November 27, 2008

Beyonce Makes It Three In A Row With Fierce Chart-Topping Debut

By Chris Harris (MTV.com)

Three mega releases hit stores last week, but of course, there's room for only one at the top of the chart. So would Beyoncé debut at #1 with her latest, I Am ... Sasha Fierce, or would Nickelback's Dark Horse ruin Thanksgiving dinner at the Knowles abode? Or would American Idol winner David Cook's self-titled debut outsell them both?

No one could have predicted the outcome with any certainty, but as expected, the three releases will sweep the chart's top three spots on next week's Billboard albums chart.

With just over 482,400 copies of Sasha Fierce snatched up during that album's first week in stores, Beyoncé makes it three #1's in a row, following the chart-topping successes of her previous solo efforts, 2003's Dangerously in Love (which sold 317,000 copies to open on top) and 2006's B'Day (which also entered at #1 with 541,000 scans).

Canadian rockers Nickelback were poised to score back-to-back #1 openings, but will instead have to settle for second, as Dark Horse enters the chart with with close to 326,400 sold, according to the latest sales figures releases by Nielsen SoundScan. Cook's eponymous debut lands at #3, with week-one sales clocked at almost 279,600. Only one other new release cracked the chart's Top 10, and that album belongs to Il Divo. The Promise bows at #5 with nearly 161,600 scans.

The rest of the Top 10 is teeming with some of the year's biggest albums. Last week's chart-topper, Taylor Swift's Fearless, falls three spots to #4 with around 217,000 copies scanned, and the Twilight soundtrack slides one place to #6, selling nearly 125,000 units. The Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 29 compilation disc follows at #7 with 115,300 sold, while the soundtrack to High School Musical 3: Senior Year comes in at #8, with almost 85,800 scans. Enya's Winter Came sold 83,300 copies to claim the #9 opening, and rounding things out at #10 with just under 73,000 sold its AC/DC's Black Ice.

Also new to next week's chart is Dido's latest, Safe Trip Home, which opens at #13, after selling 50,600 copies. Mudvayne's New Game, which follows at #15 with week-one sales reported at 48,300. Rapper Slim's latest, Love's Crazy, enters at #32, with sales of 26,800, while Ace Hood's Gutta follows at #36 with sales of nearly 24,700.