Album Sweep: February 22, 2014 - Part One...

Hey gang, it's time to roll out the first half of this week's "album sweep", sampling the records making their first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top 200 Albums sales chart. As always I've included links to buy anything when possible...

The top-selling album in the land is the 49th volume of the American edition of the hit compilation series Now That's What I Call Music!, selling just under a hundred thousand copies. Out of those 49, seventeen have topped the albums chart, the most recent being volume 43 in the summer of 2012. The new set features #1 hits from Pitbull, Lorde, and Miley Cyrus...

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The first collaborative album between soul singer Toni Braxton and singer and producer Babyface, Love, Marriage, and Divorce, comes in at #4. Toni's self-titled debut album was so far her sole #1 set in 1993, while this is Kenny Edmonds' highest charting record to date...

The second album from Broken Bells, the side-project of producer Danger Mouse and Shins lead singer James Mercer, enters at #5 with After The Disco. It's two notches higher than the peak of their self-titled debut...

UK X Factor winners Little Mix arrive at #6 with their sophomore effort, Salute. Their debut, DNA, made it to #4...

Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation rage in at #16 with their sixth studio album Hydra. It's their first to make the top 40 on the albums chart...

The religious collection Wow Gospel 2014 ascends to the chart at #26. The 2006 volume is so far the highest charting at #20...

Country newcomer Eric Paslay debuts at #31 with his self-titled first album...

Christian metalcore (yes, it's a thing) band For Today comes in at #32 with their fifth full-length album Fight The Silence. Their last, Immortal, went to #15 in 2012...

On the other side of that coin, Polish black death metal act Behemoth creep on at #34 with their tenth set Satanist. It's their first to make the top-40...

American Idol season-two winner Ruben Studdard is back at #46 with his sixth studio release Unconditional Love. He topped the albums chart in 2003 with his debut Soulful...


The soundtrack to the biggest film of this weekend, The LEGO Movie, rockets in at #48. It has score music from Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh as well as Tegan & Sara's theme song...

Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny's Unity Group enters at #50 with Kin(<--->). Two years ago his Unity Band album which won a Grammy went to #146...

Texan country rock group Whiskey Myers shuffles in at #54 with Early Morning Shakes, their third and so far biggest album...

That's it for the first half of the new crop - out of this baker's dozen the three I would go for first are the Toni Braxton/Babyface, Eric Paslay, and Within Temptation sets...

I'll be back tomorrow with part two including some Bad Company, some British blue-eyed soul, a country star gets remined, and more...