PARK AND SONGZ DUKE IT OUT

Now this is a little bit more like it.

Next week’s chart will feature a two-horse race with Warner Bros. rap-rock Linkin Park’s much-praised, Rick Rubin-produced A Thousand Suns, in the early lead, sporting a projected total of 250-260k. That is none too shabby, though it’s sobering to realize that just three short years ago, Minutes to Midnight moved a total of 623k its first week of release in May ’07.

That’s thanks to one-day sales reports from those retailers wearing their Gaga-approved meat suits in the middle of September.

Right behind the Linkin Park guys is Atlantic R&B tout Trey Songz with Passion, Pain and Pleasure, his fourth album, on target for 220-230k, a substantial increase over his 2009 release, Ready, which moved 131k on its way to a total of 785k.

Next up is the critically acclaimed Jamey Johnson double-CD on Mercury Nashville, The Guitar Song, which will do a very impressive 60-65k.

Weezer’s indie debut for Epitaph, Hurley, appears to be in the 45-50k range, while Rounder’s Robert Plant album, Band of Joy, the follow-up to his Grammy-winning Raising Sand, the 2007 collaboration with Alison Krauss, looks to be 40-45k, the same as Island/IDJ’s Brandon Flowers solo debut, Flamingo.

The market was down 7% vs. last week, down 28% vs. same week last year (Jay-Z debuted with 476k) and now down 13% year to date. Now, that’s unlucky.