Adam Lambert’s chart-topper ‘Trespassing’ is a high and a low
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When Season 11 of ‘American Idol’ comes to a close in a few hours, no one should feel too sorry for the runner-up. One need only to look to this week’s pop charts for evidence that the ‘American Idol’ crown isn’t a requisite to cultivating a fanbase. The theatrical pop-rocker Adam Lambert finished second on ‘American Idol’ during its eighth season, and this week he earned his first No. 1 album in ‘Trespassing.’
Lambert’s ‘Trespassing,’ his second full-length since competing on the talent show, sold 77,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The album’s title track, meanwhile, has sold just north of 11,000 downloads.
This chart-topper, however, isn’t entirely a cause for celebration. Lambert’s 2009 debut, ‘For Your Entertainment,’ opened with a much heartier 198,000 copies sold in its first week, when it arrived at No. 3 during the holiday season. ‘Trespassing’ can boast that it is the lowest-selling No. 1 since Amos Lee’s ‘Mission Bell’ opened with 40,000 copies a little more than a year ago.
Just behind Lambert is U.K. singing sensation Adele, whose ‘21’ has been in the top 10 now for an astonishing 65 weeks and sold an additional 63,000 copies this week. The title has sold more than 9 million copies. Carrie Underwood, another ‘Idol’ vet, had last week’s No. 1 with ‘Blown Away,’ which this week sold 54,000 copies. In three weeks, ‘Blown Away’ has sold more than 440,000 copies.
Rock ‘n’ roll hucksters Tenacious D landed in the top 10 with their latest, ‘Rize of the Fenix.’ The duo of Jack Black and Kyle Glass sold a little more than 44,000 copies of their latest, their first since the movie-musical ‘The Pick of Destiny’ in 2006.
Sup Pop’s elegant dream-pop act Beach House cracked the top 10 for the first time in its career. The indie duo’s latest, ‘Bloom,’ entered at No. 7 with about 41,000 copies sold. The band’s 2010 effort, ‘Teen Dream,’ was a career breakthrough, landing the act gigs at the Hollywood Bowl and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
Other notable entries this week include the largely instrumental ‘Shape Shifter’ from Santana (No. 16, 21,000 copies), Garbage’s comeback effort, ‘Not Your Kind of People’ (No. 17, 19,000 copies), and Willie Nelson’s latest, ‘Heroes’ (No. 18, 17,000 copies).
Locals Best Coast enter at No. 24 with the crisp, vintage rock effort ‘The Only Place,’ which sold just shy of 14,000 copies in its first week. Right behind Best Coast at No. 25 are L.A. rock peers the Silversun Pickups, whose latest for Dangerbird, ‘Neck of the Woods,’ sold 12,000 copies this week. ‘Neck of the Woods’ opened at No. 6 last week and has sold 53,000 copies in two weeks.
Four Donna Summer albums return to the top 200 this week following the news of her unexpected passing. Her hits compilation ‘On the Radio’ led the charge, entering at No. 74 with about 6,000 copies sold.
Carly Rae Jepsen’s ‘Call Me Maybe’ was the top-selling digital track in the U.S. this week. It’s the first week at No. 1 on the chart for Jepsen, who will be joining supporter Justin Bieber on his 2012 tour. ‘Call Me Maybe’ was No. 3 last week, and it saw a 25% sales increase to 293,000. To date, the song has sold 2.3 million downloads.
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-- Todd Martens
