Album Sweep: November 2, 2013 - Part One...


Hey gang, it's time to kick off the first half of this week's "album sweep", where I sample the records making their first appearance on the Top 200 Albums sales chart in Billboard magazine. There are a whopping forty new sets on this weeks list, so you know that the holiday season is just on the horizon...

The top-selling album of the week with over 160,000 sales is the tenth studio album from grunge rock kings Pearl Jam, as Lightning Bolt becomes their fifth of those to top the chart. Their first was Vs. back in 1993, while their most recent was Backspacer from 2009...



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Paul McCartney returns in a big way as his album New arrives at #3. It's his 19th to make the top-10 after his stint in the Beatles. Seven of his albums (including those with Wings) have gone to #1 - starting with McCartney in 1970 and ending so far with Tug Of War in 1982...

The Avett Brothers, led by siblings Scott and Seth, enter at #5 with Magpie & The Dandelion. Their last album The Carpenter came in at #4 last year...


Country singer and American Idol winner Scotty McCreery is back at #6 with his second non-holiday studio album See You Tonight. His first, Clear As Day, topped the chart in 2011...


Country music icon Willie Nelson comes in at #9 with a collaboration album titled To All The Girls... (a play on his hit song with Julio Iglesias). This time he's joined by all women, like Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, and Dolly Parton. In his long career this is only his second to reach the top ten on the albums chart - he went to #2 with Always On My Mind back in 1982..


Seatlle indie-rock band The Head And The Heart score their first top-10 record with their sophomore effort Let's Be Still...


Singer/songwriter Gavin DeGraw enters at #13 with his fifth studio album Make A Move. Two of his sets have gone top-10, with his self-titled second album making it to #7 in 2008...


Metalcore band Trivium, from the Disney city of Orlando, Florida, arrive at #15 with their fifth album on Roadrunner Records, Vengeance Falls. Two years ago their last release In Waves made it to #13...


Chase Rice drives in at #16 with his six-song EP Ready Set Roll. It's his first to make the big chart; he may seem familiar because of his stint on Survivor: Nicaragua...


Contemporary Christian music singer Natalie Grant nabs her best showing on the chart so far at #17 with Hurricane, her eighth studio set...


Dom Kennedy, a rapper from Los Angeles, places his second official album Get Home Safely at #23. It's his first to make the top-40...


Well it was only a matter of time....the first holiday album to debut is here, and it's Mary J. Blige with A Mary Christmas at #24. She has topped the album chart four times, the last being Growing Pains in 2007...


Fall Out Boy are in at #25 with an eight-track EP titled PAX AM Days. Produced by Ryan Adams, the set is a bunch of raw punk songs to counter their epic pop-rock opus from this year Save Rock & Roll. The latter was their second #1 album...


Brooklyn electro-pop duo Timeflies enter at #36 with their second EP Warning Signs. Their first, One Night, went to #29 last year...


Halestorm are back at #40 with ReAniMate 2.0: The CoVeRs EP. Their last full-length studio set, The Strange Case Of... went to #15 last year...


Christian evangelical music couple Bryan and Katie Torwalt, from the Jesus Culture collective, ascend to #43 with Kingdom Come...


Rapper Young Dro comes in at #57 with his sophomore album High Times. His debut, Best Thang Smokin', shot to #3 in 2006...


Alt-metal band Icon For Hire enter at #66 with their self-titled second full-length effort...


Red Fang, a heavy metal band from Portland, Oregon, score their first hit on the big chart at #67 with Whales And Leeches...


Rappers Starlito and Don Trip team up at #71 with their second collab set Step Brothers 2...


That's it for the first half of the new crop...out of these twenty, the three I would pick first are the Pearl Jam, the Head and the Heart, and the Willie Nelson sets (I see the latter having major Grammy buzz)...

I'll be back tomorrow with a set from the highest rated TV movie on VH1, a  big modern rock group from the 90s is back, a veteran electro-pop giant is back, and more...


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