This week's Top 10 of the Billboard 200 featured somewhere between two and five new entries, depending on how you define "new entry." Stay tuned for the solution to the riddle.
There was no doubt as to the status of this week's no. 1 album however, the new release from Miranda Lambert, Platinum. The country performer has a while to go before her sales numbers equal the album's title, but 179,000 copies sold isn't something to shrug at. Lambert has released five albums now, and every one has debuted with higher sales than the previous one. It's her first no. 1 appearance.
There was a long drop off after Lambert's spot however, which allowed an old contender to move toward the top. The soundtrack for Frozen ascended back to no. 2 during its 28th week on the charts, gathering 52,000 units sold (still a fall from last week, despite the position shift). Another country musician, Brantley Gilbert, came in at no. 3 after selling another 48,000 copies of Just As I Am.
The second for-sure new album this week was 50 Cent, who has certainly not seen his sales increase with every release. Animal Ambition debuted with 47,000 copies sold, no doubt the result of the rapper opting to go independent. His last release, on Interscope, opened with 160,000 in sales. The five years in between releases is also a potential cause.
Coldplay may have fallen behind Gilbert for the first time after three weeks on the charts, but the band is still one of the highest-selling acts so far for 2014. The group's album Ghost Stories moved another 46,000 copies and settled at no. 5.
Nos. 6 and 8 were the only returning albums in the Top 10 this week that saw higher sales numbers from last week. Now 50 remained at no. 6 after a slight increase in sales pushed it to 41,000 copies sold. The soundtrack for The Fault In Our Stars returned to the Top 10 after the film took no. 1 at the box office last weekend. The record itself sold 36,000 copies and jumped ten spots.
So as for our riddle: Led Zeppelin took nos. 7, 9 and 10 this week. Obviously the band hasn't released any new music recently, but the newly re-released copies of the group's seminal Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II and Led Zeppelin III brought in the buyers. The albums sold 37,000/34,000/32,000 respectively, which is interesting considering that Zeppelin II is considered by many to be the strongest representation of the band's discography. We guess buyers are just going in order.
