NEW YORK (Top40 Charts) - The worst terrorist attacks in history on U.S. soil didn't stop
Jay-Z fans from coming out some 426,000 strong to pick up the rapper's latest effort, The Blueprint, giving the rapper his fourth No. 1 in a row.
The Blueprint follows-up two No. 1 debuts from Jay-Z in 2000, Vol. 3...The Life And Times Of S. Carter in January of that year and Dynasty - Roc La Familia 2000 in November. Vol. 2...Hard Knock Life also previously hit No. 1.
Elsewhere in a busy top 10 this week, Nickelback's Silver Side Up hit No. 2, Fabolous' Ghetto Fabolous landed at No. 4, Bob Dylan's Love and Theft marched in at No. 5, P.O.D.'s Satellite grabbed the No. 6 spot, and Mariah Carey's Glitter wound up at No. 7.
Other notable debuts include Michael W. Smith's Worship at No. 20; Babyface's Face 2 Face at No. 25; Slayer's God Hates Us All; Ben Folds' Rockin' the Suburbs at No. 42; Jamiroquai's Funk Odyssey at No. 44; Long Beach Dub Allstars' Wonders of the World at No. 59; the soundtrack to Training Day, featuring Nelly, Dr. Dre, and P. Diddy, at No. 64; Classical Hits, featuring Charlotte Church, Bond, and Sarah Brightman, at No. 75; the soundtrack to Hardball, featuring R. Kelly, Lil' Bow Wow, and Notorious B.I.G., at No. 86; John Hiatt's Tiki Bar Is Open at No. 89; 41st Side Compilation, featuring Nas, Noreaga, and Prodigy, at No. 97; Robert Earl Keen's Gravitational Forces at No. 111; Killarmy's Fear, Love & War at No. 122; The Might Be Giants' Mink Car at No. 134; and Ozomatli's Embrace the Chaos at No. 138.
Brooklyn-born rapper Jay-Z's latest LP, "Blueprint," led a torrent of new releases at the top of the album charts this week as America's record buyers continued to shop despite Sept. 11's terrorist attacks.
The Island/Def Jam release flew off shelves last week, shifting nearly 427,000 units, according to data compiled by SoundScan. Sales of "Blueprint" were powered by the near-ubiquity of its first single, "H.O.V.A. (Izzo)," on both urban radio and music television.
Island/Def Jam's chart dominance continued in the latest session with Nickelback's "Silver Side Up," which came in at No. 2 with 178,000 copies sold. "Silver Side Up" marks IDJ's second major success through its joint venture with hard-rock indie Roadrunner. The first was shock-metal act Slipknot, which opened in third place earlier this month with "Iowa" selling nearly 255,000 records.
Archetypal singer-songwriter Bob Dylan made a formidable showing this week with "Love and Theft" (Columbia), opening at fifth with nearly 134,000 sold.
Also high on the debut list were "Ghetto Fabolous" (Elektra), by rapper Fabolous, at No. 4, and "Satellite" (Atlantic), from alt-metal outfit P.O.D. (Payable on Death), at No. 6.
Coming in just behind the San Diego metalers in seventh place was Mariah Carey with the long-delayed soundtrack to her new film "Glitter." The album - Carey's first to be released on Virgin Records following her split with Sony - sold 116,000 copies. Both the record and the film were postponed this summer following Carey's hospitalization for a mental and physical breakdown.
The onslaught of new releases pushed most of last week's top performers further down the ranks: "Toxicity" (Columbia), from System of a Down, slipped to No. 11 from No. 1, as sales fell by more than half from its debut week to 99,000.
One exception to the chart freefallers was indefatigable R&B diva Alicia Keys, whose J Records release "Songs in A Minor" fell just one spot to No. 3, with sales of 161,000 albums. "Songs" has scanned more than 2.3 million units to date.
Also making respectable bows on the latest chart were "Worship" (Zomba) from gospel crooner Michael W. Smith at 20, "Face 2 Face" (Arista) from producer-songwriter Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds at 25, "God Hates Us All" (American) from thrash pioneers Slayer at 28, "Rockin' the Suburbs" (Epic) by Ben Folds at 42 and "Funk Odyssey" (Epic) from Jamiroquai at 44.
Rockers Live, redneck rapper Bubba Sparxxx, Macy Gray, and Tori Amos should shake up the top 20 again next week.
