Jack Johnson and Sheryl Crow lead album chart
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Singer/songwriter Jack Johnson scored his second No. 1 on the U.S. pop album chart Wednesday, while Sheryl Crow debuted at No. 2 with one of the lowest sales totals of her career.
Johnson's "Sleep Through the Static" sold 374,619 copies in the week ended February 10, according to Nielsen SoundScan data, the biggest selling debut of a very slow year.
His previous chart-topper, the soundtrack to 2006's "Curious George," kicked off with 163,000 copies. Radiohead's "In Rainbows" held the record for the year's top No. 1 debut when it sold 122,000 copies in the week ended January 6.
Crow's anti-war album "Detours," sold 92,000 copies, and became her fourth consecutive album to open at No. 2. Her last release, 2005's "Wildflower," began with 140,000; in fact, this is the singer/songwriter's lowest sales debut since her 1996 self-titled sophomore album bowed with 80,000.
Last week's champ, Alicia Keys' "As I Am," fell to No. 3 with 80,000. Lenny Kravitz scored the highest charting debut of his career for a studio release, as "It Is Time for a Love Revolution" opened at No. 4 with 73,000 copies. It's the follow-up to 2004's "Baptism," which bowed at No. 14 with 52,000. The "2008 Grammy Nominees" multi-artist compilation album held tight at No. 5 with 52,000 units.
The soundtrack to "Juno" fell four to No. 6 with 47,000. Mary J. Blige's "Growing Pains" slipped one to No. 7 with 45,000. Both are former chart-toppers.
While it doesn't provide her best sales week ever, k.d. lang's "Watershed" became her highest charting album, entering at No. 8 with 41,000. Her two bigger weeks came in 1993, when "Ingenue" did 46,000 and 42,000 in successive frames following her performance on that year's Grammy Awards.
Miley Cyrus' Disney double-disc "Hannah Montana 2 (Soundtrack)/Meet Miley Cyrus" climbed a notch to No. 10 with 40,000, flip-flopping with Grammy-nominated country star Taylor Swift's self-titled debut, which sold 39,000.
Sales this week were down 14% from the same week last year at 8.43 million units.
Reuters/Billboard
