The Whole Delivery

Photo from Getty Images' Jemal Countess It doesn't matter the time, country music CD sales will always be fine. This Wednesday's installment of the Top 200 shows once again that it wouldn't be a terrible decision for any non-country artist to declare themselves part of that genre. Because it is a guarantee that people will buy your CD if you say you are. Kanye's most famous victim continues her stunning numbers on her latest release, along with a few others right behind holding the flag for that unstoppable genre: For the first time in three years, the top three selling albums in the U.S. are all country efforts. Taylor Swift's "Speak Now" holds at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a second week (320,000; down 69% according to Nielsen SoundScan), Jason Aldean's "My Kinda Party" starts at No. 2 (193,000) and Sugarland's former No. 1 "The Incredible Machine" slips one rung to No. 3 (60,000; down 32%). And not to be forg...

Country music fans sure do love buying their artists' albums : Zac Brown Band nets its first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, as "You Get What You Give" bows atop the list with 153,000 sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The country act's major label debut, "The Foundation," peaked at No. 9 in May. "Give" also grants Zac Brown Band its best sales week, previously earned when "Foundation" shifted 62,000 over Christmas in 2009. Meanwhile, it seems like no really cares for Adam Levine and company anymore: Maroon 5's third studio set, "Hands All Over," enters in the runner-up slot with 142,000. The band's last effort, 2007's "It Won't Be Soon Before Long," debuted at No. 1 with 429,000 in its first week. "Hands" is Maroon 5's third top 10 set following "Won't" and its premiere effort, 2003's "Songs About Jane," which reached No. 6. There hasn'...

These are some pretty decent debut numbers on the charts, especially for Trey . Linkin Park notches its fourth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 as its "A Thousand Suns" album debuts atop the list with 241,000 sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The rock band beats out R&B singer Trey Songz, as the latter's fourth album, "Passion, Pain & Pleasure," arrives at No. 2 with 240,000 copies. For Linkin Park, its "A Thousand Suns" opener is off from the 623,000 that greeted its last studio album, 2007's "Minutes to Midnight," when it debuted at No. 1. However, "Passion" represents Songz's best sales week yet and his highest-charting album. His previous high-water marks came when last year's "Ready" started at No. 3 with 131,000. Considering how a lot of B-list urban albums have struggled to crack over 200K this year, these are truly terrific numbers for Trey, ensuring he won't have to fight for a gol...

The key theme of this week's charts is not who topped the charts or how someone is doing, but this fact : Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending Sept. 12) totaled 4.83 million units -- marking the lowest weekly sales figure since SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991. The lowest weekly sales figure since SoundScan began. EVER. So while Sara Barellies "Kaleidoscope Heart" tops the charts on its debut week (at just 97,000) and Katy Perry wonders how long it will take her to reach gold, let alone platinum, this week is all about another dire week of poor disc sales. Billboard and some of the autocrats at the RIAA couldn't rush fast enough to get those digital sales numbers in the next paragraph. To Tevin, outtie:

For a group that doesn't get A-list attention, they sure do have a very accomplished resume : Rock band Disturbed claims its fourth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, as "Asylum" debuts atop the list with 179,000 sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It's the act's fourth consecutive studio set to debut at No. 1, a feat achieved by only two other rock bands in the history of the chart: Metallica and Dave Matthews Band. And guess what took the runner-up spot? Disturbed's newest is one of five albums that debut in the top 10 this week. It's followed by the "Now 35" compilation, which starts at No. 2 with 105,000. That's a surprise considering who ended up not even with the bronze medal this week, despite getting another #1 song: Eminem's "Recovery" holds at No. 3 with 93,000 (down 6%). Last week's No. 1, Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream," slips to No. 4 with 88,000 (down 54%). Perry does, however, retain the...

With Katy Perry's new album coming into play, I expect this to be the last week that "Recovery" tops the charts. But it has been an awesome run to say the least : While the Billboard 200 album chart's top 10 welcomes six debuts, none can push Eminem's "Recovery" out of the top slot (116,000 sold according to Nielsen SoundScan; down 12%). The set thus spends its seventh non-consecutive week at No. 1 -- the most weeks atop the list since Taylor Swift's "Fearless" strung together 11 non-consecutive frames in the penthouse in late 2008 and early 2009. Maybe the story of the week though is the fact that ridiculously under the radar R&B throwback artist Elm is a terrific #2 on the charts despite virtually no backing. Back on the Billboard 200 albums chart, R&B singer Kem claims his highest-charting set ever as "Intimacy" starts at No. 2 with 74,000. His last album, 2006's "Kem II," bowed at No. 5 with 140,000...

This guy could only have three songs on the album and still be getting these sales : Eminem's "Recovery" rebounds to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 after two weeks of sitting by in the runner-up slot. It climbs back to the top with 133,000 according to Nielsen SoundScan (down 13%). It's the most weeks at No. 1 for an album since Susan Boyle's "I Dreamed a Dream" claimed six straight frames at the top in December and January. And he's on the double plat status now: The total sales of "Recovery" also drive past the two million threshold this week (2.1 million, according to Nielsen SoundScan) -- marking just the second album to do so this year. It's currently 2010's second-best seller behind Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" (2.5 million). Also pushing pass a significant marker is Justin Bieber's mentor: At this point last year, no albums had surpassed more than two million in sales -- though seven had shifted at ...

The rockers top the charts : Both the Billboard 200 and the Digital Songs charts greet fresh No. 1s this week, as Arcade Fire's new album "The Suburbs" bows atop the former list with 156,000 sold It was another dreadful week for the RIAA Soundscan overall, but another massive week for Eminem. He is still selling no less than a 150 K a week, and looks sent to be double platinum in a little over 2 months time. Avenged Sevenfold,last week's #1, slipped to 3 while a nice welcoming for Bun B in the 4th spot despite weary numbers for his "Trill (41,000). The rest of the chart is Rick Ross' "Teflon Don" at #5 (not looking good to even go gold), #6 is Lady Gaga's "The Remix" (stop biting off of Diddy, #7 is the Bieber one's "My World 2.0", 8th place is Drake's "Thank Me Later" (oh its way to being platinum next week most likely), the 9 spot goes to Lady Antebellum's "Need You Know" and rounding o...

And the Detroit rapper's massive 5-week hold on the top spot is over : Avenged Sevenfold garners its first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart as "Nightmare" arrives atop the list, bumping Eminem's "Recovery" to No. 2 after a five week reign at No. 1. Avenged begins with 163,000 according to Nielsen SoundScan, trumping "Recovery" (159,000; down 15%) by less than 4,000 units. Sevenfold's personal accomplishment was the only standout in a forgettable week for the July 27 debut crowd: With only "Nightmare" arriving in the top 10, it's the first time we've had this few debuts in the top 10 since the chart dated March 13 (reflecting the sales week ending Feb. 28), when Johnny Cash's "American VI: Ain't No Grave" was the lone top 10 debut at No. 3. And you say "Bust" time for the former officer, who will have a fight to go gold on his hands: As for the rest of the top 10 this week, Rick Ross...

It looks like the Detroit legend will stay number one for another week incredibly, while disappointment and hard times are ahead for another flop CD from the former officer. Too funny : Eminem makes it five weeks in a row at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 as "Recovery" sells another 187,000 (down just 4%), according to Nielsen SoundScan. Rick Ross' "Teflon Don" arrives in the runner-up spot with 176,000. Ross' last three studio albums all debuted at No. 1, with his last set, 2009's "Deeper Than Rap," arriving with 158,000. The opener for "Teflon" is Ross' best sales week since 2008's "Trilla" arrived with 198,000. Less than even "Trilla?" With all of those guest appearances on that virtual compilation album, this has to be devastating to the Rick Ross camp and those that hyped him endlessly, figuring that all of this ridiculous momentum would lead to a bigger fan base buying his poser crap. Instead, ...

Make it four ! Eminem's "Recovery" album hangs in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a fourth consecutive week, selling 195,000 (down 15%) according to Nielsen SoundScan. It's the first set to notch four straight frames at No. 1 since Susan Boyle's "I Dreamed a Dream" spent six consecutive weeks atop the tally, and the first by a solo male since Josh Groban's "Noel" did so for five weeks in December 2007. But probably the biggest story of the week is just how awful Lynn Hirschberg's favorite person did: The final arrival in the top 10 this comes from M.I.A.'s "Maya," starting at No. 9 with 28,000. It easily surpasses the No. 18 debut and peak of her last set, 2007's "Kala," though it started with a shade more: 29,000. For the top debut was from Korn, coming in at No. 2 at 63,000 sold, and somewhere, M.I.A is certainly cursing a storm somewhere.

Maybe Big Boi (and The Roots) should have said that their album featured Eminem on it : Eminem's "Recovery" is the first album to notch three consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since March, as it holds atop the tally with 229,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The last album to string three weeks in a row at No. 1 was Sade's "Soldier of Love" back in March. The chart's top debut comes from OutKast's Big Boi with his debut solo album "Sir Lucious Left Foot ... The Son of Chico Dusty" starting at No. 3 with 62,000. 62,000. So while Eminem easily goes platinum in two weeks, both "The Roots" and "Big Boi" can't even push over 100,000 the first week. I guess despite either being on Jimmy Fallon's Late-Night show or apart of one of rap music's recognized and renown top duos ever doesn't help the CD get the push in the suburbs it appears. It could have been worse for Big Boi, beca...

Well, people will still buy CD's . There's no surprise this week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as Eminem's "Recovery" holds atop the tally for a second week, selling 313,000 (down 58%) according to Nielsen SoundScan. In two weeks' time, the album has shifted 1.1 million copies in the U.S. It's the first release to sell in excess of 300,000 for multiple weeks since Susan Boyle's "I Dreamed a Dream" racked up five 300,000-plus weeks last December. More on the chart number latter, but sadly, while Eminem goes platinum in just the span of 15 days, the Roots can barely get towards 100, 000.

Photo from Billboard The music industry's savior saves again ! As reported earlier today, Eminem's "Recovery" debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with a massive 741,000 copies sold in its first week according to Nielsen SoundScan. It's the biggest sales week for a single album since October 2008, when AC/DC's "Black Ice" debuted with 784,000 in its first week. Seriously, that is just a phenomenal and encouraging number, showing that, once again, artists (even rap artists) can survive the leak and still have people go to the shelves at Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy or wherever, or online without going to Limewire. Of course being an establish name helps for sure, but it's not like Eminem will be having singles that's for the clubs and the radio specifically. "Not Afraid" certainly doesn't fit those locations from the other singles out nowadays from "prominent rappers/R&B singers", that's for sure. Get...

Someone breaks over 200K thankfully : Jack Johnson claims his third No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart as "To The Sea" debuts atop the tally with 243,000 copies sold according to Nielsen SoundScan. The album breaks an eight-week long streak of No. 1s selling less than 200,000 -- where five of those weeks were sub-100,000 frames. Downloads made up 114,000 of "Sea's" first week -- nearly half of the set's overall figure. In terms of download units, it's the biggest week for an album since the week ending Jan. 31, when the digital-exclusive charity compilation "Hope For Haiti Now" set sold 143,000 downloads in its second week of release. At least Johnson knocked off Glee thank goodness. 2nd place went to Justin Bieber with 52,000 for "My World 2" with that hit Fox show taking the bronze with 45,000. It was another week where the protege (Bieber) sold more than his mentor (Usher), so bragging rights again go to the youngin'....

It is a Glee world, though it is a more "I won't buy mediocre albums" world : Gee: the Music, Volume 3 - Showstoppers" holds at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart for a second week, while the new release schedule was light due to the "American Idol" finale. "Showstoppers" moved 63,000 copies (down 54%) according to Nielsen SoundScan. In the runner-up spot, Stone Temple Pilots return with its first studio album since 2001 as its new self-titled set enters at No. 2 with 62,000. It's the quartet's sixth top 10 album -- the band's entire output of studio releases. STP is the Billboard 200 albums chart sole new entry -- the fewest since the chart dated March 13 when Johnny Cash's "American VI: Ain't No Grave" was the only top 10 arrival. Now the charts hopefully will get back to six figure debuts numbers with Jack Johnson's "To The Sea" release, as that is predicted to push 250K. The rest of anot...

It's whatever : The "Glee - The Music Volume 3: Showstoppers" soundtrack arrives at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart as expected, starting with 136,000 sold according to Nielsen SoundScan. The cast of "Glee" claimed its first No. 1 recently with "The Power of Madonna," when that seven-song EP arrived at the top with 98,000. "Showstoppers" is the third proper full-length soundtrack from the Fox TV show. The first two volumes were released in quick succession last November and December. This third edition includes highlights from the second half of "Glee's" debut season. A forthcoming six-track EP titled "Journey to Regionals" is due on June 8. (Don't peek at its tracklist if you don't want upcoming episodes to be spoiled.) The Rolling Stones with their re-release of "Can't Be Tamed" hit #2 with a 76K, with the weeks' highest debut from the Black Keys ("Brothers") coming in ...

Pure nadir : Justin Bieber's "My World 2.0" returns to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart for a fourth non-consecutive week at the top. But he does so with just a little over 60,000 copies sold according to Nielsen SoundScan, marking the second-lowest week at No. 1 since SoundScan's sales information began powering the Billboard 200 in May of 1991. Last week it seemed likely that the No. 1 album this week -- initially predicted to be Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" -- was going to sell less than 60,000, immediately rendering it the lowest-selling No. 1 in the SoundScan era. The record low at No. 1 came in January of 2007, when the "Dreamgirls" soundtrack spent its second of two weeks at No. 1 with a shade more than 60,000 sold. ("My World 2.0" and "Dreamgirls" are both stated to have sold 60,000 in this story because Billboard rounds SoundScan's sales figures to the nearest thousand. However, "My World...

Great to be at the top of the charts for your first album sold. But goodness gracious at how brutal these numbers are : 21-year old rapper B.o.B bounces in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart this week with his debut set, "The Adventures of Bobby Ray," selling 84,000 copies in its first week according to Nielsen SoundScan. It marks the first time a solo male artist has earned a No. 1 album on the chart with their debut release since Aug. 26, 2006, when Rick Ross' "Port of Miami" opened atop the list with 187,000. B.o.B's 84,000-start makes it the third straight week were the No. 1 album in the U.S. sells less than 100,000 copies. That's the longest sub-100,000 run at the top since February of 2009, when Taylor Swift's "Fearless" spent its last three (of 11) weeks at No. 1. B.o.B (given name Bobby Ray Simmons) has already had a taste of No. 1 success on the Billboard charts, as the album's lead single "Nothin' On You...

If album sales couldn't get worse, this week may have presented the total bottom. No album on the Billboard 200 list sold over 100,000 copies. Not a single one. Justin Bieber retains the top spot with a figure so meager, it almost makes me feel for the RIAA: Justin Bieber's "My World 2.0" holds at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart for a third non-consecutive week with 92,000, and MGMT's second album "Congratulations" is the tally's highest debut, arriving at No. 2 with 66,000 sold according to Nielsen SoundScan. Bieber's "My World 2.0" tally is the smallest sum seen for the top selling album of the week since last May, when Chrisette Michele's "Epiphany" launched at No. 1 with 83,000. And man, oh man, Usher's numbers aren't looking too good at all: Last week's No. 2 set, Usher's "Raymond v Raymond," moves down two spots to No. 4 with 64,000 (down 31%), the "Now 33" compi...