Billboard 200 Chart Moves: Radiohead’s ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’ Returns After Special Edition’s Release
On the latest Billboard 200 albums chart, Radiohead's "A Moon Shaped Pool" splashes back onto the list, Blink-182's "California" scores a big gain, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix notches their latest…
On the latest Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Oct. 22), Solange scored her first No. 1 with A Seat at the Table, while Bon Iver’s 22, a Million arrived in the runner-up slot.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the week’s most popular albums based on their overall consumption. That overall unit figure combines pure album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).
Now, let’s take a closer look at some of the action on the latest Billboard 200 chart:
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— Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool – No. 11 — A special edition of the album was released on Sept. 30, prompting the set’s return to the chart, and 697 percent unit gain (to 22,000 for the week). The album sold 21,000 copies in the tracking frame, for a gain of 946 percent. The new version of the album is spread out across two heavyweight 12” vinyl records, which includes two bonus tracks and a digital version of the release, plus a booklet with 32 pages of artwork.
With 21,000 sold, this is the album’s largest sales week since the frame ending June 23, when it sold 46,000 following its physical CD and vinyl LP release. The album had previously only been available as a digital download.
Of the 21,000 sold, 19,000 were on the vinyl LP format (which includes the new special edition, along with the previously released standard vinyl edition of the set). With that significant vinyl sales figure for the week, the album blasts back to No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart — its third week at No. 1 — and with the largest sales week for a vinyl release in three months. The last album to post a bigger vinyl sales week was Blink-182’s California, which bowed with 21,000 vinyl LPs sold in the week ending July 7.
— Blink-182, California – No. 25 — The album earns the largest percentage gain on the chart — among titles that were on the chart last week and posted increases — as it flies from No. 75 to No. 25 with a 100 percent gain to 16,000 units (13,000 in traditional sales). The album was deeply discounted in the Google Play store during the tracking frame to just 99 cents, thus prompting the big increase.
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— Various Artists, The RCA-List (Revised) – No. 31 — The new, but not-quite-totally-new, streaming-only compilation The RCA-List (Revised) debuts at No. 31 with 15,000 units. The set is a newly released version (out on Sept. 30) of the same-named compilation The RCA-List that had been charting for a number of weeks. The new version’s tracklist is almost identical to the previous version, which no longer exists on streaming services.
— Eric Clapton, Live in San Diego – No. 47 — The rock star’s latest live album, with J.J. Cale, bows at No. 47 with 11,000 units (10,000 in traditional sales). It’s the 44th chart entry for Clapton, and second in 2016, following the studio set I Still Do (No. 6 peak on the June 11-dated list).
— Jimi Hendrix, Machine Gun: The Fillmore East — First Show 12/31/1969 – No. 66 — The latest live release from the Jimi Hendrix archives starts at No. 66 with 9,000 units (nearly all from traditional album sales). The recording captures the first of four concerts by Hendrix at the Fillmore East in New York on Dec. 31, 1969 and Jan. 1, 1970. In press materials released by the Experience Hendrix and Legacy Recordings record labels, which released the set, the album is described as “fully documenting the debut performance of Jimi Hendrix’s short-lived by eternally influential Band of Gypsys.”
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— Temple of the Dog, Temple of the Dog – No. 102 — A deluxe reissue of the 1991 album — the only release from the band — prompts the set’s return to the list at No. 102 with 7,000 units (up 1,463 percent) and 6,000 in traditional sales (up 3,248 percent). The album boasts Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell and many members of Pearl Jam, including singer Eddie Vedder. The album originally peaked at No. 5 in on Sept. 5, 1992, following the breakthrough of Pearl Jam. (The week Temple of the Dog peaked at No. 5, Pearl Jam’s debut, Ten, was at No. 2 on the chart.)