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Sturgill Simpson\u2019s latest Johnny Blue Skies album, <\/span>Mutiny After Midnight<\/span><\/i>, was billed as a physical-only release upon its announcement last month. Though Simpson <\/span>did <\/span><\/i>leak it early on YouTube, the project has yet to reach streaming platforms and is only available on vinyl, CD, and cassette. In the streaming era, a major artist keeping their music off Spotify, Apple Music, and TIDAL is a radical concept. But never underestimate the power of physical media or the public\u2019s desire for it, as <\/span>Mutiny After Midnight <\/span><\/i>debuted at #3 on the <\/span>Billboard <\/span><\/i>200 yesterday, moving 59,000 real, tactile units<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The only two albums that moved more copies than <\/span>Mutiny After Midnight <\/span><\/i>were Harry Styles\u2019 <\/span>Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally<\/a><\/span><\/i>. (99,000 units) and Morgan Wallen\u2019s <\/span>I\u2019m the Problem<\/a> <\/span><\/i>(74,000). History doesn\u2019t lie. It\u2019s been three years since a physical-only release made the top 10 on the albums chart: a Record Store Day-edition vinyl of Taylor Swift\u2019s <\/span>folklore<\/span><\/i>, which sold 75,000 copies on its first day. But let\u2019s say Record Store Day exclusives don\u2019t count. In that case, the last physical-only release to make the <\/span>Billboard <\/span><\/i>200 top 10 was a Garth Brooks archival box set, which means you\u2019d have to go way back in time to find an actual album of brand-new material that fits the same criteria as <\/span>Mutiny After Midnight<\/span><\/i>. Pretty cool stuff.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mutiny After Midnight <\/span><\/i>isn\u2019t Simpson\u2019s first album to reach the top half of the <\/span>Billboard <\/span><\/i>200. <\/span>Metamodern Sounds in Country Music <\/span><\/i>reached #59 in 2014 and <\/span>A Sailor\u2019s Guide to Earth <\/span><\/i>peaked at #3 two years later. 2019\u2019s <\/span>Sound & Fury <\/span><\/i>settled in at #12, while both <\/span>Cuttin\u2019 Grass <\/span><\/i>volumes cracked the top 30. In 2021, <\/span>The Ballad of Dood and Juanita <\/span><\/i>made it to #23, and Simpson\u2019s debut as Johnny Blue Skies, 2023\u2019s <\/span>Passage du Desir<\/a><\/span><\/i>, hit #29. <\/span>Mutiny After Midnight<\/span><\/i>\u2019s sales were undoubtedly boosted by the number of variants available. There were nine total, including seven vinyl editions available on Simpson\u2019s webstore, and many fans\/collectors sought out as many versions as possible. The album, according to Simpson himself, will make it to streaming eventually, though no official date has been set.<\/span><\/p>\n