Much like the parents of the creepy undead toddler from Pet Semetary learned, Nick Lachey and his bandmates in 98 Degrees found out the hard way this week that some things are better left dead. Meanwhile, Jay-Z’s involvement in the The Great Gatsby soundtrack paid huge dividends. Here’s a look at those two stories and the rest of the big news from this week’s Nielsen SoundScan chart:
98 DEGREES AND FALLING: So much for the 98 Degrees reboot. 2.0, the group’s first album in 13 years, landed with a thud all the way down at No. 65, shifting 7,400 copies in its first week. For their part, 98º might want to think twice about wedging any new songs into their set when they hit the road with New Kids on the Block and Boyz II Men this summer. New Kids aren’t exactly blazing up the charts either; after six weeks on the charts, the group’s latest album 10 (what’s with these boy bands naming their albums after numbers?) is at No. 141 on this week’s chart, and has sold 75,000 copies to date. But if any members of O-Town are reading this, please don’t be discouraged. #SoundScanner still anxiously awaits the follow-up to O2!
GATSBY, NOW ARRIVE HIGH: Golden is one of eight new arrivals in this week’s Top 20. Just behind Lady A is the Jay-Z-produced soundtrack to The Great Gatsby, which sold 137,000 copies its first week. (The No. 2 position ties that of Baz Luhrmann’s soundtrack to Romeo + Juliet, while his Moulin Rouge tie-in peaked at No. 3.) The latest Now That’s What I Call Music! collection lands at No. 3 (91,000), followed by the Pistol Annies’ Annie Up at No. 4 (83,000) and Rod Stewart’s latest, Time, at No. 7 (52,000). Also making Top 20 bows: the latest Nashville soundtrack (No. 13, 27,000); She & Him’s Vol. 3 (No. 15, 26,000); and Natalie Maines’ solo debut Mother, which arrives at No. 17 with 23,000 first-week sales.
LADY FIRST: Grammy winning country-pop trio Lady Antebellum arrives at No. 1 this week, selling 167,000 copies of their latest album, Golden. The marks the third chart topper for the group, following 2010’s Need You Now (which started with 480,000) and 2011’s Own the Night (347,000). Golden’s first single, “Downtown,” has sold 780,000 copies to date. Lady A, as the people who simply don’t have the time to say Lady Antebellum call them, takes the top spot as last week’s golden boy Kenny Chesney dips to No. 8. The country beach bum’s Life on a Rock suffers a 68 percent sales slide, bringing its two week total to 201,000.
MACKLEMORE IS STILL ON TOP: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Can’t Hold Us” holds on to No. 1 on this week’s Digital Songs chart, keeping P!nk and Nate Ruess’ “Just Give Me a Reason” at No. 2 and crossing the 2 million sales marker in the process. A few spots down, Selena Gomez (without The Scene!) makes a surge with “Come & Get It,” which moves up three spots to No. 6, while Mariah Carey and Miguel’s “#Beautiful” (Pro Tip: if you request “Beautiful” from your local DJ they’re not going to understand what you’re talking about, so make sure you request “Hashtag Beautiful” – you can thank us later) bows at No. 10 with 114,000 first week scans, on its way to what we hope is a healthy summertime run.
IDOL WINNERS AND LOSERS: American Idol finishes its 12th season this week, as Candice Glover squares off against Kree Harrison in the two part finale. Despite taking its hits, Idol is still able to launch careers, better than any of its competitors in the televised singing competition genre. But despite the positive affirmations of the show’s judges, winning does indeed matter. Take the case of Phillip Phillips and Jessica Sanchez. Last year, the two faced each other in the Idol finale. One year later, Phillips has sold 871,000 copies of his album The World From the Side of the Moon (No. 50 this week), while his smash single “Home” sold 4.5 million copies. Sanchez, meanwhile, slides to No. 122 on this week’s albums chart with Me, You & the Music, after debuting last week at No. 26. Sometimes the difference between first and second place can be much greater than it seems.
[Photo: Getty Images]