Album Sweep: June 28, 2014 - Part One...

I'm ready to bring out the first half of this week's "album sweep", sampling the records making their debut on this week's Top 200 Albums sales chart in Billboard magazine. As usual, I've included highlighted links to buy any of the records, along with some of the artists' other major work. Support the talent!

The top-selling album of the week is the second solo album for former White Stripes frontman Jack White, Lazaretto, which sells over 138,000 copies in its first week. His first solo set Blunderbuss also topped the chart in 2012...

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White's album is the only debut in the top-10 - next up at #12 is British indie-folk singer Passenger (a.k.a. Mike Rosenberg) with his fifth studio album, Whispers. This is his second top-40 album, and highest peak so far..

Alternative rock band O.A.R. (or Of A Revolution) come in at #13 with The Rockville LP, named for the Maryland town they hail from. It's their fourth consecutive top-40 album; their last, King, went a notch higher at #12 in 2011...

California rock-reggae group Rebelution land at #14 with their fourth album, Count Me In. It's their second to make the top-40; their last, Peace Of Mind, went a notch higher at #13 in 2012...

Heavy metal "supergroup" HellYeah, featuring members of Pantera, Mudvayne, and Nothingface, enters the chart at #18 with their fourth effort Blood For Blood. All four have made the top-20, and their second, Stampede, went to #8 in 2010...

Swedish indie-folk duo First Aid Kit score their second charting album and first top-40 hit at #23 with their third album Stay Gold....

Sacremento-based hard rock group Tesla return at #24 with Simplicity, their eighth studio album. Seven of them have made the top-40, but it was their live album from 1990, Five Man Acoustical Jam, that did the best, climbing to #12...

Gospel singer Ricky Dillard and New G (for his New Generation Chorale) comes in at #28 with Amazing...

Every week there has to be some metalcore, and this week's big one is Australian band the Amity Affliction with Let The Ocean Take Me at #31. It's their first on the American chart; this record went to #1 in their home country...

Adult-pop singer/songwriter Colbie Caillat is back at #32 with her Gypsy Heart: Side A EP. Her first three full-length albums have been in the top-10, with her second, Breakthrough, topping the chart in 2009...

The Word Alive, a metalcore band from Phoenix, Arizona, moves in at #33 with their third full-length album Real. It's their first to make the top-40...

Chrissie Hynde, who has fronted the iconic pop/punk band the Pretenders since the late 70s, sends her first solo album Stockholm to the chart at #36. With her band she went to the top-10 three times, with 1983's Learning To Crawl reaching #5...

Emo band Say Anything return at #37 with their sixth full-length album Hebrews. It's their fourth consecutive top-40 project; their last, Anarchy, My Dear, so far is their highest rank at #22 in 2012...

That's it for the first half of the new bunch....out of this baker's dozen the three I would choose first are the Jack White, First Aid Kit, and HellYeah albums...

I'll be back tomorrow with part two!