Album sales were down from last week, but last week's totals included Black Friday, so it was bound to happen. That doesn't mean Black Friday's stars were ready to give up their spots on the Top 10 however.
IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED
Garth Brooks might have only placed at no. 3 in the first week of release for his compilation Blame It On My Roots, but he bounced back and sold another 146,000 copies of the covers set. It's an impressive tally so far, considering that it's only available at Walmart and consists of six CDs and two DVDs.
One Direction performed admirably as well, despite slipping from no. 1 to no. 2 during Midnight Memories' second week. The album sold 117,000 copies.
Speaking of Brooks...
THE SEVENS HAVE ALIGNED
That was the bizarre message the country performer put on his website a few weeks ago. We still don't know what he was referring to, but is it possible he was predicting that three albums would remain in the Top 10 during their seventh week on the chart? Probably not. But it happened.
Kelly Clarkson actually peaked during her seventh week, as her Christmas album Wrapped in Red sold 112,000 copies and settled at no. 3. The Duck Dynasty Crew finally gave up its no. 4 spot, but only slipped one rung down to no. 5 with Duck The Halls. The surprise hit of the season moved 105,000 copies.
Katy Perry stuck around the Top 10 during PRISM's seventh week, selling an additional 51,000 copies.
SO WHAT'S NEW?
Only one debut in the Top 10, but it's a headliner. Britney Spears sold 107,000 copies of Britney Jean, her smallest debut of all time, and a huge drop off from 2011's Femme Fatale, which sold 276,000 copies in its first week. Spears isn't the first female pop performer to feel the impact of dropping sales this year.
STAYING STRONG
Eminem and The Marshall Mathers LP 2 stayed at no. 6 during its fifth week, selling another 84,000 copies.
THE REST OF THE CHRISTMAS SMORGASBORD
Three yuletide collections made their 2013 debuts in the Top 10 last week.
The first was a cappella group Pentatonix, which saw a huge boost in sales for its PTXmas after its video for "Little Drummer Boy" went wild on YouTube. The album sold 60,000 copies during its fifth week, jumping from no. 29 to no. 7.
Michael Buble and his album Christmas made their 2013 Top 10 debut, although the collection showed up during 2012, and was a staple of the best-selling albums list during 2011. It came in at no. 8 with 57,000 copies sold this week.
Finally, Mary J. Blige made her Top 10 debut with A Mary Christmas, which was released during October but has slowly worked its way up to no. 10. The album sold 51,000 copies.
