Album Sweep: December 29, 2012..

Hey gang, it's time to check out the new albums making this week's Top 200 Albums chart in Billboard magazine...since things are slowing down for the holiday, there are only 14 new sets this week, so I'll put them all in one post. And as always, I've included links to buy anything available online if I can...

Selling over 200,000 copies this week, Taylor Swift's Red spends a fifth non-consecutive week at #1..

I'm surprised that Red wasn't deposed by the top debut this week, Bruno Mars' Unorthodox Jukebox, which comes in at #2 after selling close to 200K. His single "Locked Out Of Heaven" had the mojo to knock Rihanna off the singles chart, but maybe next week, after his Saturday Night Live appearance is rebroadcast. His first album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, peaked one slot lower at #3 in 2010...

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Rapper The Game comes in at #6 with his fifth major studio release, Jesus Piece. Three of his other four had gone to #1, including his last one in 2011, The R.E.D. Album....(NSFW)

Green Day's final album in their trilogy of records coming out this fall, Tre!, arrives at #13. Uno! went to #2 in September, while Dos! peaked at #9 in November...

This season's TV musical hit Nashville sees its first collection, Nashville: The Music Of Nashville: Season 1 Volume 1 come in at #14...

Speaking of TV musicals, the third Christmas album from the cast of Glee, Glee: The Music - The Christmas Album Volume 3, sneaks in at #20. The last two went to #3 and #6 respectively...

I just saw The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey yesterday afternoon, and it was as fantastic as I thought it would be. The soundtrack to the film, with music composed by Howard Shore, enters at #30...

One half of rap superstar duo Outkast, Big Boi returns at #34 with his second solo set Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors. His first in 2010, the verbose Sir Lucious Left Foot Son Of Chico Dusty, went to #3...(NSFW)

 Latin music star Jenni Rivera sadly perished in a plane crash on December 9th, and two compilations of her music make the chart for the first time (a third re-enters as well). First, La Misma Gran Senora enters at #38...

...while her Joyas Prestadas: Pop collection is at #68...

Sandwiched between those two sets at #55 is the six full-length album from Canadian mainstream rock group Lifehouse, Almeria. Four of the other five had made the top-10, including their last one, Smoke & Mirrors, in 2010...

Another pop/rock group, Boys Like Girls from Massachusetts, debut at #134 with their Crazy World LP...

This year's breakout rock trio fun are at #143 with their iTunes Session EP...

Singer Clyde Bawden's Brighter Days Ahead EP, promoted by Glenn Beck's The Blaze show, is at #179. It contains four Christmas songs done in a delicate setting, and has nothing of the Beck's lunatic show...

 Another holiday set, Richard Marx's Christmas Spirit, arrives at #181. It's his first on the chart in eight years - his second album, Repeat Offender, topped the US album chart in 1989...

Well that does it for this week...out of these 14 the three I would recommend first would be the Bruno Mars, The Hobbit, and Richard Marx's sets....

I'll be back later with the latest in Britain...see you then!