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Elvis Back On Billboard Album Top 200

November 26, 2009 | Other

Elvis Presley, and several other artist, re-enter Billboard's Album Top 200 after a change in the policy which allows catalogue albums to chart. From Paul Grein's Billboard Chart Watch

Until this week, catalog albums were barred from The Billboard 200. But after months of controversy and deliberation, Billboard decided to change its policy and allow all albums, current and catalog alike, to compete on its flagship album chart. As a result, 45 catalog albums invade the chart this week. Holiday albums lead the way. Casting Crowns' Peace On Earth re-enters the chart at #15. This is higher than the album peaked (at #24) when it was released in 2008. Taylor Swift's The Holiday Collection re-enters at #20. This is higher than it peaked (at #46) when it was released in 2007.
Michael Jackson, whose posthumous success made the need for the change glaringly apparent, has four of these 45 new chart entries. Number Ones re-enters the chart at #37. The album peaked at #13 when it was released in 2003 and would have topped the chart for six weeks over the summer if catalog albums had been allowed to compete then. The Essential Michael Jackson re-enters at #70. This beats the album's initial peak of #96 when it was released in 2005. The album would have hit #2 on the Billboard 200 in the week after Jackson's death in June if catalog albums had been eligible.
Other artists with multiple catalog albums invading the Billboard 200 this week are Michael Buble, also with four; the Beatles, Elvis Presley and Trans-Siberian Orchestra, with three each; and Casting Crowns, with two.

Keep in mind that the number of catalog albums that sold enough copies to qualify for the Billboard 200 this week is inflated because of the season. Twenty-nine of these 45 albums are holiday albums. Once we get past the holidays, the number of chart-worthy catalog albums will decrease. Twenty-eight of the top 200 albums for the year-to-date are catalog albums. That figure is more in line with what we can expect in terms of catalog albums on the big chart going forward.

Source:For Elvis CD Collectors Forum