SoundScanner: Fall Out Boy Debut At #1, Accomplish Their Mission Of Saving Rock And Roll

by Adam Graham 4/24/2013

Have no fear, because Fall Out Boy is here! The reunited rock group debuts at No. 1 on this week’s chart, while P!nk still leads the singles chart, undeterred by the arrival of Daft Punk. Here’s a look at this week’s Nielsen SoundScan sales figures:

FALL OUT BOY RETURNS TO NO. 1: Consider rock and roll saved. Fall Out Boy’s new album Save Rock and Roll debuts at No. 1 this week, on sales of 154,000 units. That gives the Chicago lads their second career No. 1 album, following the No. 1 debut of 2007’s Infinity on High, which sold 260,000 copies its first week out. Fall Out Boy’s new album outpaced Kid Cudi’s latest, Indicud, which debuts at No. 2 with 136,000 sales. That’s one spot ahead of Cudi’s last studio effort, 2010’s Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager, though that set started out with 169,000 first-week sales. Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience (No. 3, 76,000) and Blake Shelton’s Based on a True Story (No. 4, 42,000) follow, while Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ latest, Mosquito, debuts at a career high No. 5 on 38,000 sales.

YOU OUGHTA KNOW ARTISTS MAKE NICE SPLASHES: English singer-songwriter and VH1 You Oughta Know artist Olly Murs lands at No. 19 this week with Right Place Right Time, his third studio set and first to be released in the U.S. The album sold 19,000 copies its first week out. Meanwhile, buzzed-about UK singer and current VH1 YOK selection Jessie Ware arrives on this week’s chart at No. 77 with her debut set Devotion, which sold 6,000 copies. Other notable debuts on this week’s chart: The Flaming Lips’ The Terror (No. 21, 19,000); Iron & Wine’s Ghost on Ghost (No. 26, 16,000); Ghostface Killah’s Twelve Reasons to Die (No. 27, 15,000); Ghost B.C.’s “Infestissumam” (No. 28, 14,000); Major Lazer’s Free the Universe (No. 34, 12,000).

Embedded from www.youtube.com.

BOSTON’S ’SWEET’ SOUNDTRACK: In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, the unofficial theme of the Boston Red Sox, “Sweet Caroline,” was in the news and in a lot of people’s hearts. Neil Diamond himself even showed up at Fenway Park on April 20 for a sing-along of his 1969 anthem. The singer saw a resulting sales bump, as “Sweet Caroline” shows up at No. 103 on the Digital Songs chart, selling 19,000 copies, a massive 597 percent boost from the week prior. Meanwhile, Diamond’s The Very Best of Neil Diamond reappears on the albums chart at No. 190, selling 2,100 copies this week.

P!NK, PUNK ON SINGLES CHART: P!nk hangs on to the No. 1 spot on the Digital Songs chart with her duet with fun.’s Nate Reuss, “Just Give Me a Reason,” but Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Can’t Hold Us” – which is used in just about every music bed on television these days – is creeping up on the pair. While “Just Give Me a Reason” slips 7 percent in sales this week, “Can’t Hold Us” picks up 17 percent, and only 18,000 sales separated the two singles. Also making an impact on the Songs chart is Daft Punk, those funky French robots who see their “Get Lucky” arrive at No. 10 with 113,000 first week sales. That’s from an abbreviated sales week – “Get Lucky” was released on a Friday – so the single could pick up momentum on next week’s chart, when its first full week of availability is measured.

STROKES WIND DOWN: The Strokes don’t have an official Tumblr, but they have a tumbler – their new album, Comedown Machine. In its fourth week on the chart, the Strokes’ fifth studio album slips to No. 103 – down 18 spots from last week, and down 59 spots from the week prior. The set has sold 62,000 copies to date, and with no plans to tour or promote the project, it won’t be long before it slips off the charts altogether. So, guys, is this it?

Adam Graham