New Fall Albums Hitting The Charts

All eyes will be on the top albums chart in the next few weeks as the first wave of big new fall releases starts hitting the list.

And though the major fireworks will come later this month - when Mariah Carey’s “Daydream” will be in an explosive battle with Janet Jackson’s “Design of a Decade 1986-1996” (released this week) - the first salvos were fired this week by the seven albums that scored Top 30 debuts, including two in the Top 10.

Tops among the new releases is “Ballbreaker” by those rock dinosaurs AC/DC, who blew onto the list at a surprisingly high No. 4.

Not far behind at No. 6 was “The Gold Experience” by the artist formerly known as Prince, who also scored a No. 2 debut on the R&B albums chart.

Two of the other big new albums also had high debuts on both charts: Kool G Rap’s “4, 5, 6” entered the R&B list at No. 1 and the overall chart at No. 24 and Gerald Levert and Eddie Lavert Sr.’s “Father and Son” entered at No. 3 R&B and at No. 20 on the main list. In addition, DAS EFX’s “Hold It Down,” which moved from No. 87 to No. 4 in its second week on the R&B list, scored a belated debut on the main chart at No. 22.

Completing this week’s list of big new albums: David Bowie’s “Outside,” which entered at No. 21, and the Grateful Dead’s “Hundred Year Hall,” at No. 26.

But when the dust settled from all of this week’s big debuts, the top three albums remained unchanged. That’s good news for alternative-rock newcomer Alanis Morissette, whose “Jagged Little Pill” last week became the first record by a Canadian female to hit No. 1 on the U.S. albums chart. This week, “Pill” held on for a second week as champ, just barely staying ahead of the “Dangerous Minds” soundtrack (still No. 2) and Hootie & the Blowfish’s “Cracked Rear View” (still No. 3).

But next week, look for all three to get blown away by the expected No. 1 debut of Mariah Carey’s “Daydream.”