CNN.com - A 'Shock' at No. 1: Toby Keith
Mia Lopez Toby Keith (right) performing with Willie Nelson. Story Tools
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LOS ANGELES, California (Billboard) -- Country star Toby Keith debuted atop the Billboard 200 album chart with his best sales week ever on Wednesday.
His fourth DreamWorks effort, "Shock'n Y'All," sold 585,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, to give Keith his second No. 1 on the big chart and his third on Billboard's Top Country Albums tally.
Meanwhile, the album's "I Love This Bar" tops the Hot Country Singles & Tracks roundup for the second-straight week. "Shock'n Y'All" cruised by the first-week numbers of Keith's "Unleashed," which debuted at No. 1 in August 2002 with sales of 338,000 copies. To date, "Unleashed" has sold 3.3 million.
In a major week for new releases, Keith's latest is one of eight to bow in the top 20 of the big chart. Sarah McLachlan opens at No. 2 with her first studio release in six years, "Afterglow" (Arista). The set notched McLachlan's career-best sales week, moving 361,000 copies.
McLachlan's 1999's live set, "Mirrorball," debuted at No. 3 with 221,000 copies and has sold 2.9 million to date. Her last studio release, 1997's "Surfacing," peaked at No. 2 and has sold 5.4 million.
The 14th volume of the "NOW That's What I Call Music!" (Universal/EMI/Zomba/Sony) series lands at No. 3 with 322,000 copies. The compilation almost doubled the first week sales total of the last "NOW," which entered at No. 2 in July on sales of 171,000 copies.
"The Very Best of Sheryl Crow" (A&M) arrives at No. 4 on sales of 247,000 copies. Last year, Crow's "C'mon C'mon," entered at No. 2 with 185,000 copies and has sold about 2 million to date.
Despite a gain in sales, OutKast's two-CD set "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" (Arista) falls from the top spot to No. 5. Sales of the album were up about 5% to 148,000 copies, giving the release a to-date total of more than 1.5 million copies sold.
The latest from rapper Ja Rule, "Blood in My Eye" (Def Jam), enters at No. 6 with 140,000 copies. That's a significant drop from the first-week total of 2002's "The Last Temptation," which arrived at No. 4 with 238,000 copies and has sold 1.5 million to date.
Rod Stewart's "As Time Goes By: The Great American Songbook Part II" (J Records) slid five places to No. 7 on a 14 percent sales dip to 121,000 copies. In its three weeks on the chart, the collection of standards has sold 474,000 copies. Also down five places, to No. 8, is "Measure of a Man," the RCA debut from Clay Aiken. Sales fell 19% to 113,000 copies, giving the second-season "American Idol" runner-up a to-date total of 1.1 million.
Hard rock act P.O.D. enters at No. 9 with "Payable on Death" (Atlantic). The set sold 106,000 copies, falling a little short of the first-week numbers for 2001's "Satellite." That set sold 133,000 copies to debut at No. 6, and has moved 2.7 million to date. Ludacris' "Chicken & Beer" (Disturbing The Peace/Def Jam) falls five places to No. 10 as sales were down 14 percent to 88,000 copies. To date, the disc has sold a total of 936,000.
The DVD/CD combo "Coldplay Live 2003" (Capitol) sold 71,200 copies to enter at No. 13. The band's most recent studio set, "A Rush of Blood to the Head," is currently No. 47 on the chart and has sold 2.6 million since its August 2002 release.
"This Left Feels Right," an Island set of acoustic reinterpretations of Bon Jovi's greatest hits, arrives at No. 14 with sales of 71,000 copies. Other notable debuts include Wyclef Jean's "The Preacher's Son" (J Records; No. 22), Bob Seger's "Greatest Hits 2" (Capitol; No. 23), Ryan Adams' "Rock N Roll" (Lost Highway; No. 33). Further down, Adams' "Love Is Hell, Part 1" EP enters at No. 78.
A number of artists reaped the benefits of exposure on last week's Country Music Association (CMA) Awards. Martina McBride's "Martina" (RCA) jumps 59-27 on a 120% sales burst to 44,000 units, Rascal Flatts' "Melt" (Hollywood) soars 71-53 on a 61 percent gain to 27,000 copies and Johnny Cash's "American IV: The Man Comes Around" (American) bolts 94-60 on an 81 percent sales gain to 23,000 copies.
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