January 10, 2008

Radiohead's In Rainbows Topples Blige From Billboard's No. 1

By Chris Harris (MTV.com)

The lights are all coming down, those plastic trees are being dismantled and packed away in cardboard boxes, and the eggnog has turned - all signs that another Christmas is behind us. Of course, some of us are still in denial, slurping down thick, chunky eggnog despite the fact that it's a new year - but take one look at the first Billboard top 200 of 2008, and there's no denying Christmas is in the can.

On next week's albums sales chart, all but 16 of the albums comprising the top 200 suffered severe sales drops - and three of those 16 are new releases. According to the latest SoundScan figures, overall sales for the nation's top 200 records sunk by about 2 million when compared to those put up during the previous week. But the most convincing piece of evidence supporting the argument that Christmas is done can be found at No. 58 on next week's chart: That's where you'll find Josh Groban's Noël, one of the holiday season's - and the year's - best-selling releases.

After dominating the Billboard chart for five consecutive weeks, Groban's latest slipped to No. 3 on last week's chart. Now, thanks to a 92 percent drop in retail interest, Groban's set falls 55 positions, selling 14,400 copies. (Which obviously begs another question: Who buys Christmas music the week after Christmas?)

Perhaps the more important development on this week's chart, though, is who claimed No. 1. With just 122,300 copies snatched up, Radiohead's In Rainbows surges ahead 155 spots to the chart's peak. While considered an official No. 1 debut (the album first landed in retail outlets last week), the band's latest album prematurely opened at #No. 156 on the previous week's chart, courtesy of some obvious street-date violations. In Rainbows had been available for several weeks this fall, as a "name your own price" download, available exclusively at the band's Web site. Official sales figures from Radiohead's daring experiment have not been released.

This marks only the second time in Radiohead's imposing career that they've seen one of their albums hit No. 1. In 2000, Kid A sold more than 207,000 copies, to enter at No. 1, but 2001's Amnesiac and 2003's Hail to the Thief debuted at No. 2 (with 231,500 scans) and No. 3 (with 300,000), respectively.