The Big News: George Strait went straight to the top of the Billboard album chart as his Troubadour sold 166,305 copies to debut at number one. R.E.M. moved 115,458 copies of Accelerate to take the number two slot, giving the venerable alt-rockers their highest chart position since 1996’s New Adventures in Hi-Fi. NOW 27 placed third, last week’s champ Day26 dropped to fourth, while the indestructible Alvin & the Chipmunks soundtrack rounded out the top five, thanks in part to the movie’s DVD release which boasted its sales 111 percent over last week. (more…)

In honor of R.E.M.’s excellent new album Accelerate (out today), check out Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills discussing some of their most seminal albums, including Murmur and Out of Time. For the group’s thoughts, click here.