The calendar might say it's spring break season, but this week's album charts is all about high school and report cards.
For the second time since its release 10 weeks ago, the Disney Channel's High School Musical soundtrack made a surprise jump to the top of the charts, selling over 142,000 copies for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen SoundScan. To date, the disc sold nearly 812,000 total copies--not bad for an album that opened at 143 and supported a made-for-TV movie that cost just $5 million.
Meanwhile, the week's top bow belonged to Bay Area rapper E-40. His new album, My Ghetto Report Card, executive-produced by crunkmeister Lil Jon, sold nearly 94,000 copies to open at number three. The disc features guest appearances by 8Ball, UGK and Mike Jones, while E-40's own son Droop-e (of the Pharmasuticles) contributed production.
E-40 made the Top 20 with six of his previous albums, but My Ghetto Report Card is his first to break the Top 10. The album features the radio hit "Tell Me When to Go" and hopes to popularize a surging NoCal crunk style called "hyphy."
Fall Out Boy scored the week's biggest jump, as the emo band's smash 2005 breakthrough, From Under the Cork Tree, sold an impressive 51,000 copies to leap from 42 to nine. The disc benefits from a new bonus version--called the Black Clouds and Underdogs edition--that includes demos, remixes and other added tracks. The disc already sold more than 2 million copies since its release 46 weeks ago.
The rest of the Top 10 were all repeat offenders. Last week's chart-topper, Juvenile's Reality Check, fell to number five with 174,000 copies, while singer-songwriter James Blunt held tight at two as Back to Bedlam sold another 126,000 discs. Rounding out the list: Ne-Yo's In My Own Words at four, Carrie Underwood's Some Hearts at six, Matisyahu's Youth at seven, The Legend of Johnny Cash at eight and Jack Johnson & Friends' Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George in the 10 spot.
Elsewhere, the country music trio Shedaisy opened at 22 as Fortuneteller's Melody moved 33,000 copies, while Steely Dan's Donald Fagen followed at 26 with 32,000 copies of his new solo effort, Morph the Cat.
Dave Chappelle's Block Party soundtrack sold 21,000 copies at 44. The disc features live tracks culled from a free concert he put together in Brooklyn just months before his unexpected vacation from Comedy Central. The soundtrack features the likes of Common performing "The Light" with Erykah Badu, Bilal and the Roots rocking "Boom" with emcee legends Big Daddy Kane and Kool G Rap and a Black Star reunion of Mos Def and Talib Kweli. (While the film documents the Fugees' reunion, the group does not appear on the soundtrack.) The film, currently in limited release, pays homage to another concert documentary, 1973's Wattstax, which commemorated the 7th anniversary of the Watts riots with a music festival at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
Other noteworthy debuts included Martha Munizzi's No Limits Live at 60, Building 429's Rise at 81, Joe Satriani's Super Colossal at 86, Black Sabbath's Greatest Hits 1970-78 at 96, and Willie Nelson's You Don't Know Me: Songs of Cindy Walker at 114.
Here's a recap of last week's Top 10 albums:
1. High School Musical soundtrack, various
2. Back to Bedlam, James Blunt
3. My Ghetto Report Card, E-40
4. In My Own Words, Ne-Yo
5. Reality Check, Juvenile
6. Some Hearts, Carrie Underwood
7. Youth, Matisyahu
8. The Legend of Johnny Cash, Johnny Cash
9. From Under the Cork Tree, Fall Out Boy
10. Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George, Jack Johnson & Friends