On the latest Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Oct. 14), The Killers notch their first No. 1 album, as Wonderful Wonderful debuts atop the list with 118,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Sept. 28, according to Nielsen Music. The No. 1 arrival comes over 13 years after the group debuted on the chart with their first album, Hot Fuss.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the week’s most popular albums based on their overall consumption. That overall unit figure combines pure album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).
Now, let’s take a closer look at some of the action on the latest Billboard 200 chart:
— Lecrae, All Things Work Together – No. 11 – The rapper notches his seventh top 40-charting album, as All Things Work Together starts at No. 11 with 29,000 units (20,000 in traditional album sales). The two-time Grammy Award winner also bows at No. 8 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 6 on the Rap Albums chart (it’s his seventh consecutive top 10 effort on the latter tally).
— Foo Fighters, Concrete and Gold – No. 17 — After Foo Fighters debuted at No. 1 with Concrete and Gold, the set falls straight out of the top 10 in its second week (1-17). It’s the ninth album to earn that distinction in 2017. Concrete set launched with 127,000 equivalent album units, and erodes by 82 percent to 23,000 units in the week ending Sept. 28, according to Nielsen Music. In terms of traditional album sales, it collapses from 120,000 sold to just 20,000 (down 83 percent). The large drop was amplified by how the set’s first week sales were boosted by a direct-to-consumer offer to fans, where those that pre-ordered the album got early access to purchase concert tickets. Comparably, in all of 2016, just six albums premiered at No. 1 and then fell out of the top 10 in their second week.
— Fergie, Double Dutchess – No. 19 — 10 years after Fergie’s last full-length studio album, the diva returns with her second effort, Double Dutchess, which debuts at No. 19. The set (21,000 units; 16,000 album sales) also launches at No. 4 on the Top Independent Albums chart, and marks the singer’s first indie-distributed release. Fergie’s debut album, The Dutchess, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 dated Oct. 7, 2006, and peaked at No. 2 almost a year later, on the Sept. 22, 2007-dated tally.
— Van Morrison, Roll With the Punches – No. 23 — The singer-songwriter nabs his 21st top 40-charting set and 47th entry overall on the Billboard 200, as Roll With the Punches arrives at No. 23. The set starts with 19,000 units (nearly all in traditional album sales). Morrison made his Billboard 200 chart debut almost exactly 50 years ago, when Blowin’ Your Mind! bowed on the list dated Oct. 7, 1967 at No. 187 (peaking at No. 182 two weeks later). A few months earlier, Morrison nabbed his first entry on any chart, as his hit single “Brown Eyed Girl” bowed on the July 15, 1967-dated Billboard Hot 100 at No. 99, on it way to a No. 10 peak later that September.
— Lana Del Rey, Lust for Life – No. 27 — Lana Del Rey’s Lust for Life has the chart’s largest percentage gain, climbing 121-27 with a 181 percent unit rise (increasing from 6,000 to 17,000 units). The set sold 13,000 copies – up 642 percent. The sales jump is owed to how Del Rey’s official Website gave fans who purchased items and albums from its store access to purchase tickets early for the singer’s upcoming tour.
— Lady Gaga, Joanne – No. 45 — The Joanne album reenters (11,000 units; up 232 percent and 7,000 sold; up 390 percent) following the Sept. 22 premiere of Lady Gaga’s Netflix documentary Gaga: Five Foot Two, and sale pricing for Joanne in the iTunes Store.
— Why Don’t We, Invitation (EP) – No. 113 — The new boy band arrives with its introductory EP, earning 7,000 units (6,000 in traditional album sales). The quintet also bullets at No. 34 on the Pop Songs airplay chart with the album’s “Something Different.”
— Stephen Stills & Judy Collins, Everybody Knows – No. 195 — The former lovers join together to sing on an album for the first time, as Everybody Knows debuts at No. 195. The set earned 5,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Sept. 28, with nearly all of that sum coming from traditional album sales. The effort also starts at No. 9 on the Americana/Folk Albums tally. It’s Stills’ first chart entry outside of super groups Crosby, Stills & Nash, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young since 1984’s Right By You (No. 75). In total, Everybody Knows is Stills’ 12th entry (again, outside of his super group collaborations). As for Collins, the new album is her 18th charting effort, and second this decade, following 2015’s Strangers Again (which peaked at No. 77).
