Album Sweep: August 2, 2014 - Part One...

It's time to roll out the first half of this week's "album sweep" (yes, it's back), sampling the records making their way on to the official Top 200 Albums sales chart in Billboard magazine. As always, I've included highlighted links to buy any of the sets, along with some of the artists' other major work. Support the talent!

This week's biggest-selling album is the first #1 in the long career of musical parody king "Weird Al" Yankovic, as his fourteenth studio album Mandatory Fun sells over 100,000 copies in its first week. It's also his third consecutive top-ten album. I'm so overjoyed to its success, as is Al...

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Coming in at #2 is singer-songwriter Jason Mraz with his fifth full-length studio set YES!. It matches the peak of his last record from 2012, Love Is A Four Letter Word, and becomes his fourth out of five to made the top-5...

Chicago-based punk band Rise Against enter at #3 with their seventh record The Black Market. It's their fourth consecutive top-10 studio album; they went to #2 with their last, Endgame, in 2011...

The 26th volume in the Kidz Bop franchise of family-friendly cover songs pops in at #4. Nineteen of the sets have made the top-10, and five have gone as high as #2. The thing with this series these days is there's so much here that's not vulgar to begin with, so why bother with a cover?

Bleachers, a side-project from Jack Antonoff from the modern-rock trio fun, debuts at #11 with the first album under the moniker, Strange Desire...

British neo-soul singer Marsha Ambrosius returns at #12 with her second solo album after leaving the duo Floetry, Friends & Lovers. Her first, Late Nights & Early Mornings, went to #2 in 2011...

The king of sassy rock, Morrissey, is back at #14 with World Peace Is None Of Your Business, his tenth studio album and first in five years. Six of them have reached the top-40 on the albums chart, with 2004's You Are The Quarry and Years Of Refusal in 2011 both stalling at #11...

Deathcore metal band Suicide Silence score their highest rank ever as their fourth set You Can't Stop Me comes in at #16. It's their third top-40 effort...

An indie folk band with a name I love, Trampled By Turtles, enter at #29 with their seventh album Wild Animals. It's their second to make the top-40...

Hard rock group Volumes is in at #40 with No Sleep...

That's it for the first half of the new bunch. Out of this ten the three I would go for first are the "Weird Al", Bleachers, and Marsha Ambrosius albums....

I'll be back tomorrow with the second half of the new bunch...