Reba Outmuscles Kanye, 50 To Score First No. 1
Reba McEntire
September 26, 2007, 10:55 AM ET
Katie Hasty, N.Y.
In a week where six of the top 10 slots on The Billboard 200 are occupied by new releases, Reba McEntire's "Reba Duets" reigns at No. 1. Moving 301,000 copies in the United States, the MCA Nashville album provides the country star's best sales week since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991.

The star-studded set, her first No. 1 on The Billboard 200, includes collaborations with artists like Rascal Flatts, Faith Hill, Kenny Chesney, Justin Timberlake and Kelly Clarkson; it's with the latter artist that McEntire duets with on "Because of You," which already peaked at No. 2 on the Hot Country Songs chart.

After debuting at No. 1 last week, Kanye West's Def Jam album "Graduation" falls to No. 2 with 226,000, a sales slide of 76%. 50 Cent's "Curtis" does nearly the same, slipping 2-3 with 143,000 (-79%).

Barry Manilow earns his third top five album in a row as "The Greatest Songs of the Seventies" (Arista) debuts at No. 4 with 113,000. It's the singer's third "Greatest Songs" set, with "... of the Fifties" bowing at No. 1 and "... of the Sixties" entering at No. 2. The new effort's tally includes 41,000 copies sold during a promotion on shopping channel QVC.

Kenny Chesney's "Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates" (BNA/Sony BMG Nashville) descends 3-5 in its second week with 112,000 (-71%), while Disney's "High School Musical 2" slides 4-6 with 99,000 (-25%).

British singer/songwriter James Blunt's sophomore album, "All the Lost Souls," opens at No. 7, moving 92,000. The Custard/Atlantic set comes follows his 2005 U.S. debut, "Back to Bedlam" which featured the smash hit "You're Beautiful." Fellow Brit KT Tunstall's sophomore Virgin set, "Drastic Fantastic," debuts at No. 9 with 50,000. Her debut, 2006's "Eye to the Telescope," topped out at No. 33.

Chamillionaire's "Ultimate Victory" (Chamillitary/Universal Motown) debuts at No. 8 with 79,000 units, which is a charting best for the Houston rapper. His debut, 2005's "The Sound of Revenge," entered at No. 10 with 130,000.

Twista's fifth album, "Adrenaline Rush 2007" (Atlantic) enters at No. 10 with 41,000. That's a significant decline from 2005's "The Day After," which bowed at No. 2 with 129,000.

Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder's soundtrack to the Sean Penn-directed "Into the Wild" (J) bows at No. 11 with 39,000, while H.I.M.'s "Venus Doom" (Sire/London/Rhino) begins at No. 12, a charting best for the Finnish metal group.

Other big debuts this week include Epitaph rock troupe Motion City Soundtrack's "Even If It Kills Me" at No. 16 with 33,000, Diana Krall's "The Very Best of Diana Krall" (Verve) at No. 19 with 30,000, Dropkick Murphys' "The Meanest of Times" (Born & Bred) at No. 20 with 28,000, Gloria Estefan's "90 Millas" (Burgundy) at No. 25 with 23,000 and Mark Knopfler's "Kill to Get Crimson" (Warner Bros.) at No. 26, with only a few dozen short of Estefan's total at 23,000. In all, 31 new albums appeared on The Billboard 200 this week.

At 8.29 million, sales are down 9.5% compared to last week's total and down 13.8% from the same sum this time last year.




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