These days, it's not often to see superstar artists release albums so late in the buying season yet that's exactly what we have with Luke Bryan and Chris Stapleton holding fort in the Top 2 this week (Stapleton held down #1 with From A Room: Volume 2 last week). This week, Luke Bryan sold nearly 100,000 actual copies of his latest album What Makes You Country. While that sale number isn't close to the number from his last album, 2015's double platinum Kill The Lights, 100k is still a number that's nothing to sneeze at. The figure is 1/3 of what Luke scored last time out but it's not because his star isn't as hot as it once was. Instead, we can chalk it up to a mixture of three factors:
- fans are buying less physical products, especially younger fans who like his music and streaming it instead
- The release date was too late in the season (and placed there to guarantee a #1 Hot 200 Albums chart debut (which it achieved)
- Fans just weren't that interested in the lead single "Light It Up"
The truth is likely somewhere in those three statements but regardless of this, Luke's well on his way to another Gold and/or Platinum album and if he scores bigger hits off the album (note: he will), he's looking at potentially having a juggernaut of an album over the course of the next year or two.
As for other albums inside this week's T0p 10, Chris Stapleton holds fort with THREE of the Top 6 albums, no small feat in this day and age and the last (and only other) country artist to do so is Garth Brooks, just last year and earlier, in the 1990s. Remarkable. The total (traditional) sales of all three albums are over 3 million units with 2.156 million copies belonging to breakout album Traveller. Walker Hayes, who has been struggling to break out for nearly a decade now, finally scores with boom., his debut album for Monument Records. The album scanned over 12,000 copies. Not a bad start for an artist who was once cast aside as an also ran. We must mention Garth Brooks' Anthology, The First Five Years. The project, which features five discs of music (some of the tracks never previously heard before) is also a fantastic hardbound book and well worth the $25 price tag. The CD is actually secondary to the book, which chronicles the first five years (and albums) of Garth's career. Stars roundout the Top 10 with Blake Shelton, Kenny Chesney, Thomas Rhett and Tim McGraw/Faith Hill taking their places within the chart.
Below is our final Top 10 Country Albums Sales Chart for 2017.
| Place | Artist | Album | Week | Total Scans |
| 1 | LUKE BRYAN | WHAT MAKES YOU COUNTRY | 99,500 | 99,500 |
| 2 | CHRIS STAPLETON | FROM A ROOM: VOLUME 2 | 42,600 | 158,700 |
| 3 | GARTH BROOKS | ANTHOLOGY PART 1:1ST5YRS | 35,500 | 185,200 |
| 4 | CHRIS STAPLETON | FROM A ROOM: VOLUME 1 | 15,500 | 626,600 |
| 5 | WALKER HAYES | BOOM. | 12,300 | 12,300 |
| 6 | CHRIS STAPLETON | TRAVELLER | 1,100 | 2,156,200 |
| 7 | BLAKE SHELTON | TEXOMA SHORE | 11,500 | 155,500 |
| 8 | TIM MCGRAW/FAITH HILL | THE REST OF OUR LIFE | 11,300 | 142,500 |
| 9 | KENNY CHESNEY | LIVE IN NO SHOES NATION | 6,600 | 328,200 |
| 10 | THOMAS RHETT | LIFE CHANGES | 6,100 | 194,400 |
| 11 | KID ROCK | SWEET SOUTHERN SUGAR | 5,900 | 84,500 |
| 12 | KANE BROWN | KANE BROWN | 5,900 | 281,500 |
| 13 | ALAN JACKSON | PRECIOUS MEMORIES COL (2CD) | 5,900 | 121,900 |
| 14 | SHANIA TWAIN | NOW | 5,500 | 194,700 |
| 15 | KEITH URBAN | RIPCORD | 4,000 | 696,400 |
| -- | KELSEA BALLERINI | UNAPOLOGETICALLY | 3,900 | 67,200 |
| -- | LUKE COMBS | THIS ONE'S FOR YOU | 3,700 | 165,000 |
| -- | DARIUS RUCKER | WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME | 3,600 | 66,100 |
| -- | VARIOUS ARTISTS | WINTER WONDERLAND (2017) | 3,100 | 15,700 |
| -- | BRETT YOUNG | BRETT YOUNG | 3,100 | 168,400 |
| -- | CHRIS YOUNG | LOSING SLEEP | 2,900 | 60,100 |
| -- | ALABAMA | AMERICAN CHRISTMAS | 2,800 | 21,600 |
| -- | DANIELLE BRADBERY | I DON'T BELIEVE WE'VE MET | 2,700 | 13,500 |
| -- | MIRANDA LAMBERT | THE WEIGHT OF THESE WINGS | 2,400 | 411,400 |
| -- | REBA MCENTIRE | SING IT NOW:SONGS OF FAITH | 2,300 | 206,800 |
| -- | MIDLAND | ON THE ROCKS | 2,300 | 45,200 |
| -- | JON PARDI | CALIFORNIA SUNRISE | 2,200 | 204,800 |
| -- | JASON ISBELL/400 UNIT | THE NASHVILLE SOUND | 2,100 | 112,600 |
| -- | BROTHERS OSBORNE | PAWN SHOP | 1,800 | 185,300 |
| -- | DUSTIN LYNCH | CURRENT MOOD | 1,700 | 60,600 |
| -- | ERIC CHURCH | MR. MISUNDERSTOOD | 1,700 | 575,200 |
| -- | OLD DOMINION | HAPPY ENDINGS | 1,600 | 63,100 |
| -- | HOME FREE | TIMELESS | 1,400 | 29,900 |
| -- | GARTH BROOKS | GUNSLINGER | 1,400 | 136,500 |
| -- | WILLIE NELSON | WILLIE AND THE BOYS: | 1,400 | 15,800 |
| -- | LADY ANTEBELLUM | HEART BREAK | 1,300 | 145,500 |
| -- | FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE | DIG YOUR ROOTS | 1,300 | 436,500 |
| -- | LITTLE BIG TOWN | THE BREAKER | 1,300 | 153,400 |
| -- | GLEN CAMPBELL | ADIOS | 1,200 | 69,600 |
| -- | CHASE RICE | LAMBS & LIONS | 1,200 | 15,800 |
| -- | ZAC BROWN BAND | WELCOME HOME | 1,100 | 288,000 |
| -- | MARGO PRICE | ALL-AMERICAN MADE | 1,100 | 15,800 |
| -- | LEE BRICE | LEE BRICE | 1,100 | 21,500 |
| -- | ROY ORBISON | LOVE SO BEAUTIFUL/PHILHARMONIC | 1,000 | 11,000 |
| -- | DOLLY PARTON | I BELIEVE IN YOU | 1,000 | 16,000 |
| -- | BRETT ELDREDGE | BRETT ELDREDGE | 1,000 | 70,300 |
| -- | JASON ALDEAN | THEY DON'T KNOW | 1,000 | 424,000 |
| -- | CARLY PEARCE | EVERY LITTLE THING | 900 | 21,900 |
| -- | GEORGE STRAIT | STRAIT OUT OF THE BOX/VOL 2 | 900 | 107,800 |
| -- | RASCAL FLATTS | BACK TO US | 900 | 67,800 |
| -- | GENE WATSON | MY GOSPEL ROOTS | 900 | 900 |
| -- | CHRIS JANSON | EVERYBODY | 800 | 20,800 |
| -- | TOBY KEITH | THE BUS SONGS | 800 | 27,900 |
| -- | WILLIE NELSON | GOD'S PROBLEM CHILD | 800 | 100,100 |
| -- | GARTH BROOKS | ULTIMATE COLLECTION | 800 | 553,200 |
| -- | ERIC CHURCH | 61 DAYS IN CHURCH/VOL 1 | 800 | 800 |
| -- | ALISON KRAUSS | WINDY CITY | 700 | 124,000 |
| -- | AARON LEWIS | SINNER | 700 | 139,000 |
| -- | Granger SMITH | WHEN THE GOOD GUYS WIN | 700 | 21,500 |
| -- | TONY JACKSON | TONY JACKSON | 700 | 7,400 |
| -- | LUKAS NELSAN/PTR | LUKAS NELSAN/PTR | 700 | 15,800 |
| -- | TURNPIKE TROUBADOURS | LONG WAY FROM YOUR HEART | 700 | 23,300 |
| -- | KIP MOORE | SLOWHEART | 600 | 42,300 |
| -- | JOEY MARTIN FEEK | IF NOT FOR YOU | 600 | 60,000 |
| -- | CODY JINKS | I'M NOT THE DEVIL | 500 | 67,100 |
| -- | BRAD PAISLEY | LOVE AND WAR | 500 | 71,200 |
Dylan Dextraze
Check out Kyle Fields "Hillbilly Poetry" it got into top 20 last week. super good album from someone with no label or help. A review would be awesome!