Album Sweep: October 12, 2013 - Part Two...

I'm ready to throw down part two of this week's "album sweep" sampling the records making their first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top 200 Albums sales chart. You can check out part one by clicking here, and as before I've included links to buy anything if possible.

The final entry in the top-40 this week at #39 is contemporary Christian artist Phil Wickham with his fifth album The Ascension. This is his first to reach this level...

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California metalcore band A Skylit Drive also claim their highest rank with their fourth album Rise at #41...

90's alt-rock cult favorites Mazzy Star are back with their first album since 1996 with Seasons Of Your Day at #42. In 1993 their album So Tonight That I Can See, which includes the classic "Fade Into You", made it to #36...

The annual WOW Hits 2014, collecting 33 Christian pop hits, arrives on the chart at #44. To show it's relevance to the genre, it has the top eight Christian Songs on the chart....

Lounge music stars Pink Martini come in at #48 with their sixth album Get Happy. They've had two records make the top-40, with their breakthrough Hang On Little Tomato going to #25 in 2004...

Experimental post-rock Christian band Gungor (named for its leader Michael) ascends to #50 with I Am Mountain. Previously they went to #43 with Ghosts Upon The Earth...

Providence's alt-country band Deer Tick comes in at #65 with Negativity, their fifth album. It matches the rank of their last effort, Divine Providence...

Los Angeles-based heavy metal band The Black Label Society enter at #72 with their third live set, the acoustic Unblackened. In 2010, their Order Of The Black went all the way to #4...

Meanwhile, another band from L.A., metalcore outfit Touche' Amore', land at #85 with Is Survived By, their first of three albums to make the big chart...

Texan bluegrass musician Sarah Jarosz is in at #101 with her third album Build Me Up From Bones. Her last, Follow Me Down, just made the top half of the chart at #98 in 2011..

Mexican pop star Gloria Trevi is in at #109 with De Pelicula. ("In The Movies")...

The mega-box release In Utero: 20th Anniversary Super Deluxe by Nirvana contains three CDs and one DVD from material from the iconic grunge band's 1993 release. It features live material, B-sides, and an extensive book. The physical set costs over 100 dollars, though you can just buy the mp3s of the audio portions for under 35 smackers.

The electronica group Foreign Exchange score their highest rank at #115 with Love In Flying Colors...

Thrash metal veterans Megadeth storm in at #119 with their fifth live release Countdown To Extinction: Live. It documents their recent show commemorating the 20th anniversary of the namesake album which went to #2 in 1992 (their biggest)...It must sting a little that Dave Mustaine's old bandmates Metallica did so much better with theirs this week...

Singer/songwriter Jon McLaughlin arrives at #141 with Holding My Breath, his fifth major-label album. In 2008 he took OK Now to #49...


DJ and producer Bassnectar comes in at #151 with his EP Take You Down. His last full-length, Vava Voom, was his first to make the top-40...

Latin act Pesado debuts at #197 with Por Ti...

The final entry of the week at #198 belongs to alt-rock group Sons of the Sea with their self-titled debut album. They are led by the lead singer for Incubus, Brandon Boyd...

That does it for part two of today's journey..out of these 18 the three I would choose first are the Mazzy Star, Pink Martini, and Foreign Exchange sets...