After nearly six years away, the return of Nine Inch Nails is heralded with a No. 1 debut on The Billboard 200. The Trent Reznor-led act’s “With Teeth” (Nothing/Interscope) racked up first week sales of 272,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
This is NIN’s second chart-topping album, as 1999’s “The Fragile” also bowed at No. 1. That set started with 229,000 copies and has sold 898,000 to date.
With the group in the midst of a North American tour, the first “With Teeth” airplay single, “The Hand That Feeds,” is in its fourth non-consecutive week at No. 2 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Songs chart
Composed by John Williams and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, Sony Classical’s “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” enters The Billboard 200 at No. 6 with 95,000 copies. “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” is the space saga’s top charting soundtrack, reaching No. 3 in 1999. Combined with 2002’s “Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones,” the franchise’s two “prequel” soundtracks have sold 1.4 million to date.
At No. 9, Fall Out Boy’s Island full-length debut, “From Under the Cork Tree,” marks the group’s career best opening on The Billboard 200, selling 68,000 copies. The band’s 2003’s Fueled By Ramen effort “Take This to Your Grave” peaked at No. 17 on Top Independent Albums and has a to-date total of 219,000 units.
Mariah Carey’s “The Emancipation of Mimi” (Island/Def Jam) keeps its place at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 for a third week after seeing a slight (0.4%) dip to sales of 197,000 copies. Rob Thomas rebounds 4-3 with former No. 1 “…Something to Be” (Melisma/Atlantic), which advances despite a 14% sales drop to 125,000 units.
Also rising on the chart in spite of a 9% drop is 50 Cent’s “The Massacre” (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope), which moves 6-4 this week on 104,000 copies. Last week’s No. 1, Bruce Springsteen’s “Devils & Dust” (Columbia), slides to No. 5 on a 54% decline to 102,000.
Gwen Stefani’s “Love, Angel, Music, Baby” (Interscope) climbs 10-7 with an 11% boost to 79,000 copies. Il Divo’s self-titled Sony effort gains one spot at No. 8 on a 0.4% increase to 75,000, while Mike Jones’ “Who Is Mike Jones?” (Swishahouse/Asylum/Warner Bros.) falls 8-10 on a 20% slide to 65,000.
Other notable debuts on this week’s chart include Sony BMG Strategic Marketing Group’s “Elvis, By the Presleys” (No. 15), Limp Bizkit’s “The Unquestionable Truth, Pt. 1” (Geffen, No. 24), Ryan Adams & the Cardinals’ two-disc “Cold Roses” (Lost Highway, No. 26), Nivea’s “Complicated” (Jive, No. 37) and Amy Grant’s “Rock of Ages… Hymns & Faith” (Word, No. 42).
Titles by country acts including Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson and Tim McGraw see chart jumps this week thanks to the genre’s traditional strong showing during the week leading up to Mother’s Day. But it is Sony’s “The Phantom of the Opera” soundtrack that is The Billboard 200 greatest gainer with a 272% increase to sales of 29,000 copies. The album rockets 129-32 in the wake of the movie’s DVD release last week.
At 11 million units, overall U.S. album sales were up 5% over the previous week, less than one percent ahead of the same week last year. Sales for the year are lower than those of 2004 by about 9% at 197 million units.
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