THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN, FOOS IN FIGHTING FORM

Going into Tuesday, the onetime pubescent sensations were considered a huge X factor, but the album started blowing up as soon as the boxes were opened, indicating that their fans haven’t lost their taste for BSB following a five-year hiatus from recording. Those intimate club dates, massive TV exposure and the hit single “Incomplete” have definitely lit a fire under the long-dormant fanbase; we’ll know just how big that fire is next Tuesday.

While the Boys are on fire, the Foo Fighters have come blazing out of the blocks as well with their electric/acoustic double-CD set on Roswell/RCA/RMG, powered by a radio hit of their own. At this point, the band is trending toward the 240k-260k range, but it’ll all depend on the weekend, when rock acts typically slow down. If the Foos break the pattern, look for a total at or near the top of that range.

The other notable bow is Atlantic’s Fat Joe, who’s presently on course to ring up 60k-70k units, but the scenario could change as the week progresses.

Although the national sales total for the week of 11 million albums was off by a fraction of a percentage point (reflecting -18k) from the same week last year, the market was up a bracing 6.8%—or just shy of 700k—from a week ago. That brings the year-to-date deficit vs. 2004 under 8%, but we’re still talking about 21.5 million fewer units, so let’s not get too excited just yet.