Carrie Underwood
On the same day that she co-hosted the Country Music Assn. Awards telecast on ABC, Carrie Underwood took the No. 1 slot on U.S. album charts Wednesday with the debut of "Play On."
"Glee: The Music Vol. 1," the first collection of tunes from the hit Fox series, bowed at No. 4. Cast's bouncy covers of songs by Journey, Queen, Kanye West and others moved 113,000 units for the week ending Nov. 8, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Columbia Records previously announced the Dec. 8 release of a second "Glee" set.
Underwood's latest 19/Arista Nashville release delivered first-week sales of 318,000 units. That was enough to push the companion album for the Michael Jackson docu "This Is It" to No. 2 in its second week. The Epic set witnessed a 48% sales drop, ringing up 196,000 copies for the frame.
Classical tenor Andrea Bocelli's "My Christmas" (Decca) arrives at No. 3. The Yuletide package sold 149,000 in its first week in stores.
The 32nd volume in the compilation series "Now That's What I Call Music" enters at No. 5. The RCA-distributed disc, containing chart hits by Black Eyed Peas, Mariah Carey, Shakira, Taylor Swift and others, rang up a first-week score of 102,000 units.
Swift's "Fearless," which saw a lift last week after the release of a bulked-up special edition, dips
three notches to No. 6 this week. Year-old album sold 70,000, representing a 36% decline.
Alt-pop vets Weezer move onto the chart at No. 7 with "Raditude." The DGC release, a speedy follow-up to last year's "The Red Album," pulls in with a 66,000-unit opening salvo.
Rounding out the top 10 are Michael Buble's "Crazy Love" (No. 8, 59,000 units, Warner Bros.), Sting's "If On a Winter's Night" (No. 9, 59,000, Deutsche Grammophon) and the "Twilight: New Moon" soundtrack (No. 10, 52,000, Chop Shop/Atlantic).
"The Circle," a new album by Bon Jovi, leads fresh contenders for the upper reaches of next week's chart.
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