It seems Canadians really did miss Shania Twain.
Twain's long-awaited return, "Up!," shot to the top of the Canadian album charts, selling 150,000 copies in its first week. It was the second biggest debut of the year, behind fellow Canadian diva Celine Dion's "A New Day Has Come," which sold 151,600 in its first week back in April, according to Nielsen SoundScan Canada.
"Up!" is Twain's first CD of new material since 1997's "Come On Over," which sold more than 35 million copies worldwide -- the fifth best-selling album in history.
However, "Come On Over" debuted in Canada with first-week sales of 51,800 -- just a third of the first-week total of her new effort. "Up" is the Timmons, ON native's third consecutive No. 1 album.
Twain's return to the spotlight has been heralded by a media blitz that included a spot in the Grey Cup half-time show, a barrage of interviews, and TV appearances on CMT and MuchMoreMusic.
Twain also grabbed the No. 1 spot south of the border, selling a whopping 874,100 copies of "Up!" in the U.S., which topped Dion's American debut of "A New Day Has Come" (527,000 copies).
Elsewhere in the Canadian top 10, Eminem's "8 Mile" soundtrack was relegated to the second spot with sales of 30,600, followed by "Big Shiny Tunes 7" (26,400), Avril Lavigne's "Let Go" (17,300), and the French compilation "Mixmania" (15,200).
Audioslave -- comprised of ex-Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell and ex-Rage Against The Machine members -- had their self-titled debut enter in sixth on sales of 15,000, French artist Francois Perusse's "L'Album Pirate" (12,700) rose two spots to seventh, U2's "Best Of 1990 - 2000" (12,300) sank from third to eighth, Elvis Presley's "Elvis: 30 No. 1 Hits" (11,300) dropped to ninth, and Matchbox Twenty debuted in 10th with "More Than You Think You Are" (10,700).
Notable chart movement included Jay-Z's "Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse" spiralling to 23rd after debuting at No. 8 last week, and likewise with Pearl Jam's "Riot Act", which sank from fourth all the way down to the 31st position.
Other chart debuts included Ja Rule's "The Last Temptation" at No. 19, George Harrison's posthumous CD "Brainwashed" at No. 24, Chantal Kreviazuk's "What If It All Means Something" at No. 28, and Robbie Williams's "Escapology" at No. 60.
In the U.S., the compilation album "Now 11" (315,900) entered in second, "8 Mile" (281,000) slipped to third, Ja Rule (237,600) entered in fourth, and Jay-Z rounded out the top five.
Here are the 10 best-selling albums in Canada, according to Nielsen SoundScan:
1. SHANIA TWAIN -- "UP!" (150,000)
2. VARIOUS ARTISTS -- "8 MILE OST" (30,600)
3. VARIOUS ARTISTS -- "BIG SHINY TUNES 7" (26,400)
4. AVRIL LAVIGNE -- "LET GO" (17,300)
5. VARIOUS ARTISTS -- "MIXMANIA" (15,200)
6. AUDIOSLAVE -- "AUDIOSLAVE" (15,000)
7. FRANCOIS PERUSSE -- "L'ALBUM PIRATE" (12,700)
8. U2 -- "BEST OF 1990-2000 & B-SIDES" (12,300)
9. ELVIS PRESLEY -- "ELVIS: 30 #1 HITS" (12,000)
10. MATCHBOX TWENTY -- "MORE THAN YOU THINK YOU ARE" (10,700)
