Who knew kids could get this excited about school?
Days after High School Musical 2 became the most watched show in cable-TV history, the soundtrack has blown away all competition at the record store and scored the year's second-biggest debut.
For the week ended Sunday, the HSM2 soundtrack dominated the Billboard 200 by selling over 615,000 copies, per Nielsen SoundScan numbers released today.
The franchise's first installment was, at the time, the Disney Channel's most successful debut, premiering with 7.7 million viewers; its sequel shattered that figure, drawing 17.2 million viewers Friday night. While the original soundtrack started off sluggishly before racing to number one and becoming the bestselling album of 2006, HSM2 opened at number one with first-week numbers topped this year only by Linkin Park's Minutes to Midnight with 623,000 copies.
HSM2 also claims the biggest first-week sales for a television soundtrack. In fact, only three feature film soundtracks opened stronger: 8 Mile, The Bodyguard and Titanic. That's pretty rarefied company.
In between the two installments, the musical's stars went on to forge their own solo careers. Most notably, recent Rolling Stone cover boy Zac Efron landed a role in Hairspray (whose soundtrack clicked up a notch to five this week) and has two other films in the pipeline, including a Footloose remake. Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale and Corbin Bleu all released solo albums.
All the press over the sequel boosted the original HSM soundtrack 12 spots to number 16 and the HSM: Concert reentered the charts at 199, while the CD single "What Time Is It" remained locked at number one. Furthermore, with two episodes of Hannah Montana following the telefilm, the Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus soundtrack inched up two spots to number two. With the Jonas Brothers' self-titled album at eight, Disney notched three of the week's top sellers.
In a week dominated by HSM2, only one other album cracked the Top 10: Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds' acoustic Live at Radio City Music Hall. The concert disc sold 70,000 to bow at number three.
The rest of the Top 10 were repeat offenders: Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 25 at four, UGK's Underground Kingz at six, Fergie's The Dutchess at seven, Plies' Real Testament at nine and Common's Finding Forever rounding out the list.
Outside the Top 10, Blaqk Audio—an electronic side project for AFI's Davey Havok and Jade Puget—sold 29,000 copies of Cexcells at 18, while Peach State country singer Luke Bryan followed at 24, selling 25,000 copies of I'll Stay Me.
Other noteworthy debuts included Dean Martin's Forever Cool at 39, Mae's Singularity at 40, 2Pac's Nu-Mixx Klazzics Vol. 2 at 45, WC's Guilty by Affiliation at 49, 12 Stones' Anthem for the Underdog at 53 and Matt Nathanson's Some Mad Hope at 60.
Finally, Chingo Bling's controversial They Can't Deport Us All sold 6,000 copies to open at 123. The Houston-based rapper, known for his comedic lyrics, faced vandalism and threats of physical violence over the title of his latest release.
Here's a recap of the Top 10:
1. High School Musical 2 soundtrack, various
2. Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus, Miley Cyrus
3. Live at Radio City Music Hall, Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds
4. Now That's What I Call Music! 25, various
5. Hairspray soundtrack, various
6. Underground Kingz, UGK
7. The Dutchess, Fergie
8. Jonas Brothers, Jonas Brothers
9. The Real Testament, Plies
10. Finding Forever, Common