Though not surprising given his ongoing shift away from overtly radio-friendly music, it remains notable that John Mayer’s “Paradise Valley” delivered the second-worst opening sales week of his career.
With a debut sales tally of 144,000, “Valley” opens as Mayer’s weakest full-length studio album since his 2001 debut “Room for Squares,” which moved just 2,000 copies in its first week.
That album, however, turned Mayer into a major music star and assured he would spend the next decade moving hundreds of thousands of studio albums in their respective opening weeks.
“Valley” predecessor “Born & Raised” debuted with 219,000 sales last year. Prior to that, Mayer’s “Battle Studies” topped the charts with a 286,000 opening week.
The “Paradise Valley” sales figure earned the album second place on the charts beneath Luke Bryan’s holdover “Crash My Party.” That album moved 159,000 in its second week, marking a decline of 70% from last week’s 528,000 bow.
Also in the top five: TGT’s “Three Kings” (#3, 76K), Jimmy Buffett’s “Songs from St. Somewhere” (#4, 55K) and Earl Sweatshirt’s “Doris” (#5, 49K)
