Singer-guitarist John Mayer easily took the top spot on the U.S. album chart this week, dominating a soft field with the six-figure debut of his new album "Born and Raised."
Mayer's Columbia release reached the apex of the chart with 219,000 copies sold out of the box, according to Nielsen SoundScan data for the week ended May 27.
Set's first-week numbers were shy of the 286,000-unit bow for Mayer's last collection, "Battle Studies," which took No. 1 in November 2009.
But sales were good enough to top the competition in a pallid late-spring top 10.
Adele's "21" (Columbia) held steady at No. 2 with a 56,000-unit performance (down 11%) in its 66th chart week. Now in its fourth week, Carrie Underwood's "Blown Away" managed No. 3 with a 45,000-unit frame (off 17%).
"Apocalyptic Love" (Dik Hayd), the sophomore solo release from Velvet Revolver and Guns N' Roses ax man Slash, arrived at No. 4 with a hardly world-ending 38,000 copies. His self-titled 2010 solo project entered at No. 3 with a 61,000-copy debut week.
Holdovers occupied the middle of the top 10, as Brit boy band One Direction's "Up All Night" (No. 5, 37,000, up 8%) and Lionel Richie's "Tuskegee" (No. 6, 33,000, down 15%) gained chart position with flattening numbers.
Christian rock act MercyMe's "Hurt and the Healer" (Fair Trade/Columbia) bowed at No. 7 with 33,000 sold. Debut is well off the pace of the Texas-bred act's 2009 entry "The Generous Mr. Lovewell," which debuted at No. 3 with 88,000 shifted.
Pop singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles also witnessed diminishing returns with her new "Once Upon Another Time" (Epic), which entered at No. 8 behind a 31,000-unit week. That's almost one-third of the first-week tally for her previous studio set "Kaleidoscope Heart," which entered at No. 1 with 90,000 sold.
The "Now 42" compilation (No. 9, 31,000 sold, down 27%) and Norah Jones' "Little Broken Hearts" (No. 10, 28,000, off 38%) closed out the week's top sellers.
Sales are unlikely to move north immediately, as this week's field of chart contenders is slim, with a new studio set from Regina Spektor leading the pack.
chicagotribune
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