Love on the Inside has been a fan favorite ever since the critically acclaimed Sugarland album dropped last fall, but is there still love on the outside for the country music duo who recently released a live version of the album via an exclusive deal with Wal-Mart? This week, the live album Live on the Inside debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with an astonishingly low 76,000 in record sales, setting a record as the lowest number of album sales needed to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since May of 1991, when Nielsen SoundScan first started tracking record sales. One of only four albums ever to reach the top of the Billboard 200 with less than 100,000 in sales, Live on the Inside has been knocked down a notch thanks to a relatively quiet sales week, but that's not the only reason that Sugarland has recently been under fire.

Sugarland, the dynamic duo of Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, has also taken a bullet for Live on the Inside this week from Decatur CD, an independent record store outside of Atlanta, Georgia. In a scathing online statement blasting Sugarland for its exclusive contract with Wal-Mart concerning the live album, owner Warren Hudson said, "The point is that by shutting the door on independent record stores, you're in effect shutting the door on your hometown... We're not naive. We understand that exclusively releasing your music with Wal-Mart means big, fat, non-returnable, guaranteed sales, a wide reach, a truckload of money, etc., but what do you get by cutting us out?"

In response, Sugarland's Bush owned up to the duo's disregard of local retailers in the Wal-Mart deal, writing back on Decatur CD's website, "You are right, and thanks for the suggestion. I am in Houston for a show right now but will come by the store when I get home on Wednesday and bring you a few boxes of discs. We can peel off the Wal-Mart stickers together while we catch up." Ultimately, Bush was unable to give Decatur boxes of Live on the Inside due to the agreement with Wal-Mart, but he did make good on his promise and brought Sugarland posters and other fan memorabilia to the store in order to make it up to the local record retailer.

While it seems as if Sugarland is taking hits left and right for the current happenings with the band's first live album Live on the Inside, the bottom line is that this album is still number one on the Billboard 200 this week, giving the Southern-fried country music group something to celebrate this week. Live on the Inside beat out NOW 31, Gloriana's self-titled album, the Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D. and Kings of Leon's Only by the Night to chart at No. 1 this week, and that cannot be taken away from the red-hot country music outfit. Sugarland has also been taking heat lately for cancelling a slew of concert dates due to Jennifer Nettles' vocal problems, but the Sugarland sensation will be back and running in no time. Meanwhile, Sugarland tickets are still available online, so come support this extremely talented duo on the road!