Bon Jovi climbed into the driver's seat on the U.S. album chart this week, as the New Jersey band debuted at No. 1 with its Island release "The Circle."
The veteran act's successor to its chart-topping country album "Lost Highway" sold 163,000 copies in its first week on sale, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures for the week ending Nov. 15.
The frame's only other new entry in the top 10 was Flyleaf's "Memento Mori" (Octone/A&M). Texas band's third album entered at No. 8 with a first-week cume of 56,000 units.
Ho-hum stanza saw minor shifts in position by familiar titles.
Tenor Andrea Bocelli's holiday collection "My Christmas" (Decca) gained one slot, moving to No. 2 with a 136,000-unit week (down 8%). Last week's No. 1 entry, Carrie Underwood's "Play On" (19/Arista Nashville), sagged to No. 3 after dropping 60%, shifting 128,000. The Epic soundtrack to the Michael Jackson documentary "This Is It" slipped 40% and fell two slots to No. 4, moving 117,000.
Country-pop star Taylor Swift continued to stay in the public eye and sell more copies of her year-old album "Fearless," which has shifted 4.3 million units to date. Behind Swift's big win as entertainer of the year at the Country Music Assn. awards, the Big Machine title gained 30% and climbed one notch to No. 5, racking up another 91,000 units.
The 32nd edition of the "Now That's What I Call Music" hits compilation slid 33% and fell one position to No. 6, tallying 68,000. Despite a 2% dip, Canadian crooner Michael Buble's "Crazy Love" (Warner Bros.) sneaked up one position to No. 7 with a 58,000-unit week.
Rounding out the top 10 were two soundtrack albums, for the Fox TV hit "Glee" (Columbia), which fell five slots to No. 9 with a 51% drop and 56,000 sold, and the imminent Summit release "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" (Chop Shop/Atlantic), which held at No. 10 on the strength of a slim 1% gain and a 53,000-copy week.
New CDs by Norah Jones, 50 Cent and John Mayer will duke it out for supremacy in stores this week.
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