MILEY VS. SUGARLAND TOO CLOSE TO CALL FOR #1

Disney’s Miley Cyrus, stepping out from her Hannah Montana persona for her new Hollywood Records solo album, Breakout, and Mercury Nashville country duo Sugarland, with the deluxe fan edition of their new album, Love on the Inside, are each on track to sell between 380-400k albums, based on one-day sales reports from those retailers still taking our phone calls.

Cyrus is riding the success of her fast-rising single, “7 Things,” while Sugarland has momentum from its country smash, “All I Want To Do,” which they performed on the 2008 ACM Awards, with lead singer Jennifer Nettles a crossover star in the making. Digital sales for Sugarland are especially robust, as country fans prove just as computer-savvy as other consumers.

The last Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana album, Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley, did 326k in first-week sales when it was released last July, while Sugarland's 2006 album, Enjoy the Ride, opened with 211k in Nov. 2006.

The only other Top 50 newcomer would appear to be Nine Inch Nails, with the physical release of The Slip on Trent Reznor’s The Null Corporation label, after previously making the album available via free download on May 5. Initial estimates have the album selling 35k, not bad for something that was available for nothing just two months ago.

Seattle rockers Candlebox’s first studio album in a decade, Into the Sun, on indie Silent Majority Recordings, should do between 16-18lk, which should land it in the Top 30.