – Grateful Dead notch its highest-charting album since 1987 on the Billboard 200, as its new archival live release, “Sunshine Daydream: Veneta, Oregon – August 27, 1972,” debuts at No. 19.
The band last went higher with “In the Dark,” which climbed to No. 6 off the strength of the group’s only top 40 Billboard Hot 100 single: “Touch of Grey” (No. 9 peak).
The 16,000 start marks the largest sales week for Grateful Dead since October of 2008, when “Rocking the Cradle: Egypt 1978” bowed with a handful of units more than Sunshine (but still rounded to 16,000). The new album’s sales were powered largely by orders placed on the band’s official Web site, Dead.net. (It offered a number of exclusive, limited-edition versions of the album.)
— Jonny Lang, “Fight For My Soul” – No. 50 – The singer/guitarist locks up his fourth No. 1 on Blues Albums with his first studio set for Concord Records, which also debuts at No. 50 on the Billboard 200. The new album additionally bows at No. 2 on Top Christian Albums, marking Lang’s second title to chart on the Christian tally (following the No. 1 “Turn Around” in 2006).
— Zendaya, “Zendaya” – No. 51 – The 17-year old singer/actress (Disney Channel’s “Shake It Up”) bows with her debut album, selling 7,000. The set’s single “Replay” rises 15-11 on Dance Club Songs this week and is getting a smattering of play at top 40 radio. 13 of the top 40 panel’s 164 stations played the cut this week, according to Nielsen BDS.
— Mumford & Sons, “Sigh No More” – No. 84 – The folk/rock quartet sees its debut effort sail past the 3 million mark (3.004 million). It continues to reign as the fifth-largest selling folk album of the Nielsen SoundScan era (1991-present).
— Ellie Goulding, Frank Sinatra and the National – Nos. 88, 102 and 114 – After Sinatra’s “Sinatra: Best of the Best” was discounted to $5 in the Amazon MP3 store, it returns to the tally at No. 102 with 4,000 sold and a weekly gain of 185%. Meanwhile, Ellie Goulding’s “Halcyon” takes Greatest Gainer honors at No. 88 (up 39%) after iTunes promoted her set for $6.99. Like the Sinatra album, the National’s “Trouble Will Find Me” was also sale priced at Amazon for $5. With a little over 3,000 sold, it re-enters at No. 114, logging its highest rank since the July 27 chart (No. 100).
— Josh Groban, “All That Echoes” – No. 124 – Following performances on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” (both on Sept. 18), his album zips back onto the list with a 115% sales spike and its best sales frame (3,000) since June.
