ONE-DAY SALES:
WELCOME TO THE BIG TYME

Well, golldurnit, that Kenny Chesney sure took the Album Chart bull by the horns this week, but it’s Wednesday, folks, and that means next week’s chart story is already taking shape.

Isn’t it exciting?

You’re damn right it’s exciting! According to early reports from national accounts, Cash Money/Universal’s Big Tymers are on track to sell over 150k, with a shot at cracking 200k. This means the New Orleans rappers’ latest could tangle with Kenny the Kowpoke for #1—and everybody loves a rap-meets-country showdown. Or is that “hoedown”?

But wait, there’s more: Both (big breath) Roadrunner/IDJ/Columbia/SMS’s “Hero”-driven Spider-Man soundtrack and A&M/Interscope’s Vanessa Carlton have had the kind of first days in the streets that indicate their first weeks will each tally over 100k. And with Spider-Man opening in theaters Friday and more-aggressive-than-Ashanti $3.50 rebate program going for Vanessa’s Be Not Nobody, either one of these titles could trend up significantly over the remainder of the week.

And depending what happens with ole Kenny Chesney—whose No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem (BNA) moved some 241k this week for #1—as well as those titles immediately below him, which include the aforementioned Ashanti, Sheryl Crow, Celine Dion and Now 9, that there Album Chart Top 5 could get mighty interesting.

Keep yer spurs on, cowboy—there’s plenty o’ women folk and a funny-lookin’ guy in tights comin’.