Dave Matthews Band’s Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King enters The Billboard 200 at #1 with first-week sales of 424,000 copies. It’s the group’s fifth consecutive studio album to debut at #1 with first-week sales north of 400,000 units. This streak started with Before These Crowded Streets in May 1998 and has continued with Everyday, Busted Stuff, Stand Up and now Big Whiskey. Only four other groups have reached #1 with five or more consecutive studio albums. The Rolling Stones rang the bell with eight consecutive studio releases, from 1971’s Sticky Fingers to 1981’s Tattoo You. The Beatles scored with seven straight studio albums, from 1965’s Beatles ‘65 to 1969’s Abbey Road. Metallica has topped the chart with its last five studio albums, from 1991’s Metallica to last year’s Death Magnetic. The Kingston Trio also topped the chart with five straight studio albums, from 1958’s The Kingston Trio to 1960’s String Along.
Three other groups had five consecutive #1 albums, but they weren’t all regular studio releases. Chicago’s streak from 1972 to 1975 included the compilation Chicago IX-Chicago’s Greatest Hits. Paul McCartney & Wings’ volley from 1973 to 1977 included the live Wings Over America. U2’s run from 1987 to 1997 included the Rattle And Hum soundtrack. (While we’re at it, the Beatles followed Abbey Road with another #1 album, Let It Be, which I’m classifying as a soundtrack rather than a studio album. I know: picky, picky.)
Big Whiskey is dedicated to DMB founding member LeRoi Moore, the band’s sax player, who died Aug. 19 from complications stemming from an ATV accident in June. The album’s first-week tally of 424,000 copies is the third biggest opening so far in 2009, following Eminem’s Relapse, which bowed with 608,000 two weeks ago, and U2’s No Line On The Horizon, which opened with 484,000 in March. More than 134,000 copies of Big Whiskey were sold digitally, the second highest tally of 2009 (trailing only U2, which sold 155,000 digital copies in its first week).
In addition to the DMB releases, Matthews has released one studio album as a solo artist. 2003’s Some Devil debuted and peaked at #2, with first-week sales of 469,000.
The Comeback Trail: Whitney Houston’s first studio album in nearly seven years is due Sept. 1. Houston’s last studio album, Just Whitney…, debuted (and peaked) at #9 in December 2002. It has sold 737,000 copies to date, a disappointment by Houston’s standards. (Houston’s previous studio album, 1998’s My Love Is Your Love, has sold a healthier 2,753,000 copies.) The diva’s first two albums, Whitney Houston and Whitney, were both blockbusters. They logged a combined total of 25 weeks at #1. The Houston-dominated 1992 soundtrack to The Bodyguard has sold 11,807,000 copies, which makes it the fifth best-selling album of the Nielsen/SoundScan era (which began in 1991). Will the new album dominate the charts like prime Whitney or make a fleeting impression like Just Whitney…? That’s the million-dollar question.
Houston was just 21 when her debut album was released. She’ll be 46 by the time this album comes out. But that doesn’t mean it can’t or won’t happen. Tina Turner was also 46 in 1984 when she made her dramatic comeback with the #1 smash “What’s Love Got To Do With It.” Houston’s cousin Dionne Warwick was 45 in 1986 when she hit #1 with “That’s What Friends Are For” (which wasn’t really a comeback hit, but close enough). It’s a little strange to think that Houston is as old as those women were back then, but that’s what happens. So how will the album do? I think Whitney will get a shot, but the album will have to be great. “Pretty good” won’t be enough. Is that fair? To quote the title of a 1999 Houston hit, “It’s Not Right But It’s Okay.”
Nickelback’s Dark Horse tops the 2 million mark in U.S. sales this week. It’s the Canadian rock band’s fourth album in a row to top the 2 million sales mark. But it took considerably longer to get there than the band’s last three albums did. Dark Horse took 29 weeks to reach the 2 million mark. 2001’s Silver Side Up and 2005’s All The Right Reasons both rang the bell in 14 weeks. 2003’s The Long Road took 13 weeks.
Last week, Twilight became the first theatrical movie soundtrack to top the 2 million mark since 2003’s Chicago. Twilight has sold 2,037,000 copies. Chicago is up to 2,339,000. Twilight rebounds from #17 to #15 in its 31st week on The Billboard 200. The album has ranked in the top 20 for its entire run.
Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow” logs its 10th week at #1 on Hot Digital Songs. Only one other song has topped the chart this many times since the chart’s 2004 launch. “Low” by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain had 13 weeks on top. But “Boom Boom” has been out front from its first week. “Low” took five weeks to reach #1. “Boom Boom” sold 205,000 downloads this week, bringing its 10-week total to 2,586,000.
Song Scorecard: The All-American Rejects’ robust “Gives You Hell” tops the 3 million mark in paid downloads this week. The group’s current album, When The World Comes Down, has sold 422,000 copies.