Jason Aldean, Brandy return to the charts

The pop charts are getting an infusion of country this month.

Days before Taylor Swift’s new album bows atop the charts and sets a bevy of 2012 records, country star Jason Aldean owns the No. 1 album in the U.S. His Broken Bow effort “Night Train” docks at the top spot on the Billboard charts after selling more than 409,000 copies, according to Nielsen Soundscan, which gives Aldean the second-best chart debut of 2012.

Only Mumford & Sons’ “Babel” sold more in its first week of release this year. For his part, Aldean scores a career best. His 2010 album, “My Kinda Party,” sold about 193,000 copies in its first week, according to Billboard. Aldean’s “Night Train” is one of five top-10 debuts, and it knocks Mumford & Sons down to No. 2.

“Babel” has sold about 938,000 copies for Glassnote Records in four weeks of release. It’s on pace to top the million sales mark on next week’s pop chart -- when all industry observers will be watching the numbers on Swift’s new album, “Red.” The latter is available at Target, Papa John’s and iTunes, but cannot be streamed on Spotify or like-minded services. “Red” is expected to break the million sales barrier in one week.

R&B; singer Brandy returns to the top 10 this week with “Two Eleven,” an album that sold about 65,000 copies to land at No. 3. It’s Brandy’s first top-10 chart showing since 2004’s “Afrodisiac.” The new album, her first for RCA, sees Brandy collaborating with Chris Brown, Frank Ocean and others.

While many are still plotting their Halloween costumes, “American Idol” crooner Scotty McCreey is looking ahead to Christmas. His Mercury/Interscope holiday-themed collection (“Christmas With ...”) enters the chart at No. 4 after selling 41,000 copies.

Also new to the top 10 this week is Jamey Johnson’s Mercury Nashville country tribute album “Livin’ for a Song” (No. 5, at 32,000 copies) and the latest album inspired by Adult Swim’s animated series “Metalocalypse,” “Dethklok Dethalbum III” (No. 10, 20,000 copies).

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