This week was a relatively slow one on the Billboard 200, which allowed Sia to take the top spot for the first time in her career. We don't mean to suggest she didn't earn it: 1000 Forms of Fear sold 52,000 copies, the songwriter's largest sales week to date. However that was also the smallest sales week for a no. 1 in more than two years. Still, we feel the need to acknowledge that we predicted her album wouldn't crack the Top 10 during last week's Junk Mail, and we deserve to be mocked accordingly.
Frozen lengthened its stay within the Top 5 to 30 consecutive weeks, and did it by appearing in the no. 2 spot at that. Amazon and Google Play deserve a decent amount of credit as the price of the album was dropped to $3.99 as part of a promotion. Sam Smith remains steady at no. 3, moving 42,000 copies of In The Lonely Hour in its fourth week.
Skipping to the back of the list, it's interesting to compare Smith with Lana Del Rey, whose Ultraviolence beat out Lonely Hour when the pair debuted. Smith has slowly overtaken Del Rey for overall sales, as Ultraviolence settled at no. 10 this week with 18,000 in sales.
Ed Sheeran is doing well for himself, taking the no. 4 spot as x sold another 35,000 copies in its third week (yes, he also has fallen behind fellow Brit Smith for sales). Last week's no. 1, Trigga by Trey Songz, fell to no. 5 after selling 34,000 copies of his most recent album.
Judas Priest, surprisingly, claims its first Top 10 appearance with its new album Redeemer of Souls. The heavy metal icons had landed 16 previous albums on the Billboard 200 but none managed to crack the Top 10. The new set brought in 33,000 in sales.
Now 50 once again returns to the Top 10 thanks to the slow sales week, bouncing back to no. 7 after selling 22,000 copies after a two week absence.
The last debut on the list this week was the Dirty Heads' Sound of Change, which sold 21,000 copies and landed at no. 8. The total marks the highest sales week yet for the band. Miranda Lambert stuck around for at leads one more week, taking the no. 9 spot with 20,000 copies of Platinum sold.
