Usher must”ve known he”d get his fourth No. 1 with his latest album. Or maybe the “4” in its title was a coincidence. But “Looking 4 Myself” takes the top of the Billboard 200 this week, moving 128,000 copies.
His last effort “Raymond v Raymond” also took the summit in 2010, but with 329,000 in its first week.
Right behind is Rush with “Clockwork Angels” at No. 2 with 103,000. Their last was 2002″s “Vapor Trails” – which made it only to No. 6, but with 110,000 units. “Clockwork Angels” shares the record for the veteran rock band”s highest charting album, since 1993″s “Counterparts” also made it to the runner-up slot.
Adele”s “21” falls No. 1 to No. 3 with 63,000 copies, a sales decline of 16%.
Josh Turner”s “Punching Bag” moves 45,000 to put it at No. 4. The country singer”s previous set “Haywire” peaked at No. 5 in 2010; his charting best came with 2006″s “Your Man” at No. 2.
Ed Sheeran”s debut full-length “+” starts at No. 5 with 42,000. The folky British artist”s sales were helped from a promotion through iTunes last week which featured “The A Team” as a free song.
One Direction”s “Up All Night” stays put at NO. 6 (39,000, -1%), Neil Young and Crazy Horse”s “Americana” slips No. 4 to No. 7 (37,000, -15%), Alan Jackson”s “Thirty Miles West” dips No. 2 to No. 8 (37,000, -50%) and the soundtrack to new flick “Rock of Ages” flies up No. 15 to No. 9 after the movie hit theaters last Friday.
Waka Flocka Flame”s “Triple F Life” bows at No. 10 with 33,000. His last “Flockaveli” started at peaked at No. 6 with 37,000 when it came onto the chart in 2010.
Album sales are up 10% compared to the previous week and down 8% compared to the same week last year. Sales for the year are down 3% so far.