In general, live albums don’t sell in numbers even close to studio releases. They make nice souvenirs of show’s you might have seen, present alternative versions of a favorite artist’s songs and fill out a catalog between new music releases.
That’s not the case this week with Kenny Chesney’s new album Live in No Shoe Nation.
Chesney moved an estimated 219,000 copies of the album last week, according to HitsDailyDouble, to easily take the number 1 spot on the Albums chart. After adding in streams, that total moves to 221,000.
That’s Chesney’s eighth number 1 album on the Billboard 200, a number only bettered by Garth Brooks from the country genre.
Those numbers far outrun second place Kelly Clarkson whose new studio album Meaning of Life produced sales of 65,200 and 76,500 with streaming.
Weezer sold 18,500 copies of their new one, Pacific Trauma, good for number 6 on the pure sales list. With streaming, it totals 21,100 and falls to 22.
Still selling well are Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ Greatest Hits with 10,700 sold (#15) and 15,500 with streaming (#32) and Darius Rucker’s When Was the Last Time with 9,100 sold (#17) and 11,200 with streaming (#45).
Other veteran artists (none had sales + streaming numbers large enough to make the Top 50):
Finally It’s Christmas – Hanson
Sales – 7,000 (#22)
Now – Shania Twain
Sales – 6,100 (#27)
Colors – Beck
Sales – 5,900 (#28)
Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix, Vol. 2 – Various Artists
Sales – 4,400 (#38)
Concrete & Gold – Foo Fighters
Sales – 4,200 (#39)
4:44 – Jay-Z
Sales – 3,700 (#43)
Carry Fire – Robert Plant
Sales – 3,500 (#47)
Metallica – Metallica
Sales – 3,400 (#48)
Final numbers will be out on Tuesday.
