Jason Aldean”s “Night Train” enters the station on the Billboard 200 at No. 1 this week, moving a whopping 409,000 copies. It”s the country singer”s first album at the summit on that tally, on top of becoming the second biggest debut in 2012. Mumford & Sons” “Babel” is the only album to have sold more in its first week, with 600,000. (However, “Night Train” is likely to slip to third in that regard next week, after Taylor Swift”s “Red” has its way with the sales chart.)
Aldean”s previous best came with 2010″s “My Kinda Party,” which bowed and peaked at No. 2 with 193,000.
The Mumfords” “Babel” falls to No. 2 with 74,000, a 23% sales dip.
Brandy”s new “Two Eleven” debuts at No. 3 with 65,000, making it her first top 10 album in eight years. Her 2004 album “Afrodisiac” also made it to No. 3.
As Aldean arrives, Mumford & Sons’ “Babel” slips to No. 2 (74,000, down 23%) after three weeks atop the Billboard 200. The set has sold 938,000 in its first four frames.
Scotty McCreery, of “American Idol” fame, sees his “Christmas with Scotty McCreery” bow with 41,000 at No. 4. His first album “Clear as Day” got to No. 1 a year ago.
Jamey Johnson”s “Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran” makes it a No. 5 start with 32,000. His last album “The Guitar Song,” released in 2010, peaked at No. 4.
P!nk”s “The Truth About Love” ascends No. 8 to No. 6 despite a 15% decline to 31,000. Miguel”s “Kaleidoscope Dream” re-enters the top 10 No. 11 to No. 7 (22,000, -28%) and Little Big Town”s “Tornado” has a similar rebound No. 14 to No. 8 (22,000, -6%). Adele”s “21” bounds back No. 15 to No. 9 (21,000, -5%).
Dethklok”s “Metalocalypse: Dethalbum III” soundtrack enters at No. 10 with 20,000, making it the cartoon-real metal band”s best charting week ever. “I” and “II” made it to Nos. 21 and 15 respectively.
Album sales were up 3% compared to last week and up 9% compared to the same week last year. Album sales for the year are down 4% so far.