RD Top 20 Sellers For Week Ending 3/12/06

1. DAVID GILMOUR On An Island
2. MATISYAHU Youth
3. MOGWAI Mr. Beast
4. RAY DAVIES Other People's Lives
5. SHAGGY 2 DOPE Fuck The Fuck Off
6. REVOLTING COCKS Cocked And Loaded
7. SHE WANTS REVENGE She Wants Revenge
8. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Hammersmith, Odeon, London '75
9. ROBIN TROWER Living Out Of Time: Live
10. THE CARS Greatest Hits
11. CHEAP TRICK Dream Police
12. COVENANT Sky Shaper
13. DAVE DAVIES Kinked
14. JUVENILE Reality Check
15. VAN MORRISON Pay The Devil
16. OF MONTREAL The Bird Who Continues To Eat The Rabbit's Flower
17. SCARFACE My Homies, Part 2
18. GLENN TIPTON Baptizm Of Fire
19. STAIND Chapter V
20. PINK FLOYD A Momentary Lapse Of Reason

How big is On An Island? Combine the sales figures for all of the albums from #2 to #20 on this week's chart and you'll still be short of the Herculean total posted by the new David Gilmour solo album in its debut week. Not only did Gilmour post the biggest selling debut of 2006 by a factor of 3 to 1 over previous champ Shaggy 2 Dope, he also lobbed up the fastest-selling album since U2 posted an identical total (70 copies) at the end of November 2004. With figures only available since the middle of 2003, these two mark the biggest openings in our store's recent history, maybe even since the days of our old Great Lakes Mall location ... In Gilmour's wake, all other debuts look relatively puny, though in any other week, Hasidic reggae singer Matisyahu's dozen-piece start would compete or take the pole position ... Also opening strongly is the new Mogwai project, reflecting combined sales of two different editions, while the first new album from Ministry side-project Revolting Cocks managed to reach #6 just in front of the resurging She Wants Revenge album ... Not as spectacular were the sales on the new Van Morrison album, which lagged behind the rest of the pack at a disappointing #15, right around similarly underwhelming entries from rap luminaries Jaheim and Scarface ... While none of the releases due for March 14 have anywhere close to the firepower of Gilmour, it is certainly likely that the new Donald Fagen solo album will reach well into the teens for its opening week, maybe even enough to lock up the top of the next week's chart, though we certainly expect On An Island to show some legs and not be a one-week super flash in the pan. Aside from Fagen, also watch for a high debut from guitar ace Joe Satriani, a smashing entry from the Pretenders box set, and renewed action from rock upstars Fall Out Boy with a reissued version of their breakthrough album ...