The Big News: Debuts account for over half of the top thirty this week, but county superstars Rascal Flatts easily crushed the competition by selling 546,505 copies of their fifth album, Still Feels Good. It’s the biggest opening week for a county album since the group’s 2006 album Me and My Gang, which sold 722,000 copies it’s first week and went on to sell 4.3 million. Fueled by the hit single “Let It Go” (featuring Missy Elliott and Lil’ Kim), R&B Keyshia Cole comes in at number two with 281,419 sales. The Foo Fighters landed at number three by moving 168,222 copies of their seventh album.

Debuts: It was a good week for new albums by veteran female artists. Queen Latifah returns from a three-year absence with jazzy covers disc Trav’lin Light and scored the best opening chart position of her career with 51,015 in sales. Melissa Etheridge’s first post-cancer album lands at number thirteen (47,702 copies sold), while Joni Mitchell’s first album in nearly a decade is at fourteen with 40,149 copies sold. Chaka Khan sold 38,522 copies of her new album Funk This, due in part to the help of Mary J. Blige, who duets with her on the single “Disrespectful.” Continuing the theme (sort of), Will.i.am’s Songs About Girls came in at thirty-eight.
Last Week’s Chart Heroes: Reba McEntire’s duets collection fell 57 percent and five slots down the chart, but still sold an impressive 130,155 copies in its second week. Kanye West and 50 Cent continue to slide in their third week, though West is proving to be more durable. Graduation moved 133,281 copies for a three-week take of 1,317,038, while Curtis sold 70,896 copies for a three-week total of 906,198. Nickelback’s All the Right Reasons, resting comfortably at number twenty after a shocking 104 weeks, is a mere 3,639 copies away from hitting the six million mark. It sold 33,989 copies last week so that lucky 6 millionth Nickelback fan should be picking up his copy any minute now.