Welcome to autumn! Summer won’t be over for another three weeks, calendrically speaking — but when it comes to music sales, those warm-weather doldrums just ended with a bang. No less than half of the Top 20 on the new Billboard 200 albums chart are new releases, a welcome change from the last month or so of just a few debuts per week.
Leading the pack by a healthy margin at No. 1 is Colbie Caillat, whose aptly titled Breakthrough sold 106,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That’s more than twice what her debut managed in its first week back in 2007, and it’s nearly 40,000 more than this week’s No. 2 album: Awake, from Christian metal quartet Skillet, who fried up 68,000 in sales. Miley Cyrus’ Time of Our Lives EP fills out the Top 3 with 64,000 sold, joining her Hannah Montana the Movie soundtrack on the chart.
After that — take a deep breath — comes Imogen Heap’s Ellipse at No. 5 with 48,000; NOW That’s What I Call Country Vol. 2 (featuring hits by Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, Darius Rucker, and more) at No. 10 with 33,000; LeToya’s Lady Love at No. 12 with 33,000; Arctic Monkeys’ Humbug at No. 15 with 28,000; Ingrid Michaelson’s Everybody at No. 18 with 23,000; Matisyahu’s Light at No. 19 with 22,000; and, finally, Christian rock band Needtobreathe’s The Outsiders at No. 20 with 21,000.
Whew! Any surprises among all those fresh faces on the chart? Who do you think has the legs to stick around for next week? Does anyone have a shot at upsetting Whitney Houston’s I Look to You, which went on sale this Monday?
More from EW’s Music Mix:
Reba McEntire tops the albums chart
Guilty Pleasures, Round Two: Britney Spears (1) vs. Lady Gaga (9)
Beatles reissues sold out at Amazon: Are fans screwed?
Jay-Z, Beyonce attend Grizzly Bear concert
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Whitney is a superstar and formally the greatest voice of all time. She might not be what she was but her album is solid and will definitely be #1.
Did anyone see Whitney on GMA. Sad to say the voice crack’d a couple times. the new album will most def end up at #1 next week, tho
I purchased both the Skillet and Collective Soul CD’s… first time easily in a year I’ve purchased two whole CDs in one week. (More often than not, I just buy one or two songs). Congrats to Skillet for a ’sizzling’ opening week!
Thrilled to see the very talented and unique Imogen Heap crack the top 5. Anyone who is not familiar with her work should listen to the breathtaking “Hide and Seek” (a previous work of genius) and then buy her new disc. Kudos.
Just wait till my album drops in the fall!! Make way for the new queen of pop!! tee-hee!
NEEDTOBREATHE are awesome and hopefully they’ll shoot up the charts. They deserve it!
I just discovered NEEDTOBREATHE last week and I have downloaded both their “Heat” and “Outsiders” complete albums since Friday… I don’t think I’ve EVER become such a huge fan of a band this quickly! They are awesome and I’m excited to see them on the charts!
NEEDTOBREATHE is fantastic and their Outsiders CD is a keeper! (Also if you have a chance to see them live they are amazing!)
I’m really happy for Needtobreathe! Their CD is wonderful & they are even better live. I definitely hope to hear more from them.
needtobreathe is AMAZING and their new CD is so good… i seriously can’t stop listening! they are the best live, i can’t wait to see them Saturday at RevGen and in NYC!!!!
Ditto to all the Needtobreathe comments! Heard them on the radio once, downloaded The Heat, pre-ordered The Outsiders and haven’t stopped listening to it since – and I have never downloaded an entire album of any band before! Can’t wait to see them at House of Blues in Dallas next month.
Needtobreathe is overflowing with heart quenching authentic powerful music! Anyone who even listens to them once will be coming back for more. It consumes you, don’t believe? just listen to them play….
Incredible talented band