Sales-Week Ending-5/23/10
1. Glee: The Music, Vol. 3-Showstoppers
Sales this week: 135,748
Debut
And there’s another package coming out on June 8th, "Journey To Regionals".
The classic rock paradigm is dead. Wherein instead of releasing two or three albums a year, you put out an album every two or three years. Yup, first it was a year between projects, and then…it would stretch to the better part of a decade in some cases. The band was getting it right as their fans were getting older, having babies and forgetting them.
Today is the era of clutter. And nothing sticks. Does anybody remember the remake of "We Are The World"? Does anybody remember lonelygirl15? "Glee"’s moment is now. And the people involved realize this and are flooding the marketplace with product while it’s desirable, when people want it. And if you think the paradigm is any different for regular recording acts, you’re sorely mistaken. I don’t know how many years you get in the spotlight, but while you’re hot, keep putting stuff out. Don’t worry about airplay, the fact that individual songs move up and down the chart for the better part of a year is irrelevant, radio doesn’t buy your record, PEOPLE do. Which is why you can purchase last night’s "American Idol" performances on iTunes today.
I’d love to tell you this album is crap. A souvenir for mindless twits. But instead I’m going to say it’s loaded with certified hits, and you can hear the joy in the performances. Puts a smile on your face, makes you want to get up and do the Safety Dance yourself.
2. Black Keys "Brothers"
Sales this week: 73,370
Debut
There’s a war online, between fans of the old Black Keys and the new. Just read the comments on Amazon.
If you listen to the opening track of "Brothers", "Everlasting Light", you’ll reach for the skip button immediately if you’re not a fan. You’ll think this music is made for people who are too hip for the room, who use bands as a badge of honor. And you’d be right, "Brothers" is number one at the Music Monitor Network’s independent stores.
"Tighten Up", the following track, is better, because the Danger Mouse influence shines through. Still, this is not "Crazy".
But if you go back to the old days, and listen to "Thickfreakness", you’ll find something that you’ll never believe will go mainstream, but lacks pretension, and cuts to the bone like an old blues record.
Maybe they got tired of being niche, but going modern has left the Black Keys in a musical no-man’s land.
3. Justin Bieber "My World 2.0"
Sales this week: 61,828
Percentage change: +2
Weeks on: 9
Cume: 1,104,631
All you haters, listen to this:
This is the "My Heart Edition" of "One Time", and as guitargirl996 says in the comments, "All his songs should have a My Heart Edition!!!"
Compare this to the hit take:
Not all teen acts are identical. Some make quality music, like the Backstreet Boys. New Kids On The Block might have been lowest common denominator tripe, pandering to the prepubescent demo, but those Backstreet Boys tracks could be appreciated by adults. If you don’t think "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" is a killer, you just haven’t listened to it. And "Larger Than Life" truly rocked. It was closer to Mutt Lange than almost all of the tracks populating the Active Rock format. Mutt knows you must not forgo melody and hooks, that they’re key to universal success. Def Leppard was loved by all, they’re touring decades later on those albums they did with Mutt.
The "My Heart Edition" of "One Time" is universal. Comprehensible by all. Just a boy and an acoustic guitar, the song is featured.
But the big hit version? It’s laden with the sound effects of Top Forty radio. Yup, all the tracks sound alike, with the synthetic drums, the heavy bottom, the focus on rhythm.
That’s what it takes to win on Top Forty. Which is why it’s such a niche. The tracks are all the same, it’s just the faces that change. And Bieber is succeeding by playing by the established Top Forty rules.
But these rules are killing the business, because there’s no universality. Many dismiss this Top Forty sound out of hand. It’s so repetitive. It’s hard to take seriously. It’s a medium focused on fame more than music. Whereas the "My Heart Edition" is about music, and cuts to the bone of pre-teens and can be understood by adults as well.
Are our hands tied, do we need to play by the Top Forty rules, or is that a sideshow and as soon as someone sells melody, singalong quality, are they going to triumph, the same way the boy bands leveled everything on the radio before them?
4. Damian Marley & NASÂ "Distant Relatives"
Sales this week: 57,285
Debut
At first this sounds just one step away from being an SNL skit.
Imagine rap and reggae meeting…Â Is this a marriage we were truly waiting for?
And then, the more you listen, the more you come to like it. You’ve just got to get in the head of where they’re coming from, which seems to be a dark room filled with smoke.
This is an album, not a single. And if you’re the type of person who still invests in long players, not only buying them, but listening to them, you’ll enjoy this.
Actually, reggae and rap were not so distant to begin with. On the surface, it looks like a way to cash in, but this is a winner. Thumbs up, I recommend it.
5. Lady Antebellum "Need You Now"
Sales this week: 46,013
Percentage change: -15
Weeks on: 17
Cume: 2,126,068
This is not that different from Band Of Horses below. Band Of Horses thinks it’s testing limits, whereas Lady Antebellum is not straying from the center, isn’t even close to the border. But…knowing atmosphere and instrumentation are secondary, Lady Antebellum focused on the songs first, and they’ve succeeded. They’re outselling GaGa.
There’s nothing new about Lady Antebellum, but they do the old so well. This is barely country, there’s just occasional Nashville instrumentation to make sure it’s safe for country airplay. This is as mainstream as it gets today. And isn’t it funny it’s outselling all the hits on Top Forty.
Now the lyrics are bland, unlike Taylor Swift, which is why she’s an icon and they’re faceless, but you listen and feel warm all over, both touched and safe…and that’s very appealing in this topsy-turvy world we live in today.
6. Band Of Horses "Infinite Arms"
Sales this week: 45,071
Debut
Scuttlebutt is the band sold out, that it signed to Columbia, is playing the major game and has lost its edge.
Then again, did Band Of Horses have an edge to begin with?
If you liked the alt-country sound of the seventies, from CSN to Manassas to even Gram Parsons, you’ll enjoy this. It’s inoffensive, breaks no new territory. If you’re afraid to bring Damian Marley & NAS into your house, try this. You can even play it at a cocktail party. But your soul will be better off with Damian and NAS, it’s good to test your limits sometimes.
Top Forty is closed to this sound. But in the old days, bands like this struggled for years, album after album, to concoct a song that would cross over. And then the rest of the public would buy the album and be clued in. But today, with acts playing to their core, there’s not quite that hunger to test your limits, to deliver universality.
9. LCD Soundsystem "This Is Happening"
Sales this week: 31,403
Debut
Either you believe this guy is a genius and the rest of us are clueless or you listen and you say the guy is talented, but playing to his core and can’t break through.
So, we’ve got a media that says James Murphy is the shit and a mainstream public that’s fully willing to ignore him.
16. Janelle Monáe "The ArchAndroid"
Sales this week: 21,039
Debut
THE buzz act. I’ve gotten more e-mail about Janelle than any other act this week. Most referencing her Letterman appearance, many marveling that she’s associated with Diddy.
And I’m not only hearing from hip-hoppers, but dyed-in-the-wool rockers, even jam band fans.
She’s definitely unlike anything else out there. Isn’t that what we used to sell in the music business, innovation, the thing you can’t take your eyes off of?
It’s hard to take your eyes off of Ms. Monáe. Check it out:
23. Court Yard Hounds
Sales this week: 17,262
Percentage change: -40
Weeks on: 3
Cume: 107,418
Sounds like what it is, two journeymen in search of a star.
This lacks the polish of Lady Antebellum, and the introspection of Band Of Horses. If they weren’t who they are, this wouldn’t sell at all. Nice people. Nice music. And that’s the problem.
29. The Dead Weather "Sea Of Cowards"
Sales this week: 12,620
Percentage change: -72
Weeks on: 2
Cume: 57,572
Reading the press, you’d think this is the biggest band in the land. Is the Dead Weather the new Beck? Who can do no wrong in the media as fewer and fewer members of the public care?
Jack White is talented. But I wish he’d just cut that one tune that blew EVERYBODY away instead of putting out endless side projects that appeal to fans only. Yup, a guy this smart could cut that universal track. That’s a challenge Jack…
50. Zac Brown Band "Pass The Jar"
Sales this week: 8,680
Percentage change: -20
Weeks on: 3
Cume: 45,372
In the old days, the really old days, the seventies, this would be a monster. But today, this live album languishes down the chart while the big studio album, on the chart for over a year, 79 weeks to be exact, resides at number 21, selling 17,703 copies this week, for a cume of 1,934,220.
Are live albums dead? Or do most people have no idea this album is out? Or both?
This should be selling better. But to blow it up, they’re going to have to break a single from it.
