McGraw Outdraws All Comers

And the guy with the biggest hat wins.

After a slow start to the year, album sales are finally ticking up with the arrival of more major releases and tougher competition at the top of the charts. This week's showdown saw seven newcomers in the Top 10, with country singer Tim McGraw outdrawing the likes of Young Buck, MIMS, Elton John, Jennifer Lopez, Good Charlotte and the latest Now! hits collection.

For the week ended Sunday, McGraw's Let It Go sold 325,000 copies to lasso the top slot, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The album leads at radio with "Last Dollar (Fly Away)."

It's the fourth Billboard 200 chart-topper of McGraw's career, but the new disc fell far short of his previous release, 2004's Live Like You Were Dying, which sold an earth-shaking 766,000 first-week copies.

Now That's What I Call Music! 24—featuring such smash hits as Fergie's "Fergalicious," Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable" and Daughtry's "It's Not Over"—sold 230,000 copies to finish at number two.

Tennessee rapper Young Buck, a member of Fiddy's G-Unit crew best known for his role in the 2004 Vibe Awards melee, sold 140,000 copies of his sophomore album, Buck the World, at three.

New York hip-hopster MIMS (aka Shawn Mims) opened at four, selling nearly 78,000 copies of Music Is My Savior. The rapper, who turned to music after losing both parents, made waves when his independent single "This Is Why I'm Hot" got played on a local radio station and was picked up across the country. He soon landed a deal with Capitol and his hit single rocketed to number one on the Hot 100.

Good Charlotte marked its return with Good Morning Revival, which sold 66,000 copies to check in at number seven. The disc was originally slated to drop last June but experienced multiple delays. The band's last album, The Chronicles of Life and Death, opened at number three in 2004 (back when bandleader Joel Madden was still canoodling Hilary Duff) with 199,000.

Released on his 60th birthday, Elton John's umpteenth greatest-hits collection, Rocket Man: Number Ones, launched at number nine, moving 49,000 copies.

Jennifer Lopez followed in the 10 spot, selling 48,000 copies of her Spanish-language debut, Como Ama Una Mujer.

The three Top 10 holdovers were Akon's Konvicted at five, Daughtry's self-titled at six and Joss Stone's Introducing Joss Stone at eight.

Several other artists made strong first-week showings. Redman's Red Gone Wild: Thee Album sold 44,000 copies at 13, while Lil' Flip's I Need Mine got his at 14 with 43,000. Another hits collection, Crystal Vision: The Very Best of Stevie Nicks, sold 34,000 copies at 20; the  Disneymania 5 compilation sold 30,000 copies at 27; and Mika, the classically trained singer behind "Grace Kelly," followed at 29 selling nearly 30,000 copies of Life in Cartoon Motion.

Other noteworthy debuts included Mobb Deep's Prodigy at 32 with Return of the Mac, Alabama's Songs of Inspiration II at 33, Jack Ingram's This Is It at 34, Macy Gray's Big at 39, Kaiser Chiefs' Yours Truly, Angry Mob at 45, Clutch's From Beale Street to Oblivion at 52, Machine Head's The Blackening at 54, Third Day's Chronology Volume One at 61 and Los Tigres Del Norte's Detalles Y Emociones at 65.

Overall, album sales were up almost 5 percent from the week previous, though still down 15 percent compared to the same week last year. So far 2007 sales are down 17 percent compared to this point in 2006.

Meanwhile, over on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart, Akon proved to be a double threat. The R&B star's "Don't Matter" marked its second week at number one and American Idol-featured duet with Gwen, "The Sweet Escape," was at number two.

Here's a recap of the Top 10:

1. Let It Go, Tim McGraw
2. Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 24, various
3. Buck the System, Young Buck
4. Music Is My Savior, MIMS
5. Konvicted, Akon
6. Daughtry, Daughtry
7. Good Morning Revival, Good Charlotte
8. Introducing Joss Stone, Joss Stone
9. Rocket Man: Number Ones, Elton John
10. Como Ama Una Mujer, Jennifer Lopez