Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Velvet Revolver Blast Usher Off #1 Perch
06.16.2004 2:43 PM EDT  
 
(http://www.mtv.com/shared/media/news/images/v/Velvet_Revolver/sq-vr-press-box-light-rca.jpg)  
Velvet Revolver (file)
Photo: Dan Winters  
 
 
Usher has been rocked at retail.

Selling more than 256,000 copies of Contraband in its first week out, Velvet Revolver will take Mr. Entertainment down a peg on next week's Billboard albums chart. The hit single "Slither," a readymade fanbase and a boatload of press combined to give the band ? composed of former members of Guns N' Roses and ex-Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland ? a #1 placement for its debut album.

Proof that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, Contraband beat the combined first-week sales of the latest releases by both GN'R and STP (both were greatest-hits collections) by more than 41,000 copies.

Usher's Confessions shouldn't take the hit to heart. The more than 170,000 copies it sold last week has bumped the album's total sales beyond the 4 million mark. Usher may not be far from the hot seat for too long, since a re-release of the album, with at least three new songs, is on the horizon, according to producer Jermaine Dupri (see "Usher, Alicia Keys Record Duet").

Avril Lavigne's Under My Skin is showing some staying power after three weeks on the chart. Without a U.S. tour, only a smattering of radio festivals and emphasis given to just one, three-month-old single ("Don't Tell Me"), the album will slip one spot to #3, having sold more than 121,000 copies.

Another steadfast woman, country singer Gretchen Wilson, is showing similar staying power with Here for the Party, which will step back one place to #4, with more than 91,000 copies sold in its fifth week on shelves.

The #7 spot has been seeing a bit of 311 recently. Less than a year after their latest studio album, Evolver, debuted there, the reggae-inspired quintet's decade retrospective, Greatest Hits '93-'03, will follow suit, albeit with 23,000 fewer copies sold.

Perhaps fans gearing up for this year's Warped Tour, kicking off June 25, did so with the 2004 Warped Tour album. Featuring a sampling from this year's lineup ? New Found Glory, NOFX, Thursday, Yellowcard and others ? the 52-track LP sold more than 60,000 copies to take the #8 spot.

The remainder of next week's top 10 finds Prince's Musicology continuing its strong showing, though receding one spot to #5 (with more than 72,000 copies sold); Hoobastank's The Reason holding on to the #6 spot for the third straight week and selling more than 66,000 copies; D12's D12 World falling two spots to #9 (59,000); and Slipknot's Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) dropping five places to #10 (58,000).

Los Lonely Boys and the Black Eyed Peas continue to benefit from recent exposure. Trailed by a spate of great reviews while on their current tour, the Texas trio's self-titled debut has been on a hot streak in the last three weeks, moving from #31 to #23 to #13; while the Black Eyed Peas' "Let's Get It Started," the theme to this year's NBA Finals, helped Elephunk advance seven spots to #14 with 43,000 copies sold adding to its 1.3 million total.

Even a marriage to J. Lo couldn't spark sales for Marc Anthony. The Latin singer's latest, Amar Sin Mentiras, released just days after he wed Jennifer Lopez, will place at #26, 23 spots higher than his last Spanish-language LP, 2001's Libre, though with 17,000 fewer copies.

Modest Mouse and Franz Ferdinand are still tolling the bell for the aggro n?-metal that once dominated radio airwaves. After more than two months in stores, both bands' albums, Good News for People Who Love Bad News at #21 and Franz Ferdinand at #43, have shown steady improvement in the last three weeks.

Other notable chart debuts include country trio SheDaisy's Sweet Right Here at #16; punk chanteuse PJ Harvey's Uh Huh Her at #29; SoCal punk vets and Warped Tour headliners Bad Religion's The Empire Strikes First at #40; the Calling's second album, Two, at #54; Punk-O-Rama Vol. 9, featuring Pennywise, Rancid and the Bouncing Souls, at #67; Sonic Youth's Sonic Nurse at #70; A--hole, the new solo album from Kiss' Gene Simmons, at #86; Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, the major-label debut by New Jersey emocore group My Chemical Romance, at #103; and turntablists the X-ecutioners' Revolutions at #118.



?Joe D'Angelo

Take that, Usher.  :yes:

CUMON MY SONSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!

WOOOOOOOO!  :beer:

Usher sucks cock!

Go VR, that's cool!

Aren't they in the UK top 10 aswell!

I'm very happy to see that. It's really cool. I hope they can stay in the top 15 for the next couple of months to confirm their status and then maybe a full US and Europe tour at some point soon?

It's good to know this band is gonna be more than a one-CD wonder, with this kind of debut they'll have the support of the record company.


VERY COOL NEWS!  :beer: ;D ;D ;D ;D

Thank fucken god........VR will finally knock some sense into the the music world.

Give em Hell Guys.. : ok:

I had some pretty high expectations for this band, and everyone of them has been exceeded to date.  A success would have been a Top Five debut, but instead they debut at NUMBER ONE!!!  I thought we were going to get a solid rock n'roll record, but instead we've got one which is an instant classic.  Yes, I do believe it's that great.  This is the record I wanted to hear from Guns N' Roses way back in 1995, 1996.  Folks, we are witnessing something truly special happening here, and, in retrospect, it comes as no surprise that it's the men who made Guns N' Roses and Stone Temple Pilots great are bringing us this new revolution in rock music.  I hope these little children in all these shit bands out there sit up and take notice.  Contraband is a virtual clinic in kick-ass rock n' roll music.  The best thing about it is that it doesn't sound dated in anyway, in fact it's totally fresh.  And no, it doesn't sound like STP or GNR to my ears, but something in the tradition of those bands that also breaks new ground.  I believe it's going to have a huge impact on the industry for years to come.  Slash, Duff, Matt, Scott, and Dave, THANK YOU a million times over!!!

yeah!  :yes:

:rofl: : ok: