Jerrod Niemann Unseats Lady Antebellum on Album Charts

For the first time since being released 25 weeks ago, Lady Antebellum does not have the best-selling country album on the Nielsen SoundScan Hot 200 Albums chart.  Newcomer Jerrod Niemann has pushed Need You Now out of the top spot with his debut album Judge Jerrod and the Hung Jury.  Thanks to the success of “Lover, Lover,” Niemann sold over 33,000 copies of the album to outpace Lady Antebellum by over 5,000 albums.  Lady A sold nearly 27,000 copies of their album this past week while the Zac Brown Band, who just announced their upcoming sophomore album, sold over 21,000 copies of The Foundation.  Miranda Lambert’s Revolution moved nearly 14,000 copies as well, getting her past the 731,000 barometer and helping guide the record to platinum status, which will be a first for the artist.  Carrie Underwood’s third album Play On is the fifth best-selling country album on the SoundScan charts this week with over 11,500 more fans needing the album in their collections. 

After three weeks inside the Top 5, Jaron and the Long Road to Love slide to sixth place with Gettind Dressed In the Dark inching near the 60,000 copies sold mark, as “Pray For You,” the albums only hit thus far, nears gold status as a digital single.  Dierks Bentley’s bluegrass project slid over the 100,000 albums scanned mark this week.  While not nearly all that remarkable a feat for an established country artists these days, the success of the album is remarkable in the roots/bluegrass segment which is where this album sits.  Taylor Swift’s Fearless will soon be usurped on the charts by Taylor’s self-written third album Speak Now, an album which will be released October 25.  Jewel’s Sweet And Wild continues to find audiences while Luke Bryan, whose “Rain is a Good Thing” is at #1 on the charts for a second week, has Doin’ My Thing still residing inside the Top 10 and looking like a solid bet to be his first Gold record.

Brad Paisley’s American Saturday Night was recently certified Gold by the RIAA, just as it nears the 600,000 albums scanned mark.  Fourth single “Water” recently spent two weeks atop the charts.  We wonder which single will be next with our money on “Anything Like Me” or “I Hope That’s Me” being the choice.  Clay Walker’s She Won’t Be Lonely Long has sold nearly 50,000 copies as the title tune hits the Top 5.  The second single “Where Do I Go From You” is poised to be another hit as it was recently sent to radio while Lady Antebellum continues to place in country’s Top 15 albums on the Nielsen SoundScan Hot 200 Albums chart.  Easton Corbin’s self-titled debut continues to be a remarkable seller as well with over 5,000 more fans taking the album home as “Roll With It” ascends to the Top 20.  Brooks & Dunn round out the Top 15 with their two-disc #1’s…And Then Some best-of set.   It could very well scan it’s 400,000 copy this week (which is enough to make it nearly platinum by RIAA standards – doubling the discs). 

This week’s interesting albums section starts with the album Chicken & Biscuits from Colt Ford.  The album, which hasn’t gotten much mainstream promotion, has sold over 77,000 copies in 13 weeks on the charts.  He’s followed on this rundown by Lee Brice, who has spent 49 weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart with the Top 10 title track of the Love Like Crazy album.  He now has nearly 37,000 albums sold.  Uncle Kracker’s “Smile” is near the Top 10 itself (after nearly as long a chart run as Brice’s song) yet his EP Happy Hour: The South River Road Sessions has only found 20,000 fans.  The single has reached Platinum status with over one million fans picking up the single. This likely means his fans may already have the single and don’t want the EP.  Gary Allan’s Get Off The Pain has moved up the charts this week as fans find the singer’s single and album to their liking.  He’s now sold over 180,000 copies of the album in 18 weeks on the charts.  Trailer Choir’s full-length debut album Tailgate rounds out this week’s rundown with nearly 2400 more fans taking the album home.  If the title tune “Shakin that Tailgate” finds a receptive radio audience, the trio is sure to find their sales numbers jump as 8,000 albums sold isn’t nearly as strong as they had likely hoped it would be.

Next week we’ll be watching to see how high the Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute album (a Walmart exclusive) sells.  Can Jerrod Niemann retain the #1 album for two weeks in a row or will Lady Antebellum jump back to the top? Check back here to find out.