Springsteen returns to No. 1 in slow week
NEW YORK (Billboard) - In a slow week for album sales, Bruce Springsteen returned to the top of the U.S. pop charts Wednesday, a week after he lost the crown to Kid Rock.
Springsteen's "Magic" moved 77,000 copies during the week ended October 21, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The Columbia Records release bowed at No. 1 three weeks ago with 335,000 units, and then slipped to No. 2.
Only a couple hundred sales short of the Boss' total, Kid Rock's "Rock N Roll Jesus" (Atlantic) fell to No. 2 in its second week, also with 77,000 units (figures are rounded).
Rascal Flatts' "Still Feels Good" held at No. 3 with 70,000. Josh Groban's holiday album "Noel" rose six places to No. 4 with 64,000.
Jimmy Eat World's "Chase This Light," the rock troupe's final release under its Interscope contract, debuted at No. 5 with 62,000 copies. Its previous release, 2004's "Futures." opened at No. 5 with 99,000 copies.
Reba McEntire's "Reba Duets" (MCA) rose one to No. 6 with 59,000, while Disney's "High School Musical 2" soundtrack jumped two to No. 7 with 57,000.
Santana earned his fourth top 10 album, as "Ultimate Santana" (Arista) bowed at No. 8 with 56,000 units.
Kanye West's "Graduation" (Def Jam) fell three to No. 9 with 54,000 units. Colbie Caillat rounded out the top tier with "Coco" (Universal), which rebounded six places to No. 10 with 50,000 units.
Only a handful of other albums debut in the top 50 this week. Angie Stone's "The Art of Love & War," released through the newly relaunched Stax label, entered at No. 11 with 45,000. Her last album, "Stone Love," bowed at No. 14 in 2004 with 53,000. Rock act Thrice's "The Alchemy Index: Vols. I & II" (Vagrant) debuted at No. 24 with 28,000, while Toby Keith's "Classic Christmas" (Show Dog) brought Christmas cheer to the No. 39 spot with 18,000.
Album sales were down 4.9% from last week at 7.93 million units, and down 19.6% from the same week in 2006 (9.86 million units).
Reuters/Billboard
