Album Chart: “Now! 9” leads charge of Top 10 debuts
ByMar 27, 2002 11:00 PM
Continuing the franchise’s ongoing streak of No. 1 debuts, the ninth installment in the “Now That’s What I Call Music!” series will take over the top spot on the forthcoming Billboard 200 album chart, according to industry sources.
Continuing the franchise’s ongoing streak of No. 1 debuts, the ninth installment in the “Now That’s What I Call Music!” series will take over the top spot on the forthcoming Billboard 200 album chart, according to industry sources.
Others following the album into the Top 10 include new releases from Jay-Z and R. Kelly, Glenn Lewis and Jimmy Buffett.
“Now! 9,” a compilation of 20 previously released chart-topping hits, sold almost 420,000 copies during its first week in stores. Songs on the compilation include Britney Spears’ “I’m a Slave 4 U,” Shakira’s “Ain’t It Funny,” Aerosmith’s “Just Push Play,” U2’s “Stuck in a Moment,” plus additional hits from ‘NSync, Nelly Furtado, Lenny Kravitz, Jennifer Lopez and others.
First-week sales of “Now! 9” were down compared to those garnered by every “Now!” release since Vol. 5, according to Billboard, but the album had no problem staying well ahead of this week’s No. 2 debut from Jay-Z and R. Kelly, “The Best of Both Worlds.” The collaboration between the hip-hop and R&B icons moved about 223,000 copies.
After spending the past two weeks at No. 1--thanks to its recent Album of the Year Grammy win--the “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” soundtrack slips to No. 3. Debuting at No. 4, meanwhile, is “World Outside My Window,” the first release from R&B singer Glenn Lewis; his inaugural album has spawned the hit “Don’t You Forget It.”
Also racking up a Top 10 debut this week is Jimmy Buffett, whose “Far Side of the World” checks in at No. 5. The album is the veteran beach bum’s first studio release since 1999’s “Beach House on the Moon.”
Alan Jackson’s hit album “Drive” continues to bounce around in the Top 10, down three spots to take over the No. 6 position previously held by Linkin Park’s “Hybrid Theory.” The latter album, in its 74th week on the chart, slips one notch to No. 7.
Alanis Morissette’s latest, “Under Rug Swept,” continues to descend, down four spots this week to No. 8.
Closing out this week’s Top 10 is Ludacris’ “Word of Mouf” and Pink’s “Missundaztood” at Nos. 9 and 10, respectively.
Bailing out of the Top 10 in a big hurry is the self-titled debut from teen pop-quartet B2K; the album, which debuted at No. 2 last week, falls to No. 12.
Albums making their chart debut further down the list include the “Blade II” soundtrack at No. 26, Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “The Trials and Tribulations of Russell Jones” at No. 33 and Darren Hayes’ “Spin” at No. 35.