ONE-DAY SALES: NEW NOW WOW

After one day on sale, reports from national accounts indicate that Capitol’s Now 17 compilation—a 20-track extravaganza featuring tracks from Black Eyed Peas, Terror Squad, Beastie Boys, Nelly and both Simpson sisters, among others—is mopping the floor with everything else out there.

Indeed, the latest installment in the Now franchise appears headed for a first-week sales total of around 350k, which should guarantee it a #1 debut on next week’s chart.

Also hitting the street yesterday was A Perfect Circle’s Emotive (Virgin), which is hitting its marks with early sales that point to a strong first week of over 150k, but probably shy of 200k.

Next week, watch out for the battle of the best-of sets: Shania Twain’s Greatest Hits (Mercury Nashville), Toby Keith’s Greatest Hits 2 (DreamWorks Nashville) and Britney Spears’ Greatest Hits: My Prerogative (Jive) all hit at the same time and promise to dominate the chart the week after next. Also on deck are Ja Rule’s R.U.L.E. (Def Jam) and Fabolous’ Real Talk (Atlantic).