The good news? “Unbroken,” Demi Lovato’s third album and her ‘comeback’ following a storm of negative media attention and a stint in rehab, will likely sell more in its opening week than the most recent albums from fellow Disney Divas Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez.
The bad news? Despite receiving ample buzz and the benefit of a buzzworthy single in “Skyscraper,” the album will not significantly outperform predecessor “Here We Go Again.”
Based on opening day sales figures, Hits Daily Double forecasts “Unbroken” will sell 110-120,000 copies by week’s end. “Here We Go Again” kicked things off with an opening sales tally of 108,000 copies.
Gomez’s slow album-to-album sales growth and Cyrus’ album-to-album decline should have tapered expectations–clearly, Disney’s most recent crop of stars is not yet ready to dominate the world of album sales. But with a single that exploded in its initial iTunes release and buzz that this was a serious, mature album–not a novelty to strike while the Disney iron was hot–a more-than-marginal increase from the predecessor had to be expected.
With Lovato’s sales in lukewarm territory, Tony Bennett’s “Duets II” will lead newcomers on expected sales of 150-170,000. Lady Antebellum’s holdover “Own the Night” should land in the same territory.
Also debuting: Needtobreathe’s “The Reckoning” (Hits forecast of 40-50,000), Mindless Behavior’s “#1 Girl” (35-40,000), Gavin DeGraw’s “Sweeter” (35,000) and Pearl Jam’s “Twenty” (27-30,000).