When it came to first-week sales for his new album, the rapper Game was not on his game. But Barbra Streisand wasn’t on hers, either, so Game’s “The R.E.D. Album” still had a first-place finish.
The Interscope rapper’s latest entered at No. 1 with 98,000 sales — a big comedown from the 239,000 his previous release came out of the box with three years ago, let alone the 538,000 his freshman album debuted with in 2005.
Game earned a lot of pre-release publicity for a stunt in which his Twitter account encouraged fans to tie up Compton’s police lines. But with such dramatically diminishing returns, maybe he needs to call 911 on his career.
Rather than go for Twitter pranks, Streisand went a more traditional route — a QVC campaign — to boost “What Matters Most: Barbra Streisand Sings the Lyrics of Alan and Marilyn Bergman,” which is available in both single- and double-disc editions. But interest just wasn’t as high as it was for her standards album, “Love is the Answer,” which enjoyed a surprise bow at No. 1 with 180,000 units two years ago. The new album sold 66,000 to enter at No. 4.
The top 10’s biggest surprise was a No. 6 entrance by Pistol Annies, the all-female country trio formed as a side project by Miranda Lambert. “Hell on Heels” sold a rootin’, tootin’ 42,000 copies despite not being available for sales in retail stores.
It was nearly a digital-only release, except for a physical CD that was available on the group’s website. But because it turned out to be less of a cult item than expected, the label is meeting demand by going to retail with a limited quantity of discs, according to a Sony Nashville spokesman.
Disney saw some green with a Muppets tribute album, featuring indie acts like OK Go and Weezer, that debuted at No. 8 with 30,000.
Among holdovers, the Jay-Z/Kanye West collaboration nearly enjoyed a third week at the top, falling slightly short of rival Game’s high-water mark with 94,000. Adele’s “21” also got bumped down a spot, to No. 3, with 82,000 – a figure that’s likely to see a significant boost next week after her heralded MTV Awards performance.
On the singles side, Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger” moved back up to No. 1 on the digital songs chart with sales of 217,000. The real Jagger should be so lucky these days, right?
Things will heat up considerably with the next chart, which will be topped by Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter IV.” Based on the first two days of sales, the dreadlocked jailbird’s comeback is currently projected to sell as many as 900,000 copies its first week.
