This week on the Billboard 200 album chart, a No. 1 alludes Rush once more, as the Canadian prog-rockers come in at No. 2 right behind pop/R&B star Usher. They lead the charge on classic rock’s chart resurgence, which music fans may have noticed last week when the Beach Boys came in at No. 3.
Rush’s latest, Clockwork Angels, sold 103,000 copies in its debut week, making it the band’s best sales week in a decade and their second No. 2 album ever (1993’s Counterparts being the other), as Billboard points out. Rush’s first album in five years, Clockwork Angels is a conceptual steampunk adventure that, in the band’s words, “features lost cities, pirates, anarchists, an exotic carnival, and a rigid watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life.”
Further down at No. 7 sits Neil Young & Crazy Horse, whose Americana album sold almost as many copies in its second week (37,000 copies) as it did in its first (44,ooo copies for a No. 4 charting). Interestingly enough, the hype and promotion surrounding Young’s album has not been as fervent as that of the Beach Boys’ big reunion record, and last week’s album chart represented that. However, this week Young stays in the top 10, while the Beach Boys slip from No. 3 to No. 14 in just one week’s time. Their That’s Why God Made The Radio sold 27,000 copies last week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Making the top 10 this week is the Rock of Ages soundtrack, which reaches No. 9 this week with 36,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Thanks to the film’s opening last week, this week’s sales or the soundtrack are double those of its opening week charting of No. 15. On the soundtrack, the cast of the Broadway-musical-turns-movie takes on iconic ’80s rock, from “Don’t Stop Believin'” to “Paradise City.”
And finally, Lionel Richie is still going strong with his Tuskegee album, which came in No. 18 this week after an impressive 12 weeks on the chart. The album, which features Richie reworking his biggest hits with country stars, is the second-biggest-seller of 2012, now with 885,000 copies sold.
- Jillian Mapes, CBS Local
