Godsmack earns their third straight debut at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart with their new album 'Oracle,' the strongest of six new releases in the Top 10 this week. The hard rockers from upstate Massachusetts sold 117,000 copies of their new record according to Nielsen Soundscan, an impressive total considering the four-year wait their fans have endured since the release of the band's 2006 album 'IV.' The band took an uncharacteristic two-year break following the tour supporting their last album, then further interrupted 'Oracle''s recording sessions in order to participate on Motley Crue's 2009 'Crue Fest 2' summer tour. Ironically, lead singer Sully Ema credits that tour -- or more specifically some backstage diva-ish behavior from another, unnamed band's camp -- as inspiration for the new album's lead single, 'Cryin' Like a Bitch,' which received heavy rock airplay across the country upon its release earlier this spring.
MercyMe, named Billboard magazine's "Christian Artists of the Decade" last year, start the new decade strong at No. 3 with their new set, 'The Generous Mr. Lovewell' reaching 88,000 sales. Songwriting legends Carole King and James Taylor team up and reach No. 4, with a tally of 78,000, for their new collaborative concert album 'Live at the Troubadour.'
Alternative metal mainstays the Deftones sold 62,000 to enter at No. 6 with 'Diamond Eyes,' their first album since the tragic 2008 car crash that left their bass player Chi Cheng in a coma. The band made this album without Cheng, who is recovering slowly, and who they hope will rejoin them at sometime in the future. Emily Robinson and Martie Maguire, better known as two-thirds of the Dixie Chicks, start at No. 7 and sales of 61,000 for the self-titled debut of their new side project, 'Court Yard Hounds.' R&B star Toni Braxton rounds out the Top 10 debuts with her first record in five years, 'Pulse,' at No. 9 with 54,000 sold.
All the new entries meant that many of last week's Top 10 artists slid down a few notches, even if most of them actually increased their sales this week. One record that definitely didn't slow down was Lady Antebellum's 'Need You Now,' which stayed at No. 2 with sales jumping to 97,000, over 20,000 higher than last week. Justin Bieber's 'My World 2.0' notches 64,000 and falls slightly to No. 5, and AC/DC's 'Iron Man 2' rides it's namesake movie release to 55,000 sales at the No. 8 spot. Usher rounds out the returning titles at No. 10 on with his latest, 'Raymond v Raymond,' moving 51,000 copies.
