1. Glee "Power Of Madonna"

Sales this week: 97,973
Debut

Madonna always knew a hit song, no matter who wrote it (or who she wrote it with), and we learn once again the song is king.  A great song can be sung by anyone.  But what’s most interesting here is the sheer quantity of product, what is this the third Glee cast album?  With another one to be released in weeks?  What we learn here is TV can still sell records, as long as music is integral to the show, up front and central, not behind the scenes, but the main focus of hopefully a scripted show.  AND that if the iron is hot, release a ton of product, it’s what the public wants, NOW!

Who the hell is going to want these albums three years from now?  Two?  Today the cycle is compressed on crap, and this is crap.  So, release umpteen records a year, get that cash quick, before the fad is over.

In other words, there IS NO artist development if there’s no ARTISTRY!  This is commerce.  This is a fad.  This is a souvenir.

And this is also the benefit of digital distribution.  There are no inventory controls, none of the b.s. that prevents physical from having a ton of product in the marketplace.

Meanwhile, if Glee can sell product continuously, maybe real artists can too.  Imagine if release dates were taboo, imagine if people were checking iTunes EVERY DAY for new product.  That’s the future, not a return to the twentieth century where you take years to polish a turd that no one wants.

2. Lady Antebellum "Need You Now"

Sales this week: 82,794
Percentage drop: -12
Weeks on: 13
Cume: 1,852,480

Nothing to do with Mutt but what the hell is wrong with American Idol’s mixing team? I thought this girl from Lady Antebellum could sing but she sounds awful.

Between Diddy, Kesha, Rihanna (*shudder*) et al. who have been guest stars on this weds show, I think there’s a conspiracy to make sure the contestants sound good in comparison. Or their booking team needs a wake up.

-Brian Feener

In the Internet world, we’re all critics, with an equal voice, which is why movie criticism died, we’re sick of being dictated to by self-satisfied arbiters.  But, if you suck in public, it doesn’t fade away.  Whitney Houston should cancel her tour, because if she doesn’t, by time she’s done, her career will be too.  The endless press, the bad clips…  You can’t cover up disaster anymore.

4. AC/DC "Iron Man 2"

Sales this week: 75,974
Debut

Who’s buying this?

So, it’s called "Iron Man", but do we really need another repackage?  AC/DC just seems backward.  Not selling digitally. They’re bread whores.  How about one great new track?  Arguably, since "Who Made Who" (which was part of a compilation soundtrack), they haven’t done anything memorable in DECADES!

Just gimme one track.  No, two.  And sell ’em on iTunes.  If these nitwit Top Forty acts can survive on singles, shouldn’t AC/DC be able to too?

Hell, THEY’RE AFRAID OF FAILURE!

7. Jimmy Buffett "Encores"

Sales this week: 30,822
Debut

Come on, ANOTHER LIVE ALBUM?

Jimmy, if only you could cut one more classic (see AC/DC above).

But the real story is Jimmy’s no longer a guaranteed sellout.  Certainly not indoors.  You get to the point where people can skip it, especially if you haven’t cut a new hit since your concert attendees had hair.

12. Sevendust "Cold Day Memory"

Sales this week: 26,736
Debut

The modern music business.  Band most people have never heard of has loyal fans who love ’em and keep ’em alive. Band debuts top twenty and does good road business while the hypes fade out.

14. Ke$ha "Animal"

Sales this week: 24,334
Percentage change: -22
Weeks on: 16
Cume: 623,840

No one thinks this is a real act.  She’s a creature of Dr. Luke.

You know how you can tell if someone’s real?  Fans want the albums!  People just want Ke$ha’s singles.  She’s no different from the one hit wonders of the sixties.

22. Crazy Heart

Sales this week: 17,426
Percentage change: +200
Weeks on: 14
Cume: 195,445

What?

The DVD release is stimulating album sales.  That’s what’s going on here, the DVD came out last week.

23. Sade "Soldier Of Love"

Sales this week: 16,884
Percentage change: -32
Weeks on: 11
Cume: 1,116,411

I was driving down Sunset last night and I didn’t see a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac, but I did see a "Soldier Of Love" billboard, thought I was back in ’76.  Alas, it was the only one.  The rest were for movies and TV and products no one wants.  If billboards didn’t sell records, why do movie and TV billboards on Sunset work?  The point is they might not work, but they do give an impression, that something’s going on, they build excitement.  Used to be Sunset Boulevard was a mecca.  You drove from Doheny to La Cienega looking not only at the billboards, but the Whisky and the Roxy where stars were born.  Talk about a city in ruins…

33. Slash

Sales this week: 12,992
Percentage change: -40
Weeks on: 3
Cume: 94,983

Too many bad albums and mediocre live performances have turned me off.  Sure, he and his brethren cut the best hard rock debut of all time, but that was twenty plus years ago and he hasn’t done anything worthwhile since.  Nice guy, lame music.

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What kind of crazy fucked up world do we live in where the number one album doesn’t even sell a hundred thousand copies?  One where music has lost its perch atop the entertainment food chain.  It’s like music is the sideshow at the entertainment circus.  You don’t want to stay too long, the stink might stick.

Used to be artists spoke from the heart, we waited to hear what they had to say with bated breath, we quoted them.  Now we feel superior to them, as the blogs make fun of their antics.  And then there are those so indie that the mainstream doesn’t care.  Used to be you started outside the mainstream and then the mainstream came to you.  Now, it’s like these acts are on the other side of the Continental Divide, and their music has never got a chance with the general public, the twain shall never meet.  And you wonder why?  It’s just not vital enough.  Hell, there’s more honesty on a Facebook page than there is in music.  And a dying media is complicit with the dying labels.  They’re in cahoots hyping tripe to the point where most people just don’t give a fuck.  This is a business?

Every day people forward you links.  Telling you to check out great shit.  How often is it a record?  And, if it is music, do you even bother to listen?

Music is the land of losers.  The "New York Times" piece on Irving Azoff was more riveting than any album on this chart. This is a guy who did it his way, who gave the middle finger to the man and won.  Isn’t that what the musicians used to do? Now they want to cozy up to the man.  Don’t you think there’s a problem with that?