Shania, other artists enjoy an ‘Up!’ week

Shania Twain’s “Up!” is No. 1 on the nation’s album sales chart for the fifth consecutive week, as the country singer and other recording artists enjoyed a merry surge in holiday sales.

“Up!” sold 456,000 copies in the week that ended Sunday, up from 373,000 copies the previous week, and similar bumps were seen all through the chart. All the albums down to No. 42, for instance, sold 100,000 or more copies, when just a month ago there were titles in the Top 10 that fell shy of that threshold.

After Twain, the Top 5 was rounded out by the “8 Mile” soundtrack, the Dixie Chicks, Avril Lavigne and Jennifer Lopez, respectively.

Only a handful of albums debuted on the chart, since labels release few records the week before Christmas, when they can get lost in the holiday swirl. The most notable was Lil’ Romeo’s “Game Time” at No. 33.

*

-- Geoff Boucher