by NextEpisode » Aug 18th, '10, 21:43
Week Ending Aug. 15, 2010: The Odd Couple
Posted 30 minutes ago by Paul Grein in Chart Watch
Eminem's Recovery, which returns to #1 on The Billboard 200, is the first album to log six weeks on top since Susan Boyle's I Dreamed A Dream late last year. The two albums have little in common (OK, they have nothing in common), though they may find themselves squaring off for Album of the Year when the Grammy nominations are announced on Dec. 1..
Recovery is the first rap album to spend six weeks at #1 since 50 Cent's The Massacre more than five years ago. And the album isn't done yet. Recovery will probably stay on top for a seventh week next week. That would be the longest run in the top spot since Taylor Swift's Fearless had 11 weeks in the lead in late 2008 and 2009..
Recovery tops the 2 million mark in U.S. sales this week. It crossed the threshold in just eight weeks, faster than the year's only other 2 million-selling album, Lady Antebellum's Need You Now (which took 15 weeks to ring the bell) and much faster than Eminem's 2009 album Relapse (which took 60 weeks)..
The fact that two albums have topped the 2 million mark in sales so far this year marks an improvement over last year. Last year at this point, no albums had topped the 2 million mark. The first album to hit the hit the 2 million mark in 2009 sales was Michael Jackson's Number Ones, which scored in the week ending Oct. 25..
Recovery also logs its sixth week at #1 on the Official U.K. Albums chart. Recovery is the first album to spend six or more weeks at #1 in both the U.S. and the U.K. since the Beatles' 2000 compilation 1 (which logged eight weeks at on top in the U.S. and nine weeks on top in the U.K.). Recovery is the first regular studio album to log six or more weeks on top in both countries since Alanis Morissette's 1996 album Jagged Little Pill (which amassed 12 weeks on top in the U.S. and 11 weeks on top in the U.S.)..
"Love The Way You Lie," Em's smash collabo with Rihanna, logs its seventh week at #1 on Hot Digital Songs. That's the longest run on top since the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" topped the chart for 10 weeks last year. Two subsequent songs, Miley Cyrus' "Party In The U.S.A." and Ke$ha's "TiK ToK" logged six weeks at #1..
The key to the success of Recovery has been broad-based airplay for "Not Afraid" and "Love The Way You Lie." Both songs have topped the 2 million mark in paid downloads. Recovery is the fourth rap album to spawn two or more 2 million-sellers. It follows T.I.'s Paper Trail, Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 and B.o.B's B.o.B Presents The Adventures Of Bobby Ray. (Kanye West's 808s & Heartache also yielded a pair of 2 million sellers, but the album was considered more pop than rap.).
Rihanna deserves special mention here. She was featured on a 2-million seller (or better) on the aforementioned albums by T.I., Jay-Z and Eminem. She graced T.I.'s "Live Your Life," which has sold 3,918,000 digital copies; Jay-Z's "Run This Town," which has sold 2,551,000 and Eminem's "Love The Way You Lie," which is up to 2,455,000. That settles it: If I ever cut an album, I'm calling Rihanna..
Two final Eminem notes: Recovery returns to #1 on the Digital Albums chart, with sales of 28K digital copies this week. The album has sold 578K digital copies, which is 27% of its total to date..
And Eminem moves up to #8 on Nielsen/SoundScan's running list of artists who have sold the most albums in its history (which dates to 1991). Em has sold 38,014,000 albums. He pushes ahead of Alan Jackson, who has sold 37,924,000 albums in the same period. (For the record, Jackson's first album was released in March 1990, about a year before Nielsen/SoundScan began tracking sales.).

