Jack Johnson defeats all comers with new album, except Glee soundtrack

Jack Johnson and his latest laid back album To The Sea have managed to slay all other albums today to debut atop the iTunes charts, save for one: the latest Glee soundtrack. While Johnson’s new album is at number one on the rock album chart but it at number two on the overall album chart thanks that pesky Glee Showstoppers release, which has been dominating the digital charts for more than a week. Despite merely charting second thus far, Johnson’s new album is seeing positive marks from those who’ve purchased it, with a current average rating of five stars out of five.

MGMT Congratulations album helped by SNL performance

MGMT may not have picked the best of SNL episodes on which to perform songs from their new album Congratulations, but audience disfavor with this past weekend’s snoozer apparently didn’t rub off on the band, as their album has climbed to the number three overall album spot in iTunes after having been in the five spot prior to their Saturday Night Live stint. The duet (or are the a quintet?) are still behind the unstoppable Glee/Madonna soundtrack as well as the latest from country darlings Lady Antebellum, but MGMT has managed to rise above Usher, Justin Bieber, and prior SNL musical guest Kesha on the iTunes album charts.

MGMT now hits the road for a series of tour dates beginning with a show in Toronto on April 29th followed by U.S. tour dates in May, June, and July, with a performance at Lollapalooza in Chicago in August, before heading overseas in September.

Bret Michaels and Poison soaring on music charts

Bret Michaels remains in critical condition as fans and well wishers from around the world continue to wait for the latest official news on his condition, but if there’s a silver lining for Michaels it’s that his recent illness has caused a spark in interest in the music from his band Poison. The greatest hits album “The Best of Poison” is currently at number nine on the iTunes rock charts, likely representing by far the best chart position the band has had since the iTunes Store launched in 2003. Included in the hits collection are classics like Nothin’ But a Good Time, Unskinny Bob, Every Rose Has Its Thorn, and Something To Believe In, most of which had their heyday in the eighties and early nineties.

These the days the younger generation is more likely to know Bret Michaels from his Rock Of Love television show than from his Poison days, but it appears that the entirely unfortunate events of the past week have indeed steered the public back in Poison’s direction.

This isn’t the first time that a musician’s ill health has caused a run on digital sales; shortly after Michael Jackson’s death, the iTunes charts quickly became occupied by his various albums. The key (fortunate) difference here is that Bret Michaels is still with us, and we wish him all the best in his recovery.

MGMT’s Congratulations debuts at #1

The title of MGMT’s new album could be a message they’ve written to themselves, as “Congratulations” has soared to the number one position in iTunes on its first day of availability in iTunes.

The Connecticut-based duo/quintet, who rose to popularity on the strength of 2007 album Oracular Spectacular and its hit single Kids, will be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on April 24th (Gabourey Sidibe from Precious is hosting) and will also perform on Late Night with David Letterman on May 11th.

Congratulations is available in iTunes.

Michael Jackson dies, rules iTunes

The surprising death of Michael Jackson has sent shockwaves through society on a number of levels. Television news networks were airing his music videos in amongst their live coverage, Twitter quickly crashed, and the surge of search requests to Google News reportedly led the search engine to believe it was under digital attack. But any musician would ostensibly want to remembered first and foremost for his music, and so perhaps the most fitting phenomenon is this one today from the iTunes Store:

The trend of Michael Jackson’s albums climbing the iTunes charts began immediately after news of his death on Thursday afternoon, and by mid-Friday his albums occupied eight of the top ten spots on the overall iTunes sales charts. with only the new Black Eyed Peas album sneaking in at number nine. It’s rare that even as many as two different albums from the same artist would simultaneously appear in the top ten in iTunes sales; the overwhelming chart dominance by Michael Jackson is unprecedented in digital music history.