Strait Flushes Dion, Def, Duran Duran

Wed., Oct. 20, 2004 11:05 AM PDT by David Jenison

Not even a Miracle could carry Celine Dion to the top of the charts.

Despite some high-profile face time on Oprah, Dion's new collaboration with author Anne Geddes couldn't unseat last week's champ, George Strait. Nor could new entries from Mos Def, Sum 41 or a resurrected Duran Duran.

Strait's 50 Number Ones refused to relinquish the number one spot, making him only the second country artist in two years to top the charts in consecutive weeks. His latest greatest hits collection moved 190,000 copies for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen SoundScan numbers released Wednesday.

Usher, meanwhile, held at second as his repackaged Confessions sold another 176,000 copies, while Nelly's Suit climbed up two slots to number three, selling 143,000 for the week; yet its sibling album, Sweat, remains the stepchild, stuck down at number 12.

Dion and Geddes' Miracle opened at number four with 107,000 copies. Aside from last week's Oprah gig, Dion also appeared on Larry King Live and Regis and Kelly Monday.

Though he released his first two albums a year apart, it's taken rapper-actor Mos Def a full five years to release his third, The New Danger. Nonetheless, the emcee landed a solid number five bow, selling 95,000 copies.

The week's final Top 10 debut belonged to Canuck punks Sum 41, whose sophomore disc, Chuck, sold nearly 66,000 discs at 10. The album was named after U.N. peacekeeper Chuck Felletier, who led the band out of the war-torn Congo earlier this year. Sum 41 was in Africa shooting the documentary From the Front Lines for the aid agency War Child Canada.

The rest of the Top 10 were: Hilary Duff's self-titled at six, Green Day's American Idiot at seven, Good Charlotte's The Chronicles of Life & Death at eight and Tim McGraw's Live Like You Were Dying at nine.

Duran Duran's return to the retail bin met with surprising success as their new disc, Astronaut, soared to number 17 on 54,000 copies sold. Helmed by super-producer Dallas Austin, Astronaut is the group's first disc since 2000's Pop Trash.

A pair of holiday albums, Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Lost Christmas and Manheim Steamroller's Christmas Celebration, entered at 26 and 54, respectively. Two new Christian albums, Amy Grant's Greatest Hits '86-'04 and Point of Grace's I Choose You, landed at 48 and 85.

Other noteworthy debuts included Straylight Run's self-titled at 100, Caedmon's Call's Share the Well at 175, No Doubt's Everything in Time (B-Sides) at 182 and the Shall We Dance? soundtrack at 184.

Finally, Audioslave's self-titled debut celebrated its 100th week on the charts, making it one of only five currently charting albums to reach the centennial mark.

Here's a recap of the Top 10 albums, per Nielsen SoundScan:

1. 50 Number Ones, George Strait
2. Confessions, Usher
3. Suit, Nelly
4. Miracle, Celine Dion
5. The New Danger, Mos Def
6. Hilary Duff, Hilary Duff
7. American Idiot, Green Day
8. The Chronicles of Life & Death, Good Charlotte
9. Live Like You Were Dying, Tim McGraw
10. Chuck, Sum 41