Music charts: Usher breaks 400,000 to rank No. 1

It was another good news/bad news week on the album sales charts. In the good category, Usher (pictured) became just the second artist this year to top the 400,000 sales mark, moving 443,000 copies of Here I Stand to take the top spot. As opening weeks in 2008 go, that figure trails only the 463,000-unit bow that Mariah Carey enjoyed in April with her E=MC2 album. Less good is how that compares to the debut of Usher’s previous album, Confessions, which bowed with 1.1 million copies in 2004. But sales numbers like that are a thing of the past, given the current CD-sales climate.

Meanwhile, it appears that Sex and the City fans enjoy shopping as much as their big-screen heroines — even for CDs. The movie’s soundtrack sold a surprising 99,000 and entered at No. 2 this week, making SATC the highest-charting soundtrack since Juno reached No. 1 in January. The only other debut in the Billboard/Soundscan top 20 was the No. 9 bow for Al Green’s well-reviewed Lay It Down. Green’s latest comeback was coproduced by the Roots’ Amir “?uestlove” Thompson to sound like it was recorded back in the ’70s — an approach that is proving successful given that this is Rev. Al’s highest-charting album since I’m Still in Love with You reached No. 4 back in 1972.

Find out how Coldplay overtook David Cook in a coup at the top of the digital songs chart, after the jump…

On the digital songs chart this week, Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida,” the title track from their upcoming album, moved up three spots to No. 1 with sales of 219,000 downloads, a 58 percent increase (fans must be liking that iTunes ad), while Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” held at No. 2 with 194,000, and Katy Perry’s lascivious radio hit “I Kissed a Girl” moved up 10 spots to No. 3, selling 173,000, a 111 percent jump. Last week’s digital songs topper, David Cook’s “The Time of My Life,” fell to No. 4, though its 163,000-unit tally represented only a 31 percent slide. And the highest-debuting tune was Lil Wayne’s “Got Money,” in at No. 6 with 114,000 downloads. There was less enthusiasm for the Pussycat Dolls’ return to the scene: Their “When I Grow Up” sold 30,000 to debut rather meekly at No. 44.

In other chart news, last week’s No. 1 album, 3 Doors Down’s self-titled fourth record, dropped to No. 3 with 63,000 units, a 59 percent decline, and Madonna’s Hard Candy finally
fell out of the top 10 in her fifth week on the charts, landing at No.
11. Meanwhile, Cyndi Lauper made a modest debut this week with Bring Ya to the Brink coming in at
No. 41 with 12,000 sold, and Broadway’s South Pacific cast album bowed at No. 59 with 10,000.

On the digital songs chart this week, Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida,” the title track from their upcoming album, moved up three spots to No. 1 with sales of 219,000 downloads, a 58 percent increase (fans must be liking that iTunes ad), while Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” held at No. 2 with 194,000, and Katy Perry’s lascivious radio hit “I Kissed a Girl” moved up 10 spots to No. 3, selling 173,000, a 111 percent jump. Last week’s digital songs topper, David Cook’s “The Time of My Life,” fell to No. 4, though its 163,000-unit tally represented only a 31 percent slide. And the highest-debuting tune was Lil Wayne’s “Got Money,” in at No. 6 with 114,000 downloads. There was less enthusiasm for the Pussycat Dolls’ return to the scene: Their “When I Grow Up” sold 30,000 to debut rather meekly at No. 44.

In other chart news, last week’s No. 1 album, 3 Doors Down’s self-titled fourth record, dropped to No. 3 with 63,000 units, a 59 percent decline, and Madonna’s Hard Candy finallyfell out of the top 10 in her fifth week on the charts, landing at No.11. Meanwhile, Cyndi Lauper made a modest debut this week with Bring Ya to the Brink coming in atNo. 41 with 12,000 sold, and Broadway’s South Pacific cast album bowed at No. 59 with 10,000.