Yule discs jockey with buyers
Duff, Keith make stretch runs; industry sales lag '02
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Albums from all those artists saw significant sales leaps for the week ending Sunday, in which Jay-Z's "Black Album" (Def Jam) returned to the top slot on sales of 260,000, according to SoundScan.
While total album sales were up 24% from the previous week, sales were still more than 3% below the comparable week last year. In the top 50, excluding the week's eight new releases, 27 albums saw sales spikes from the week before.
No Doubt's "Singles Collection" (Interscope) was the top newcomer, selling 253,000 units to take the No. 2 slot. Trailing by one slot was Britney Spears' "In the Zone" (Jive), which slid 59% on sales of 251,000. Pre-Thanksgiving releases from the Beatles, Blink-182 and Dave Matthews Band all dropped more than 50% in their second weeks.
Duff surges
Hilary Duff, on the flip side, posted a 230% spike, selling 224,000 copies of "Metamorphosis" (Disney) and landed at No. 4. Other significant leaps were posted by Clay Aiken's "Measure of a Man" (RCA), up 36,000 to 143,000 sold; Ludacris' "Chicken & Beer" (Def Jam) up 34,000 to 101,000; and the Dixie Chicks' "Top of the World Live" (Columbia), which shot up 73,000 copies to 86,000 sold.
Korn's "Take a Look in the Mirror" (Epic), which was rush-released Nov. 21 -- though many stores didn't get deliveries on time -- had a better showing in the full week, selling 179,000 copies and landing at No. 9. Outkast's "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" (La Face/Arista) continues to be the top 10's steadiest seller, moving 168,000 copies of the double-disc set and driving its cume to just shy of 2 million.
Other debuts included Nelly's "Da Derrty Versions - Reinvention" (Universal) edging Missy Elliott's "This Is Not a Test" (Elektra) by 129 albums to take No. 12 on sales of almost 144,000. Puddle of Mudd's "Life on Display" (Interscope) grabbed 20th place on sales of 103,000; Enrique Iglesias' "Seven" (Interscope) was 31st on sales of 77,000; and Geffen act Counting Crows' hits collection "Films About Ghosts" was a notch below on similar sales numbers.
Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz's "Part II" (TVT) sold 69,000 to land at No. 37 and Nelly Furtado's soph DreamWorks disc "Folklore" did 68,000 to hit No. 38. In a rare confluence, Linkin Park's "Meteora" hit No. 43 and "Live in Texas" dropped to No. 44 as the Warners discs sold 57,000 and 56,000 respectively.
Yule leaders
Harry Connick Jr.'s "Harry for the Holidays" (Columbia) continues to be the top-selling Christmas album, moving 95,000 copies. Whitney Houston's "Holiday Album" (Arista) logged sales of nearly 36,000.
Total sales of albums are down 5% from last year. Next week could see some more recovery as Alicia Keys' much-anticipated second album is expected to take the top slot. Prognosticators are already projecting sales of 500,000 for "Diary of Alicia Keys" (J Records), but the extensive TV exposure she's getting this week could push that number even higher.
