AC/DC Debuts At No. 1 With 784,000

Updating a story first posted here last night, AC/DC earns its first Billboard 200-topping debut with "Black Ice," blasting onto the chart with the second-biggest sales frame this year. The Columbia set, released exclusively through Wal-mart, Sam's Club and AC/DC's Web site, moved 784,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.That number only trails the opening frame for Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" (Def Jam), which bowed with 1.005 million units earlier this year. "Black Ice" also provides AC/DC's best sales frame since SoundScan began tracking data in 1991.AC/DC topped the chart in early 1982 with "For Those About To Rock We Salute You," which climbed to No. 1, but did not debut there. Thanks to deep discounts at Wal-Mart, the band's back catalog enjoyed a huge week, shifting 92,000 copies combined. "Back in Black" went from 9,000 to 21,000, while "High Voltage" rocketed from 4,000 to 11,000.Debuting at No. 2 is the soundtrack to Disney's "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" with 297,000. That's the best debut sales week for a theatrical film soundtrack since November 2005, when "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" started at No. 2 with 317,000. "HSM3" is the first in the series of the "High School Musical" films to debut in movie theaters as opposed to on the Disney Channel.T.I.'s Grand Hustle/Atlantic album "Paper Trail" falls 2-3 with 93,000 copies, a sales decrease of 29%. With a 50% dip, Kenny Chesney's "Lucky Old Sun" drops from the summit to No. 4 with 88,000. Metallica's "Death Magnetic" (Warner Bros.) continues its decline 4-5 with 52,000 (+3%), while Kid Rock's "Rock N Roll Jesus" (Atlantic) clings to No. 6 for a second week at 40,000 (-11%).
R&B/Gospel outfit Mary Mary notches its second top 10 debut as "The Sound" (My Block/Columbia) begins at No. 7 with 37,000. The duo's self-titled set peaked at No. 8 in 2005.Slipping 24% to 31,000, Ne-Yo's "Year of the Gentleman" (Def Jam) keeps the No. 8 spot warm for a second week. Amid a tumultuous week in the news for the star, Jennifer Hudson's self-titled Arista set slips 5-9 with 29,000 (-37%). Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" re-enters the top tier 12-10 on a 2% decrease to 25,000. One slot below, Adele earns a new peak on the big chart as her Columbia effort "19" climbs 46-11 after her appearance on "Saturday Night Live." Sales rose from 11,000 to 25,000.Hank Williams III bows at No. 18 with "Damn Right Rebel Proud" (Sidewalk) with 20,000, easily scoring his best charting album. His previous best came with 2006's "Straight to Hell," which peaked at No. 73.Lee Ann Womack starts at No. 23 with "Call Me Crazy" (MCA Nashville), after moving 17,000. Her last set, 2005's "There's More Where That Came From," debuted at No. 12. Other debuts this week include post-hardcore band Escape The Fate's "This War Is Ours" (Epitaph, No. 35, 13,000), Polyvinyl act Of Montreal's "Skeletal Lamping" (No. 38, 12,000), country singer Craig Morgan's "That's Why" (BNA, No. 39, 12,000), Brett Dennen's "Hope for the Hopeless" (Dualtone/Downtown, No. 41, 11,000) and Labelle's "Back To Now," the funk trio's first set since 1978 (Verve, No. 45, 11,000).At 7.07 million units, sales this week are up 8.3% from last week's sum and down 15.2% from the same week last year.