A Strait shot to the top
A return to straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll gives veteran band R.E.M. its best debut week in more than a decade, and country superstar George Strait nails his fourth chart-topper with “Troubadour.”
Strait’s “Troubadour” sold 166,000 copies in its first week to top the U.S. pop chart, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Though not immune to the industry’s overall decline in CD sales, Strait has been as consistent as they come -- his 2006 effort “It Just Comes Natural” led the tally with 232,000 copies when it debuted. He has now topped Billboard’s country chart 22 times.
R.E.M. sold 115,000 copies of its “Accelerate,” giving the band a No. 2 debut. With that, it accomplished a rare feat in today’s music climate -- actually besting the first-week sales of its previous effort. In 2004, R.E.M.’s “Around the Sun” sold 61,000 copies when it arrived.
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