Metallica scores their fifth straight #1 with Death Magnetic, which moved 490k in just three days. It's the band's biggest sales week since 1996's Load debuted. The placement also makes Metallica the first group to ever release five #1 albums. The Beatles, U2 and the Dave Matthews Band have all scored four. Death Magnetic's lead single, "The Day That Never Comes", went #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart and reached #31 on the Hot 100. Three other official singles have been released.
Jessica Simpson's country album, Do You Know, debuts at #4 this week with 65,000 sold. That's one better than her 2006 album, A Public Affair, though that record managed over 100,000 copies in its debut week. The lead single, "Come On Over", peaked at #18 on Country radio.
Former #1 Tha Carter III, by Lil Wayne, saw a slight sales increase this week (2%) and jumped from #10 to #8. Wayne can perhaps thank a pair of well received performances at the MTV VMAs for the sustained interest. In its 14th week on the Billboard 200, Carter III has already produced four Top 40 singles - three of which have went Top 10.
LL Cool J debuts at #9 this week with Exit 13, his final record for Def Jam. The set moved 44,000 copies in its debut week, nearly a third of the 2006 Todd Smith, which was universally panned. Good news for the rapper, though, as the lead single, "Baby" (feat. The-Dream), looks to be headed to the Top 40.
