‘Boo’ boosts a resurgent ‘Confessions’

Thanks to some key content revisions, Usher’s “Confessions” soared back up the nation’s pop album chart Wednesday with a dramatic 294,000 increase in sales from the previous week.

Before the surge, “Confessions,” which is by far the year’s best-selling album, had already sold more than 6 million copies since its release in March. But the CD had slipped down the charts in recent weeks, checking in last week at No. 24 (based on sales of 42,000 copies).

To give the album a second life, Arista Records beefed up the original collection by adding a bonus DVD and new tracks, including a duet with Alicia Keys titled “My Boo” that is a smash on pop radio.

Those additions led the rush to the stores, where the sales total of 336,000 copies fell only 7,000 copies short of claiming the No. 1 spot, Nielsen SoundScan reported.

Country veteran George Strait finished ahead of “Confessions” with his new two-disc greatest-hits package. The album, which sold 343,000 copies, was one of six new releases to debut in the Top 20.

The other Top 20 arrivals were Good Charlotte (No. 3, with sales of 199,000 copies), Korn (No. 4, sales of 130,000), R.E.M. (No. 13, sales of 61,000), Cake (No. 17, sales of 46,000) and the latest chapter in the “Totally Hits” compilation series (No. 19, with 43,000 sales).

To make room for the new releases, these artists fell from the top 20: Joss Stone (No. 11 to 21), Keith Urban (No. 17 to 22), the Used (No. 6 to No. 26), Brian Wilson (No. 13 to 27), Talib Kweli (No. 14 to No. 32) and Interpol (No. 15 to No. 41).