Well, there's a beautiful
act with great
choreography atop next
week's Billboard album
chart, The Billboard 200,
and it's not the
Backstreet Boys. That's
right, former
Mouseketeer Christina
Aguilera's self-titled
debut premieres at No. 1
having sold 253,000
albums in its first week out.
Aguilera had a good week as she also out sold
heavyweight producer/rapper Puff Daddy's
Forever, the follow-up to the hugely successful No
Way Out, which enters the charts at No. 2 after
moving 205,000 copies out of stores. Noreaga's
Melvin Flynt Da Hustler also debuts in the top 10
sliding in at No. 9.
Top 50 debuts include Sevendust's Home at No.
19; LFO's self-titled debut at No. 21, Filter's
cleverly titled (not really) Title of Record featuring
the single "Welcome to the Fold" at No. 30; and
Lou Bega's Little Bit of Mambo at No. 42.
Other notable debuts include Jock Jams Vol. 5 at
No. 51; Clay Walker's Live, Laugh, Love at No. 55;
Made Men's Classic Limited Edition at No. 61;
Third Day's Time at No. 63; Prince's collection of
previously unreleased material, Vault -- Old
Friends 4 Sale, at No. 85; Me'Shell Ndegeocello's
Bitter at No. 105; and Jimmie's Chicken Shack's
Bring Your Own Stereo at No. 153.
-- Brian Eldridge
Who's the leader of club, that's made for you and
me...? This week it's Christina Aguilera.
Yes, yet another act bred on the Disney Channel's
Mickey Mouse Club has topped, as Aguilera's
self-titled debut album bows at No. 1 for the week
ended August 29, knocking out an entrenched
Backstreet Boys and besting the new effort from
hip-hop superstar Puff Daddy.
Aguilera is latest Mouseketeer to dominate the
charts, following fellow Club alums Britney Spears
and 'N Sync's Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez to
the promised land. The freshly minted teen pop
diva sold 252,000 copies of her album, which
contains the chart-topping single, "Genie in a
Bottle."
She's another example of the tremendous impact
preteen- and teen-oriented pop has had on the
charts this summer, with acts like the Backstreet
Boys (now at No. 3 with sales of 200,000), Spears
(at No. 6 with 127,000 out the door) and Ricky
Martin (No. 10 with 109,000 new fans) all still
selling strongly.
Behind this new pop sound is a fresh batch of
superproducers. While you may not recognizes names
like Carl Sturken, Evan Rodgers, David Frank and
Guy Roche, they represent the secret ingredient
for many of these new hitmakers. "I was thrilled
to work with so many great producers on this
album," Aguilera says.
Meanwhile, Sean "Puffy" Combs' Forever only came
in at No. 2--surprising considering his last album
was a long-running No. 1, and he is another
superproducer known for having his finger on the
pulse of music fans. As CEO of Bad Boy
Entertainment, Combs has had any number of top
hits from his stable of hip-hop acts, but he can't
stay at a desk and away from the microphone: "I'm
like a little kid in a candy store. I gotta sit
around and watch everybody have candy and me not
have any candy just because I'm the boss?"
Limp Bizkit's Significant Other is showing it has
legs, remaining at No. 4, with sales of 141,000
units. The "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul," Mary J. Blige,
slips from her No. 2 debut last week to No. 5,
with hearty sales of 127,000 copies.
The other big surprise on the charts this week is
the explosion of the Santana record Supernatural,
which leaps to No. 7 with sales of 116,000. It
looked like a lucky fluke when the veteran act
bowed in the Top 10 two weeks ago, but it's now
clear the band has a major hit with the guest
star-laden disc.
Kid Rock's Devil Without a Cause found another
110,000 without a clue for a No. 8 showing, while
rapper Noreaga's Mervyn Flynt bows at No. 9.
Other impressive debuts came from Sevendust at No.
19 and LFO at No. 21, while Filter's much-heralded
new album came in at No. 30.