John Mayer got thisclose to being number 1 this week. But his “Paradise Valley” came in at number 2 in its debut week with 145,560 copies. Country superstar Luke Bryan held on to the top spot for a second week with “Crash My Party.” Bryan sold 158,810 copies– off by 70% from his first week but still at the top. Mayer had the goods, and lots of publicity thanks to relationship with Katie Perry.
The Mayer numbers are significantly down from his last album. “Born and Raised” sold 219,000 copies back on May 22, 2012. Where did those 75,000 fans go? It could be the mid August date, college is out, people are on vacation. Also Mayer could use a hit single to get interest in the album. The duet with Katy Perry, called “Who You Love,” probably can’t be released as a single since she’s on rival Universal Music (via their EMI purchase).
“Paradise Valley” does have a weird twist though– a 1 minute 26 second reprise of the single “Wildfire” with Frank Ocean. Why isn’t a whole track? Ocean is on Columbia.
