GLEE SPOT

Columbia’s Glee franchise just keeps rolling along. The fourth volume of the popular Fox TV series, though it is technically Vol. 3, debuts at #1, making it the second to do so, following last month’s The Power of Madonna, with 138k in sales.

It’s the second-highest first-week total ever for the series, with Glee Vol. 2 debuting at #3 with 173k last year, and Glee Vol. 1 bowing at #4 with 113k before that.

This week, all four Glee soundtracks land in the Top 50, with Power of Madonna the big gainer, moving #45-20, +83%, Vol. 1 (#50-34, +28%) and Vol. 2 re-entering at #40.

The UMe/Universal Republic deluxe re-release of the Rolling Stones’ classic 1972 album Exile on Main St is the week’s other big debut, bowing at #2 with 75k, a day after entering the U.K. charts at #1. UMe’s Exile Rarities, another collection, comes on the chart at #28.

Glee and the Stones are just two of six newcomers in the Top 10, followed by Nonesuch garage-blues duo Black Keys (#3), Universal Republic’s Nas & Damian Marley (#5), Fat Possum/Columbia’s Band of Horses (#7) and Virgin/EMI’s LCD Soundsystem (#10).

Last week’s chart-topper, Island/IDJMG’s Justin Bieber, drops to #4, with the other holdovers Capitol Nashville/EMI’s Lady Antebellum (#6), LaFace/JLG’s Usher (#8) and Columbia’s AC/DC Iron Man 2 soundtrack (#9).

Other Top 50 entries go to WB’s Reflection Eternal: Talib Kweli (#19) and Bad Boy/ Atlantic R&B newcomer Janelle Monae (#21).

Aside from the Glee soundtracks, the week’s other movers include J/RMG’s Alicia Keys (#41-33) and Roadrunner’s Nickelback (#43-37, +5%).

Hitting retail this week and the chart next are Atlantic’s Stone Temple Pilots, Water Tower/New Line/Fontana’s Sex and the City 2 soundtrack, Asylum’s Cam’ron and Concord’s Leela James. Next Tuesday, Brushfire/Universal Republic’s eagerly anticipated Jack Johnson album hits stores, with heightened expectations that it could be the biggest first-week sales story of the year.