Women rule on Billboard 200

09:22 | Friday September 4, 2009

Twenty-four-year-old Caillat is the daughter of Ken Caillat, who produced a couple of Fleetwood Mac number one albums, and was one of a quartet of producers to helm tracks on Breakthrough, which sold 106,000 copies last week. Christian rockers Skillet debut at number two with their new album, Awake, which sold 68,000. Avoiding a direct clash with Whitney Houston, whose new album is a shoe-in for number one next week, Miley Cyrus’ EP The Time Of Our Lives was released early and sold 62,000 copies in just three days to claim third slot.

Leading the Brit pack, singer/songwriter Imogen Heap’s second album Ellipse sold 48,000 copies to debut at number five, comprehensively beating the number 145 peak of her 2005 debut, Speak For Yourself. Despite its modest chart place, Speak For Yourself was nominated for a pair of Grammy awards and saw several of its songs used on popular TV shows, helping it to eventually achieve sales of 431,000 copies, while its most successful track, Hide And Seek, fell short of the Hot 100 but has sold more than 685,000 copies on download. The digital format is also much favoured by buyers of Ellipse, accounting for 29,000 of the album’s sales last week. That is enough for it to debut at number two on the digital albums chart. It goes one better on the Electronic/Dance chart, where it debuts at number one. Introductory single First Train Home saw a 161% spike in sales after Heap performed it on David Letterman’s show and enters the Top 200 digital songs list at number 197, with sales of 7,500 increasing its overall tally to 43,000.

The Arctic Monkeys’ third album Humbug also scores a US number one placing this week, debuting atop the Independent albums chart. It enters the Top 200 at number 15, after selling 27,500 copies. Their 2006 debut Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I Am Not debuted and peaked at number 24, while 2007 follow-up Favourite Worst Nightmare entered and peaked at number seven. So far, Whatever People Say I Am... has sold 368,000 copies, while Nightmare has sold 179,000 copies.

The only other UK acts in the Top 200 are Coldplay, whose Viva La Vida Or Death & All His Friends slips 53-58, and George Harrison, whose Let It Roll compilation ebbs 168-194. Seal’s Soul, a chart fixture for 42 weeks, slips off the list.

On the Hot 100, Black Eyed Peas’ I Gotta Feeling racks up its 10th straight week at number one, raising their overall tally to 22 – Boom Boom Pow having been number one for 12 weeks immediately prior to I Gotta Feeling’s coronation.

Jay Sean remains the only UK artist on the singles chart, where Down, his collaboration with Lil Wayne, improves 3-2. It climbs 4-3 on sales, with more than 144,500 buyers for the download last week, and slips 6-8 on the radio chart, despite increasing support.