Billboard: Eminem Reclaims No. 1 Spot From Lady Gaga's 'ARTPOP'

Credit: Rolling Stone

After ceding the top spot last week to Lady Gaga's ARTPOP, Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP 2 reclaims the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200, selling 120,000 copies in its third week. This is a big enough story in itself, but the even bigger story is the massive decline of ARTPOP, which drops to No. 8 with 46,000 copies sold, a decrease of 82% for Lady Gaga's latest studio effort. This marks the third No. 1 debut of the year to decline by 80% in its second week after Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience (2 of 2) and Kanye West's Yeezus.

However, the caveat here is that labels are focusing less on consistent album sales and instead are placing all their focus on first-week sales and pre-orders, in an attempt to maximize the debut numbers. While this leads to massive, chart-topping debuts, the strategy causes even larger declines, as those first-week numbers just aren't sustainable, even by modest standards.

The highest debut of the week comes from rockers Five Finger Death Punch, whose The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell: Volume 2 takes the No. 2 slot with 77,000 copies sold, which is 40,000 less than the career-high No. 2 debut of The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell: Volume 1 earlier this year.

The other high-ranking debuts this week include The Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack, which lands at No. 5 with 55,000 copies sold, which is considerably less than the 175,000 debut of the first Hunger Games album last year, which debuted at No. 1. Some insiders are speculating that the lack of Taylor Swift on this album, along with the lack of one clear, strong lead single, led to the weaker album sales.

Daughtry's Baptized debuts at No. 6 with sales just above 55,000 copies, marking the band's fourth consecutive top 10 studio album. Meanwhile, rapper Yo Gotti scores his best sales week ever with I Am, which debuts at No. 7 with 48,000 copies sold. Lastly, among debuts, Minneapolis radio station KTCZ storms the chart with its new Cities 97 Sampler, Live From Studio C: Vol. 25 compilation, debuting at No. 10 with 40,000 copies sold. The album features tracks from Passenger, fun. and Phillip Phillips, and was sold exclusively at Target stores in the Minneapolis area, towards the goal of raising money for local charities. Since launching the compilation in 1989, more than $11.5 million has been raised.

Yet the KTCZ album isn't the only compilation on the chart: Now 48 holds down the fort at No. 3 with 63,000 copies sold, while The Robertsons' Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas finishes at No. 4 with 60,000 copies sold. This remains the strongest-selling holiday album of the season so far, besting Kelly Clarkson's Wrapped In Red, which drops to No. 9 this week with 44,000 copies sold. However, the Kelly Clarkson release did see a 6% increase from last week.

The full top 10 below:

1. Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (120,000 copies)

2. Five Finger Death Punch, The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell: Volume 2 (77,000 copies)

3. Various Artists, Now 48 (63,000 copies)

4. The Robertsons, Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas (60,000 copies)

5. Various Artists, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (55,000 copies)

6. Daughtry, Baptized (55,000 copies)

7. Yo Gotti, I Am (48,000 copies)

8. Lady Gaga, ARTPOP (46,000 copies)

9. Kelly Clarkson, Wrapped In Red (44,000 copies)

10. Various Artists, Cities 97 Sampler, Live From Studio C: Vol. 25 compilation (40,000 copies)

Via: Billboard