Janet Jackson claimed the top spot on the U.S. pop album chart Wednesday for the first time in seven years, but with relatively dismal sales reflecting the overall slump in the music industry.
"Discipline," the sixth chart-topper of Jackson's career, sold 181,075 copies in the week ended March 2, according to Nielsen SoundScan data.
Her last two albums opened at No. 2, but with considerably higher sales: 2004's post "wardrobe malfunction" release "Damita Jo" with 381,000 copies, and 2006's "20 Y.O." with 296,000. Her last trip to the top was in 2001 with "All For You," which started with 605,000 copies.
Between 2001 and 2007, total U.S. album sales fell 34 percent, according to Nielsen SoundScan. And 2008 is off to a bad start, with overall sales off 12 percent from the year-ago period.
Jackson's big brother, Michael, had the No. 9 album with his "Thriller" reissue, which sold about 42,000 copies in its third week. Alas for the self-styled "king of pop," Billboard does not include catalog reissues on its Billboard 200 chart.
After three weeks at No. 1, singer/songwriter Jack Johnson's "Sleep Through the Static" fell to No. 3 with 92,000 copies, taking his total to about 750,000 copes.
In between, "4th World War," the first half of Erykah Badu's double album series "New Amerykah," debuted at No. 2 with 124,000 copies. It's the R&B singer's first studio effort since 2003's "Worldwide Underground," an EP that began at No. 3 with 144,000. The second, as-yet-untitled portion "New Amerykah" is due some time this summer. Badu's last full-length album, "Mama's Gun," opened at No. 11 in 2000 with 191,000 copies.
Rapper Webbie's "Savage Life 2" started at No. 4 with 72,000 copies. His last solo release, "Savage Life," debuted at No. 8 in 2005 with 68,000.
Alicia Keys' "As I Am" fell three to No. 5 with 57,000. Miley Cyrus' double-disc "Hannah Montana 2 (Soundtrack)/Meet Miley Cyrus" jumped eight places to No. 6 with 54,000 copies.
Oscar glory propelled the soundtrack to the Oscar-winning romance "Once" up 24 places to No. 7 with 47,000 copies. The film's stars/songwriters, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, won the Academy Award for best original song on Feb. 24.
The soundtrack to "Juno," which won the screenplay Oscar for Diablo Cody, fell two to No. 8 with 42,000, a little more than Jackson's "Thriller."
Singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles' "Little Voice" fell two to No. 9 with 37,000. Amy Winehouse's Grammy-winning "Back to Black" slid seven to No. 10, also with 37,000.
Dolly Parton's "Backwoods Barbie," her first mainstream country release in 17 years, started appropriately enough at No. 17, a new record for the music legend.