James Blunt – 1,309,790 – Why? Wrote a big hit “Beautiful”, strong video rotation, embraced by press.

Nickelback – 2,595,415 – Everyone thought they were a one hit wonder. This also proves you don’t need to be friends with a hip crowd to sell a bucket - load of records.

Blue October – 33,991 – Good first week, story developing….

All American Rejects – 970,033 – Has the top 40 crowd. Good for the moment, but hard to follow up.

Hawthorne Heights – 267,722 – Why? paid TV spots rotating 24/7 on MTV and Fuse. Ab Roller TV spots that have similiar rotation have proven to sell as well. Brainwashing does sell records.

Yeah Yeah Yeah’s – 81,181 – Mainstream press gave the record a thumbs down, but critics don’t care about the quality of the product. If you submit to the too cool for school culture, they will peddle the product.

Avenged Sevenfold – 567,287 – Why? Strong video rotation and TRL. Press and MTV2 bought into the rock, the bling and grills. Since Rap and Hip Hop is driving cultural force, I guess the next obvious step is for rock bands to act like rappers. Like other bands, Avenged Sevenfold claim to be the next Metallica and Guns N Roses. Gotta love the no shame approach!

Fallout Boy – 2,151,179 – Why? big budget and well directed video’s broke the band.

10 Years – 268,307 – Why? Strong radio airplay, word of mouth, relentless touring, mentions in celeb magazine US Weekly, and a controversial video that MTV was reluctant to play that contained real footage from amnesty international that included rape victims and sex slaves. You can watch the video here.