October 14, 2005

Nickelback Calm Twista To Score First No. 1 Debut

By Chris Harris (MTV.com)

A cool wind wafted into American record stores from Canada last week in the form of Nickelback's fifth offering, All the Right Reasons, while a raging Twista, which first started swirling over Chicago, cut a path across the U.S. and left The Day After in its wake.

In the end, Nickelback's release had a bigger impact, debuting atop Billboard's albums chart with sales nearing 325,000 -- the band's first No. 1 debut. Making the foursome's triumph even sweeter is the fact that All the Right Reasons also represents the band's best week-one sales showing; 2001's Silver Side Up debuted at No 2 with 178,000 scans while 2003's The Long Road finished at No. 6 with more than 200,000 copies sold.

Twista tried to make it two No 1's in a row with The Day After, which follows 2004's chart-topper Kamikaze. The Chicago rapper fell short of his goal, with After's sales clocked at under 129,000. His No. 2 finish hindered female country singer Sara Evans' run for Billboard glory; her newest offering, Real Fine Place, debuts at No. 3 with sales of nearly 126,000. The previous week's No. 1, Gretchen Wilson's All Jacked Up, falls three spots to No. 4, followed at No. 5 by Sheryl Crow's Wildflower, which netted second-week sales of 106,000. Kanye West's Late Registration hangs tough at No. 6 with over 94,000 copies soaring off shelves.

Fiona Apple's Mike Elizondo-produced second stab at Extraordinary Machine affirms the songstress' comeback, finishing its opening week at No. 7. The album sold close to 94,000 copies, besting Franz Ferdinand's latest by more than 10,000 scans; Apple's 1999 release, When the Pawn Hits ... debuted at No. 13 with 103,000 sold.

You Could Have It So Much Better, Franz Ferdinand's follow-up to their breakthrough self-titled debut, moved just over 81,000 copies during its initial week in stores to claim Billboard's No. 8 post. The Black Eyed Peas follow Franz at No. 9 with sales of 79,000 and change for Monkey Business while Faith Hill's Fireflies leaps 30 spots to No. 10, thanks to a 194 percent surge in retail interest that translated to week-10 scans of just under 79,000.

Trina's latest, Glamorest Life, came close, but couldn't quite score that top-10 cigar, debuting this week at No. 11 with 77,000 plus scans. Hers was one of several prominent discs to debut on the most recent Billboard chart. Melissa Etheridge's Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled opens at No. 14 with 66,000 in sales, while Shinedown's Us and Them takes No. 23 with 47,000 albums sold. O.A.R.'s newest, Stories of a Stranger, surfaces at NO. 39 with sales of 28,000 and then some, and the Deftones' B-Sides & Rarities claims the No. 42 spot with nearly 27,000 scans. Liz Phair's latest, Somebody's Miracle, hits No. 46 with 24,000 in sales, while Dwele's Some Kinda ... opens at No. 54 (21,000), Atmosphere's You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having takes the chart's No. 66 (19,000) with My Morning Jacket's Z at No. 67 (18,000).