Chart Watch: Alan Jackson, late Jeff Buckley top the charts

Alan Jackson’s Good Time got off to a good start on the album chart, selling 119,000 to debut at No. 1. This is the fourth time an album of Jackson’s topped the overall Billboard/Soundscan sales rankings, and the first time since 2002. (His last album, Like Red on a Rose, opened with a higher sales tally, but only made it to No. 4, due to tougher competition at the time.) We’re sure the country star didn’t mean to reference the Jimmie Walker era with that Good Time(s) title, but we’d love to hear Jackson let loose with a cry of “Dy-no-mite!” (Not gonna happen.)

How about a “Hallelujah,” then? The late Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah” enters the digital songs chart at a shocking No. 1, selling 178,000 downloads for the week, just ahead of the 175,000 that Usher’s “Love in This Club” sold. We’d love to think this resurrection happened because the song’s writer, Leonard Cohen, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this week. Alas, no. It’s because American Idol heartthrob Jason Castro did a rendition of it on the juggernaut show.

Not to be outdone, Michael McDonald covered “Hallelujah” on his new long-player, which debuted on the album sales chart at No. 12 with 28,000 copies. Other notable debuts included L.A.-based Celtic-punk band Flogging Molly, in at No. 4 with 48,000 (their previous chart peak was No. 20), and the Black Crowes, bowing at No. 5 with 46,000 (their first trip to the top 10 since 1992). Among top holdovers, Jack Johnson moved back up from No. 3 to No. 2, while, in her second week out, Janet Jackson dropped from No. 1 to No. 3 with a 68% sales decrease. Now, if only she had named her album Good Time(s).