First! This week’s Billboard 200 is still a wonderland, albeit a slightly less wondrous one, for John Mayer, who maintains his No. 1 a second week in a row despite only selling 65,000 copies of his almost-apologetic new LP Born and Raised, per Nielsen SoundScan. It’s a 70 percent drop from last week’s debut sales, but Mayer’s never nabbed two weeks in a row at No. 1 before.
2 Through 10: Adele holds just under Mayer at No. 2, with 58,000 copies of 21 sold, though by now she should just rename the thing 67, because that’s how many weeks it’s spent in the top 10. Regina Spektor’s What We Saw From the Cheap Seats, like its predecessor Far, makes its debut at No. 3 with 42,000 copies, while One Direction’s Up All Night got a boost from the release of the group’s live DVD Up All Night: The Live Tour that nudged them up to No. 4. No. 5 belongs to the 35,000-copy debut of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ Here, songs from which the band just showcased on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night. No. 6 is Carrie Underwood’s Blown Away (32,000), but Sigur Rós takes the No. 7 slot with the debut of the pretty good Valtari (26,000). That pesky Now 42 compilation still maintains top-10 status at No. 8 (26,000), as do Luke Bryan’s Tailgates and Tanlines at No. 9 (24,000) and Lionel Richie’s Tuskegee.
Much Heavier Things: John Mayer’s second week at the top is the lowest-selling week for a No. 1 album since the third week of February last year, when Nicki Minaj actually swung a No. 1 with Pink Friday by only selling 45,000 copies.
Looking Forward: Next week, contenders for top 10 slots on the albums chart include Patti Smith’s Banga, Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s Americana, the Hives’ Lex Hives, Curren$y’s The Stoned Immaculate, and the Temper Trap’s self-titled, all of which came out yesterday.
