Album Sweep: May 17, 2014 - Part One...

The first half of this week's "album sweep" is up, sampling the records making their first appearance in Billboard magazine's official Top 200 Albums sales chart, as the soundtrack to Frozen racks up a 13th non-consecutive week at #1 selling over a hundred thousand copies more this week. As always I've included links to buy anything if available...support the artists!

Selling about half as much as Frozen, the #2 album this week belongs to YouTube star and electronica violinist Lindsey Stirling, with her second album Shatter Me. It's her first to make the top 10...

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


Indie folk singer/songwriter Ray Lamontagne lands his third straight album at #3 with Supernova. It follows Gossip In The Grain from 2008 and God Willin' And The Creek Don't Rise in 2010...

The religious music collective Passion ascends to #4 with Passion: Take It All. It matches the peak of their last studio album, Let The Future Begin from last year...

Pop/dance duo Timeflies take their second album and first for major label Island Records After Hours to the chart at #8. It's their first release to make the top ten - previously two of their EPs made the top-40...

Whitechapel, a deathcore band from Tennessee, lands at #10 with their fifth album and first top-40 (let alone top-ten), Our Endless War...

Comedian Jim Gaffigan had his hilarious special Obsessed show on Comedy Central, and the accompanying album leaps in at #11. It's his first time in the top 40...

The Grateful Dead return at #17 with another one of their special limited-edition live archive albums, Dave's Picks Vol. 10; Thelma, Los Angeles, CA, 12/12/69. It's their highest rank since back in 1987 with their studio album In The Dark which went to #6....

Ohio-based metalcore outfit Miss May I roars in at #21 with their fourth album and highest rank yet with Rise Of The Lion...

Mexican neo-flamenco duo Rodrigo y Gabriela come in at #22 with their fourth studio set 9 Dead Alive. It's their second top-40 record and highest yet...

Alt-rock veterans the Pixies return at #23 with their first full-length album since 1991, Indie Cindy. It's their first time ever in the top-40...

Nashville folk-pop duo Johnnyswim enter at #29 with Diamonds. One half of the married couple is Amanda Sudano, daughter of the late Donna Summer and Bruce Sudano of Brooklyn Dreams...

The Old 97's, a long-standing alt-country band from Dallas, are back at #80 with Most Messed Up, their tenth studio album. It's their first to make the top-40...

Britpop king Damon Albarn, leader of Blur and the Gorillaz, sees his first solo album Everyday Robots come in at #32...

Guatemalan singer (Ricardo) Arjona moves in at #35 with Viaje. It's his first album to make the top-40 on the big chart...

That's it for the first half of the new bunch...out of this fourteen the three I would go for first are the Ray Lamontagne, Damon Albarn, and Johnnyswim albums...

I'll be back tomorrow with part two!