Album Sweep: May 25, 2013 - Part One...

Hey folks, it's time for part one of this week's "album sweep" sampling the records making their first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top 200 Albums chart (seemingly the one of the few non-rigged charts they have left). As always, I've included links to buy anything you see if available, but please if you can get to an independent record store. It'll do you good!

This week's top-selling album is country crossover act Lady Antebellum with their third #1 set Golden. It sold over 150K this past week, and includes their #1 country hit "Downtown"..

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The second big film version of the classic F. Scott Fitzgerald novel The Great Gatsby came out on May 10th, and the accompanying record Music from Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby arrives at #2, selling over 125,000 copies last week. It was executive produced by Jay-Z...

Now That's What I Call Music! 46 enters the chart at #3. All 46 volumes have reached the top-10, and this is one of two "NOW" sets to debut this week...

Female country trio Pistol Annies (including A-lister Miranda Lambert) put their second album Annie Up on the chart at #5. It matches the peak of their debut Hell On Heels from 2011...

 Veteran rocker Rod Stewart is back in the top-10 with the first non-covers album 1991's Vagabond Heart. Time comes in at #7...

The second volume of music from the musidrama Nashville drops in at #13. Volume 1 made it a notch higher at the end of last year...

The uber-hipster indie-pop duo of She & Him, actress/singer Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, jump in at #15 with Volume 3. Their Volume 2 reached #6 in 2010...

Natalie Maines from the Dixie Chicks sees her first solo album Mother debut on the chart at #17....with her band she topped the album charts three times...

L.A.-based neo-soul band Fitz & The Tantrum enter at #26 with More Than Just A Dream. Their debut Pickin' Up The Pieces went to #140 in 2010...

Indiana's most famous a cappella group Straight No Chaser return at #28 with their fourth full-length album Under The Influence. It's their highest rank as yet, and includes collaborations with Stevie Wonder and Sara Bareilles...

The other "NOW" album to make the chart this week is the initial NOW! That's What I Call A Country Party at #31. It includes hits from Luke Bryan, Alan Jackson, and Brad Paisley, among others in its 18 tracks...

Folk music singer and critics' darling Patty Griffin is back at #36 with American Kid. It's her third consecutive studio set to reach the top-40 on the albums chart..

Australian EDM duo Knife Party come in at #37 with their third EP, Haunted House...

The second album from the YouTube classical crossover stars The Piano Guys is their first to reach the top-40 as it enters at #38. Piano Guys 2 includes takes on Bruno Mars' "Just The Way You Are" and "Lord Of The Rings"...
 

Indie rock group Deerhunter debut at #41 with their sixth album Monomania. Their last, Halcyon Digest reached #37...

That does it for the first half of the new crop. Out of these fifteen the three I'd pick first are the Natalie Maines, Fitz & The Tantrums, and Lady Antebellum sets....

I'll return tomorrow with part two with new stuff from and 80's guitar hero, a 90's boyband sensation, and more....