FLATTS TOPS, NOW 21 SECOND, PINK'S ALIVE

Time to get out your cowboy hats, folks and hitch up your horse to a runaway success.

According to first-day reports from retailers across this great land of ours, Lyric Street's Rascal Flatts are off to the races with estimated first-week sales that could go as high as 800k for their new album, Me and My Gang. Lyric Street is the Nashville label run by long-time RCA exec Randy Goodman, and the band's success is no surprise. Their last album, Feels Like Today, is still on the charts some 18 months after its release, selling a total of more than 4 million to date.

UTV's Now 21 collection hits the streets, featuring Chris Brown's "Run It!," Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps" and All American Rejects' "Dirty Little Secret," among others, and the venerable franchise continues with projected sales in the 325-350k range.

LaFace/ZLG's Pink lives up to the title of her new album, I'm Not Dead, with 125k opening week, give or take, while Purple Ribbon/Virgin's Bubba Sparxxx looks set for a 50k bow.

Rhino brings back classic prog-metallers Queensryche with a hearty 40-50k, followed by several acts grouped together in the 30-40k range, including Sanctuary's Morrissey, Warner Bros.' Flaming Lips, Universal's Blue October and New Century Records' Lacuna Coil, which could very well put them in the teens or low twenties in next week's chart.

The overall market was up over 1% this week, up around 4% from similar week last year, which brings it to over 3% below last year to date. Be thankful for very small favors.