Three studio releases, three chart monsters.
Thanks to a career-best sales week, Drake’s streak of dominant number one albums officially extends to three this week.
Billboard confirmed Wednesday that Drake’s new release “Nothing Was the Same” moved 658,000 copies in its opening week. That mark secures the album’s position atop the Billboard 200 album sales chart by a significant margin.
It also bests Drake’s 2011 predecessor “Take Care,” which moved 631,000 units in its inaugural frame.
Kings of Leon’s “Mechanical Bull,” the week’s next-best seller, moved about 110,000 copies. Down from 183,000 opener for 2010’s “Come Around Sundown,” the total is still acceptable given the band’s recent absence from the limelight.
Cher’s “Closer to the Truth” followed with about 63,000, while Elton John’s “Diving Board” was good for 47,000.
Jack Johnson’s holdover “From Here to Now to You” landed in fifth place with 37,000, while Luke Bryan’s platinum-certified “Crash My Party” placed sixth on the strength of 36,000 units. Dream Theater’s self-titled release, which garnered sales of 34,000, opened at number seven.
Despite Billboard’s initial guess that it would miss the final Top Ten, Krewella’s full-length debut “Get Wet” landed in eighth with sales of 27,000. That gave it the narrow edge over Metallica’s “Through the Never” soundtrack, which moved 26,000 copies. Justin Moore’s “Off the Beaten Path,” last week’s number two, slipped to ten with sales of 25,000.
According to Hits Daily Double, other noteworthy debuts included Sting’s “The Last Ship” (~22K), Alan Jackson’s “The Bluegrass Album” (~21K) and Chvrches’ “The Bones of What You Believe” (~16K).
