Considering that album sales have been down in four of the last five years and are off by 2 percent from 2005, it might seem like faint praise to trumpet that Rascal Flatts pumps the biggest sales week of 2006.
But an opening week of 722,000 copies for "Me and My Gang" genuinely entitles Rascal Flatts to bragging rights. The opening tally is the biggest since Mary J. Blige Mary J. Blige rang 727,000 copies when "The Breakthrough" arrived during Christmas week 2005 and the largest week by a country album since Tim McGraw opened with 766,000 in September 2004 with "Live Like You Were Dying."
Further, in the 15 years that Nielsen SoundScan has tracked sales, only five country albums accomplished larger first weeks. That puts Rascal Flatts in the rarefied air of Garth Brooks (twice, with "Double Live" reaching 1.1 million units in 1998), Shania Twain , Dixie Chicks and McGraw.
In these newfangled times, the trio‘s latest also sets a record for digital copies sold in a week by a country set, with 30,000. Among all genres, "Me and My Gang" owns the sixth-largest week, behind the digital frames rung by Coldplay‘s "X&Y," Jack Johnson ‘s "Curious George" soundtrack, Kanye West‘s "Late Registration," Madonna‘s "Confessions on a Dance Floor" and U2‘s "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." The largest sum among those was 62,000 for the Coldplay title.Rascal Flatts‘ last album, "Feels Like Today," was country‘s best-selling digital set of 2005, posting 23,000 copies.
"Me and My Gang" marks Rascal Flatts‘ second No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and its third trip into that chart‘s top five.
"Feels Like Today" was the trio‘s first No. 1 on the big chart, selling 201,000 when it arrived in October 2004.
This is also the group‘s third consecutive No. 1 on Top Country Albums. Its first, self-titled set peaked at No. 3 on that list in 2002, almost two years after its release.
"What Hurts the Most," the lead track from "Gang," chalks up its third week at No. 1 on Hot Country Songs, its fifth No. 1 on that list.
Rascal Flatts might emerge from the Easter frame with a second chart-topping week, or it might lose a close battle to another country artist who has held the Billboard 200 throne, Toby Keith .
The former‘s distributing label, Hollywood, projects a second-week decline in the vicinity of 58 percent to 60 percent.
A slide like that would put "Me and My Gang" at around 310,000 copies, which is where pundits think Keith‘s new "White Trash With Money" will start, based on chains‘ first-day sales. Easter weekend traffic is a factor that makes it difficult for chart watchers to predict either album‘s sum with certainty.
Rascal Flatts‘ new album joins the six other country sets that debuted at 600,000 or more in the Nielsen SoundScan era. Three had declines of less than 50 percent, with the smallest erosion, 28 percent, belonging to Shania Twain‘s "Up!" (from 874,000 to 626,000 in 2002). Three had steeper drops, the sharpest a 70 percent dip by Tim McGraw‘s "Live Like You Were Dying" (which fell to 227,000 in its second week in 2004).
Keith‘s last one, "Honkytonk University," sold 283,000 units 11 months ago during its opening frame, but his previous two had bigger starts. His fattest ever, 585,000, happened with 2003 set "Shock‘n Y‘All," his second No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Regardless of which of those takes next week‘s crown, look for the "High School Musical" soundtrack to bounce back to No. 3, possibly scoring its first week north of 200,000. That would continue a streak that has seen it post a gain in each of the 13 weeks since it bowed.
Veteran rapper LL Cool J seems on course to begin with 100,000 or more.
Daniel Powter, current king of the Billboard Hot 100, is projected at 70,000 copies. The Canadian would likely have drawn an even larger start had his album not already sold 26,000 digital downloads since May 2005, with "American Idol"-adopted track "Bad Day" selling another 693,000 downloads.
Source: Reuters/Billboard
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