Usher is making himself comfortable atop The Billboard 200, as his latest album shows no signs of moving out of the No. 1 slot, according to Nielsen SoundScan data issued Wednesday.
The R&B singer’s LaFace/Zomba set “Confessions” sold 214,000 copies in the week ended May 23, about 50,000 more than Method Man’s new entry at No. 2, “Tical 0: The Prequel.”
After nine weeks — eight of them at No. 1 — “Confessions” has moved 3.6 million copies. Usher also has the top single on the Hot 100, “Burn.”
East Coast rapper Method Man’s Def Jam effort, leading four new entries in the top 10, sold 164,000 copies. His third solo effort charted in the same spot as 1998’s “Tical 2000: Judgment Day,” which opened with 411,000 copies and has sold 1.6 million to date.
Florida rock act New Found Glory’s “Catalyst” (Drive-Thru) entered at No. 3 with 147,000 copies, one slot higher than 2002’s “Sticks and Stones,” which debuted with 91,000 copies and has sold 806,000 to date.
Canadian pop singer Alanis Morissette arrived at No. 5 with her latest Maverick album “So-Called Chaos.” It sold 114,500 copies, a major drop from the bow of her last album, 2002’s “Under Rug Swept,” which opened at No. 1 with 215,000 copies and has sold 986,000 copies to date.
Country duo Montgomery Gentry corraled the No. 10 slot with “You Do Your Thing” (Columbia). With 58,000 copies, first week sales beat the No. 26 debut of 2002’s “My Town,” which opened with 37,000 copies and has sold 805,000 to date.
Although last week’s No. 2 debut from Gretchen Wilson nearly upset Usher from his perch, her Epic album “Here for the Party” slid to No. 4 this week on a 39% dip to sales of 139,000 copies. Also falling after an impressive debut was 8Ball and MJG’s “Living Legends” (Bad Boy), down five places to No. 8 on a 46% drop to 65,000 copies.
Filling in the rest of the top 10 were D12’s “D12 World” (Shady/Interscope) at No. 6, Hoobastank’s “The Reason” (Island) at No. 7 and the EMI/Universal/Sony Music/Zomba/Capitol compilation “NOW! That’s What I Call Music 15” at No. 9.
Bowing at No. 11 with “You Are the Quarry” (Attack/Sanctuary), Morrissey not only scored the highest position of his solo career but also beat out any chart placement he had with the Smiths. The set sold 56,000 copies in its first week, far exceeding 1997’s “Maladjusted” (Mercury), which opened at No. 61 with just 19,000 copies; the set has sold 87,000 to date.
Lenny Kravitz’s “Baptism” (Virgin) debuted at No. 14 with 52,000 copies, just two notches lower than the arrival of 2001’s underperforming “Lenny.” Other notable debuts included George Michael’s “Patience” (Epic, No. 29), Disney’s “That’s So Raven” soundtrack (No. 46) and George Thorogood’s “Greatest Hits: 30 Years of Rock” (Capitol, No. 55).
Geffen’s soundtrack for box office champ “Shrek 2” soared 24 places to No. 12 on a 108% sales increase to 53,700 copies. Fueled by a flurry of TV exposure — including a stint co-hosting ABC’s “Motown 45” and a visit to “The Oprah Winfrey Show” — Lionel Richie’s “Just for You” (Island) zoomed 105-47 on a 114% increase to 21,000 copies.
Overall U.S. album sales were up 2.5% to 10.6 million, about 1.6% ahead of the comparable week last year. Sales for the year were ahead of 2003 by 7.5%.
Credit: Reuters