With a Bullet: Today's Charts

Posted on Nov 14th 2007 1:00PM by Gaylord Fields
Comments

Uncharacteristically for a hip-hop star, Jay-Z has been quite boastful lately. In predicting the chart debut position of his just-released 'American Gangster' album, he has been quoted as saying, "I've got this Elvis thing going on right here." He's not talking about matching the achievements of three-time world figure-skating champion Elvis Stojko. No, no, no, no, no -- this is a reference to the statistical fact that if the tenth album by the coolest record-label president since Frank Sinatra ran Reprise reaches the No. 1 spot, as did Hova's previous nine, he would be tied with Memphis' Hillbilly Cat himself for the most chart-toppers by a solo artist. Well, well, looky there -- a quick eyeball of the charts clearly shows 'American Gangster' languishing at a lowly No. 36, with 21,000 sold. Shoot, even Elvis Perkins can do better than that!

Psych! It's the 'American Gangster' soundtrack that's stinking up the heinie end of the Top 40! In truth, Jay-Z did tie Elvis Presley's chart record after all, moving a hunka hunka burning compact discs indeed, specifically 426,000 copies in just its first week. Very impressive indeed, Mr. Shawn Carter, but give us a call when you pop a cap in your television's ass while gorging on fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches along with so many pills your body is reclassified as a Rite Aid franchise. Now that's OG!

The Eagles further demonstrate what transpires when hedonistic multimillionaire California yacht rockers combine forces with the deep discounts and lead-slathered Chinese-made goods found at Wal-Mart: total world domination! 'Long Road Out of Eden' has gone platinum in just its second week, selling 359,000 copies last week and hanging out at No. 2.

Garth Brooks' No. 3-debuting 2-CD compilation, 'Ultimate Hits,' as you can guess by the word "ultimate," contains just about every country-music smash by the biggest-selling solo artist in the history of recorded sound. And, as you can also guess by the word "hits," it contains absolutely no Chris Gaines songs.

Britney Spears, a gal who knows a thing or two about falling, has had her latest album drop as far down as the knickers she occasionally sports. 'Blackout,' with a scant 87,000 sold last week, has plummeted 70 percent from its debut showing. (Heh-heh-heh, I said "showing"!)

The top five albums for the week ending November 11: