Album Sweep: November 24, 2012 - Part Two...

Hey gang, I'm back with the second half of this week's "album sweep", where I sample the new records making their way on to the Top 200 Albums chart at Billboard magazine. You can find part one by clicking here, and as usual I've included links to buy anything you see online at Amazon.

Making its way onto the chart at #100 is the soundtrack to the #1 movie this weekend, Skyfall, the latest James Bond movie. The biggest Bond soundtrack, Goldfinger, went to #1 in 1965 But beware, this set does not have Adele's title song, but an instrumental version and score by Thomas Newman...

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


Australia's golden girl Kylie Minogue celebrates her 25th year in the music business with the release of The Abbey Road Sessions, reworked versions of songs throughout her career. She's had five previous albums chart in the US, her biggest being 2001's Fever which sold over a million copies here, and the new set is in at #120...

The late vocal star Andy Williams was always a holiday stalwart, and his Personal Christmas Collection comes in at #139. He has had four Christmas albums in his career, two of which topped the Billboard Christmas album charts in the 60s, and this compilation originally released in 1994 collects songs from all of them...

Jazz saxophonist Kenny G arrives at #144 with his sixth holiday set, The Classic Christmas Collection. His first, Miracles, has gone on to sell over 8 million copies...

Canadian experimental-pop band Crystal Castles debut at #145 with their third album, appropriately titled Crystal Castles (III)....

The soundtrack to the Nickelodeon tween show Victorious 3.0: More Music from the Hit TV Show, is a five-song EP (seven at the dreaded Wal-mart) of songs from the popular kids program starring Victoria Justice...

Another holiday standard, Alvin & The Chipmunks, come in at #188 with Chipmunks Christmas. It's a collection of songs from the various Xmas albums put out under the name (one made the top-10 in 1963)...

One rung below the sped-up Chipmunks is the deep-voiced crooner that was the biggest vocalist of the first half of the 20th century, Bing Crosby, with The Best Of Bing Crosby: 20th Century Masters: The Christmas Collection at #169. The 2003 compilation includes his "White Christmas", the biggest-selling single in the pre-rock era...

Dubstep one-man act Kill The Noise, who is actually Jacob Stanczak from upstate New York, is at #172 with his EP Black Magic...

Another oldie holiday set from a deceased singer making its first week on the top-200 is Elvis Presley, with The Classic Christmas Album at #174. His first Christmas LP in 1957 went to #1 on the albums chart. This one includes "virtual duets" with country singers Martina McBride and Carrie Underwood...

Rapper Saigon returns at #189 with Greatest Story Never Told Chapter 2: Bread and Circuses...

Christian-pop singer Francesca Battistelli debuts at #192 with Christmas, her first holiday album. Her last set, Hundred More Years, went to #16 last year...

The final entry this week is the Wal-Mart exclusive Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas by Amy Grant, featuring ten songs from her awesome holiday albums ...

Well that covers the bottom half of the chart....out of these the three I would most recommend are the Kylie Minogue (duh!), Crystal Castles, and Saigon albums....

Thanks for stopping by, and if you haven't check them out, my recaps of the singles charts can be found by clicking here, here, here, here, and here.  Cheers!