Pearl Jam just had one of its best sales weeks in years, but the achievement does not register on the latest Billboard 200 sales chart.
An extras-packed reissue of the Seattle rock band’s 1991 debut “Ten” sold 60,000 copies during the week ended March 29, making it the fifth-best-selling album in the United States.
But, as a “catalog” item, the set is not eligible for the Billboard 200. Instead, it has to content itself as the No. 1 entry on the trade publication’s Pop Catalog chart. Billboard generally bestows catalog status on albums that are languishing in the bottom half of the Billboard 200 after 18 months.
The last major reissue to make such a big splash was a 25th anniversary version of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” in February, 2008. It sold 166,000 copies in its first week, which would have made it eligible for the No. 2 spot on the Billboard 200.
Pearl Jam went the extra mile with the “Ten” reissue, giving fans the option of buying four different versions. The priciest, costing $140 through the band’s Web site, boasts two CDs, a DVD of a previously unreleased 1992 performance on “MTV Unplugged,” four vinyl albums, one cassette and a trove of memorabilia.
“Ten,” which features such Pearl Jam chestnuts as “Jeremy” and “Alive,” has sold 9.7 million copies since its release in August 1991, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It took four months to debut on the Billboard 200, at a lowly 155, and eventually peaked at No. 2 in August 1992. Billy Ray Cyrus prevented the band from hitting No. 1.

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