1. Barbra Streisand "Love Is The Answer"

Sales this week: 180,415
Debut

The story here is her staying power.

The media would have you believe she’s a hated left-winger who’s burned all her credibility.  But that appears to be untrue.

Then again, this is a measly number when one looks at the entire country.  But it’s still number one!

For the irrelevance of the bloviators, be sure to read David Brooks’ takedown of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and  Sean Hannity in last week’s "New York Times":  

The Wizard of Beck

Brooks is a right winger, so he’s got some credibility here.  Point being, don’t believe everything the talking heads have to say…including me!

2. Paramore "Brand New Eyes"

Sales this week: 175,112
Debut

The story here is the 360 deal Atlantic has with Paramore.

The sales number is not staggering, but Paramore, unlike many new acts, has a fan base and can generate decent coin on the road.  This is the new paradigm for the major labels.

3. Mariah Carey "Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel"

Sales this week: 167,912
Debut

The Michael Jackson syndrome.  A once successful artist always tries to top herself and ends up being so far off the mark that most people don’t care.

Mariah Carey is out of touch.  It’s fine if she likes hip-hop, beat-infused material, but her fan base is enamored of pop, they want to hear her vaunted range (even though bloggers say it’s contracted dramatically).

If only she’d evidence a bit of humanity.

She needs to release a Christmas single.  That’s what she’s most famous for, her Christmas hit.  Forget making a whole album, wasting all that money.  Just record event singles.

And since Mariah’s live business is less than stellar, the small number here is especially troubling.  What’s a diva without a paying fan base supposed to do?  She’s a star on television, in the gossip column, but few want her records.  And don’t forget, sales usually only drop on this chart.

4. Breaking Benjamin "Dear Agony"

Sales this week: 134,489
Debut

Welcome to the modern music business.

Breaking Benjamin flies completely off my radar.  I see and hear no news about them.  But they’ve got fans.  They’re four albums in.

In other words, Breaking Benjamin is niche.  They should not think about world domination, but maintaining the relationship with their fans.

5. Alice In Chains "Black Gives Way To Blue"

Sales this week: 126,146
Debut

Wow, and it’s even on Virgin, Guy Hands’ seemingly moribund label.

Could this be the new Van Halen?  Successful irrelevant of the lead singer?

Then again, Van Halen didn’t succeed with Gary Cherone…

Jerry Cantrell wrote most of the songs originally, Layne Staley just sang "Rooster".  But, it’s amazing that so many years in they’re having a resurgence.  I expected to see the band members at Wal-Mart, or behind the counter at 7-11.

6. Jay-Z "Blueprint 3"

Sales this week: 88,609
Percentage change: -34
Weeks on: 4
Cume: 996,744

Positively staggering, but still weird to think it’s not platinum.

Don’t think Jay-Z’s superstardom translates internationally though.  He’s only sold 67,095 albums in the U.K. so far.

7. Madonna "Celebration"

Sales this week: 72,159
Debut

She was on Letterman, even SNL, but not many care.

What’s next, setting herself on fire?

Interestingly, she sold almost the exact same number of albums in her U.K. debut the week before, 77,229.  Which means she’s now bigger there than here.  Living in the U.K. has worked for her!

8. Miranda Lambert "Revolution"

Sales this week: 65,875
Debut

The hype is deafening.

If you listen to country music and pay attention to country media.

If not, you’re saying WHO?

Loved "Gunpowder & Lead" and "Famous In A Small Town", but haven’t found something that over the top and in my face yet on the new album.  Or, is she better off as a crazy ex-girlfriend than being in love?

In other words, I like her when she’s a hellion.

Now, she seems a bit too much just like every other country singer.

9. Selena Gomez & Scene  "Kiss And Tell"

Sales this week: 65,803
Debut

TV sells records.  Who knew?

But it turns out a lot less than it used to.

10. Pearl Jam "Backspacer"

Sales this week: 58,374
Percentage change: -69
Weeks on: 2
Cume: 247,666

Seems like just about everybody who wanted it already bought it.

It’s not like some event is going to turn up the heat on this album, it will just continue to fade.

Meanwhile, can we all agree that Target doesn’t sell the number of albums as Wal-Mart?  Do an exclusive with the Bentonville company if you want to sell tonnage.

15. Metalocalypse: Dethklok  "Dethalbum II"

Sales this week: 44,833
Debut

Bob-

My sister and I both work for Turner Broadcasting – I am a music lawyer for all of the networks (CNN, truTV, Cartoon Network, TCM, etc.) – she is the music director for Cartoon Network/Adult Swim.  In case you aren’t familiar, Adult Swim is the late nite programming block in Cartoon Network – the smart people at Cartoon realized that advertisers weren’t too interested in buying ad time after 9:00 pm on a kids network, so they shifted the programming focus to what it is today – I can’t really explain it, but I would have loved it when I was in college, sitting up all night doing bong hits, etc.

Anyhow, one of the shows is called "METALOCALYPSE" – it’s about a heavy metal band, DETHKLOK – sort of Spinal Tap on steroids – animated.  My sister was initially brought in to manage the newly formed Williams Street label and one of the first releases was from the animated band, DETHKLOK – which is actually comprised of some pretty good real life musicians, and led by Brendon Small, the show’s creator.  The first LP, the DETHALBUM, sold 35 k the first week and is now well over 200k and clicking along at a steady pace.  The band actually toured last year, playing in lock step behind a screen with the animated band performing.  The show sold out 5 weeks worth of dates at small theaters. This year, the band is back out, co-headlining with Mastodon (2 shows at the Palladium, 11/19 & 11/20) and DETHALBUM II hit the stores last week. It will be interesting to see where it debuts – an ARCHIES for the 21st century!

I am telling you all this because it is an interesting phenomenon, not to hype you on the record at all.

Take care,

Philip

Philip Walden / Counsel Turner Entertainment Group, Inc.

16. Avett Brothers "I And Love And You"

Sales this week: 39,792
Debut

I tried.  But I’ve yet to find the track that closed me.

Is this selling this well because of Rick Rubin’s involvement?

But I’m thinking Rick’s involvement is not enough to break them big.

18. Lynyrd Skynyrd "God & Guns"

Sales this week: 34,182
Debut

Not sure Ronnie Van Zant would have put the deity on the cover, and that’s just the point.  If you liked the original, this is sacrilege.  But if you’re looking for more southern rock, more meat and potatoes than edgy, you’ll be satisfied here.  Start with "Southern Ways", which I heard on SiriusXM’s Outlaw Country and had me listening all the way through, it’s got the piano mixed up front just like the old days and an anthemic chorus.

Can’t expect this album will reach many though.  They’ll still be playing "Sweet Home Alabama" in concert, but at least they can say  "This is from our new album!", like they still matter, are still vital.

21. Kings Of Leon "Only By The Night"

Sales this week: 29,331
Percentage change: -8
Weeks on: 54
Cume: 1,409,152

The real story is the 2,046,018 albums they’ve moved in the U.K!

Yes, KOL is still number ten in the U.K.

In other words, in the U.K., Kings Of Leon are bigger than Jay-Z.

In other words, it’s not a hip-hop world, it’s a rock world!

The only acts to have sold more in the top 100 of the U.K. chart are Robbie Williams and ABBA.  Meanwhile, speaking of number 100, that spot is owned by America’s Fleet Foxes, who’ve sold a whopping 398,948 albums.  They’re not on the American chart.

Wow, America is a pop wasteland, the U.K. is not, despite what everybody thinks.

25. Muse "Resistance"

Sales this week: 23,954
Percentage change: -33
Weeks on: 3
Cume: 188,738

Meanwhile, Muse sold 53,214 albums in the U.K. in their second week with a cume of 201,394.  And held down the number 2 slot, behind Madge.  Haven’t gotten this week’s U.K. sales report yet.

77. Mika "The Boy Who Knew Too Much"

Sales this week: 7,688
Percentage change: -72
Weeks on: 2
Cume: 35,107

Shit, looks like it’s already over here.

And without a hit single, it will be.

The story’s not quite the same in the U.K., where Mika sold 40,308 albums and placed number four in his debut week.

90. U2 "No Line On The Horizon"

Sales this week: 6,243
Percentage change: -5
Weeks on: 31
Cume: 1,016,371

I loved the finale of "Entourage", with resolution as opposed to cliffhangers, but I winced when I saw Bono.  He’s got time for this, but not to tweet?

Bono would reach many more people using social media than appearing on HBO.

I’m still waiting for the end of the year U2 single that restores their credibility while sitting on top of the chart.

Meanwhile, they may have gotten paid by RIM, but even though I too use a BlackBerry, the band should have dashed the cash and gone with Apple, been in an iTunes commercial, gotten all that ink and the imprimatur of playing with the most happening brand in the music business, Apple.

"No Line On The Horizon" has sold 357,749 copies in the U.K.

131. Phish "Joy"

Sales this week: 4,221
Percentage change: -23
Weeks on: 4
Cume: 47,956

Tickets are unattainable, but the album goes wanting.

Why bother?

Like the progenitor, the Grateful Dead, maybe they should give up going into the studio.  Or just make the tracks free, releasing them when they’re finished, to be traded by the fans to keep the live business going.  Hey, this is what we recorded in Trey’s bus as opposed to we took all this time off to record in the studio…

135. Imogen Heap "Ellipse"

Sales this week: 3,928
Percentage change: -14
Weeks on: 6
Cume: 86,508

I’m saying she would have been better off monetizing her social media activities a la Amanda Palmer than taking all that time to make a record for the major label.  Working for herself in her own studio would generate a ton of coin in record sales, working for the man, it does not.

142. Zero 7 "Yeah Ghost"

Sales this week: 3,746
Debut

Maybe the "Garden State" effect has worn off.

Then again, the sound has always been better than the material.

155. Arctic Monkeys "Humbug"

Sales this week: 3,400
Percentage change: -23
Weeks on: 6
Cume: 59,117

The same album is number 28 in the U.K., already selling 169,990 copies there.

One can question whether Arctic Monkeys translate over here, or just state that there’s nowhere to expose them.

MORE U.K. NUMBERS

Dizzee Rascal debuted at number 3, with 53,106.  He’s meaningless here.

Kasabian has sold 362,496 albums in 16 weeks.  It’s not on the American chart.

Elbow has sold 666,673 albums in 80 weeks.

Duffy’s "Rockferry" has moved 2,037,404 in 82 weeks.

Lily Allen’s "It’s Not Me, It’s You" has moved 609,092 in 33 weeks.  It’s not on the U.S. chart.  Meanwhile, her previous album, "Alright, Still", has sold 1,036,976 in 128 weeks.