What should have been a huge sales week for big blockbuster albums turned out to be a bust all around for everyone–except Taylor Swift.Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak opened at #1 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart, but only sold about 450,000 copies. Didn't that one he put out last year—where he had that lame chart battle with 50 Cent—sell like a bajillion CDs?
That little broad Taylor Swift moved back up to #2 with Fearless, leaving the much-touted, speculated-about, blah-ba-dee-blah return of Guns N' Roses with Chinese Democracy to settle for #3, selling about 267,000. That album allegedly cost $13 million to make. Axl Rose might wanna start selling his sperm for a few extra bucks.
And someone that ought to consider giving him a, uh, hand in doing so is Brandon Flowers. The Killers' third studio album Day & Age debuts at #6 this week, after selling only 193,400 copies.
Smile like you mean it.