Avenged Sevenfold became the band to knock Luke Bryan from the top spot on the Billboard 200 after his "Crash My Party" led album sales during its first two weeks. Two artists in this week's top 10 are making reappearances thanks to publicity generated by their performances at the MTV Video Music Awards. Check out what happened last week in the Top 10 Albums:
WHAT'S NEW
Avenged Sevenfold was the big winner, harnessing its hard rock audience to push "Hail To The King" past several hip-hop artists for the week's best debut. "King" is the second album in a row to debut at no. 1 for the band. The album sold 159,000, just a few less than the 162,000 "Nightmare" sold during 2010. Big Sean debuted at no. 3 with "Hall of Fame," selling 72,000 copies, a marked drop from his last LP "Finally Famous." Juicy J sold 64,000 copies of "Stay Trippy," a marked improvement from his last solo LP "Hustle Till I Die," which only sold 5,800 copies. Southern rockers Alabama came in at no. 8 with "Alabama & Friends," a compilation of hits re-imagined in tribute to the band (and featuring Bryan as well).
MOVING UP
Justin Timberlake was the big winner last week, receiving the Video of The Year award at the VMAs and seeing his "The 20/20 Experience" earn a sales boost as a result. The album jumped back to no. 6 from no. 22. Bruno Mars saw a similar jump in popularity after his VMAs performance, and his "Unorthodox Jukebox" leapt from no. 18 to no. 9. Robin Thicke, who had perhaps the most talked-about VMA performance (thanks to Miley Cyrus), rose to no. 5, but the album has been a staple in the Top 10 since its July 12 debut.
HEADING DOWN
Last week's starring debuts managed to hold on for at least one more week, but numbers have dropped enough that it looks doubtful they'll return to the Top 10 next week. John Mayer sold 36,000 copies of "Paradise Valley," a 75 percent drop. R&B supergroup TGT (Tyrese, Ginuwine and Tank) sold 27,000 copies of "Three Kings," down 65 percent. The artists finished the week at no. 7 and no. 10 respectively. Bryan dropped a large percentage, but still finished at no 2 in "Crash My Party's" third week, thanks to 92,000 copies moved. The album has sold 779,000 units in its three weeks, competing with "20/20" and Jay Z's "Magna Carta Holy Grail" for highest-selling album of the year thus far.
