Sunday night”s Grammy Awards could throw next week”s Billboard 200 album chart into disarray should a surprise winner emerge, but with two days to go until the chart week ends, Josh Groban”s “All That Echoes” looks like a lock for No. 1 with sales of up to 145,000. Read Hitfix”s interview with Groban here.
The baritone leads the four new titles in next week”s Top 10: coming in at No. 2 will likely be Tim McGraw with “Two Lanes of Freedom,” his first album on Big Machine after switching from Curb Records. The set, which will top Billboard”s Country Album chart next week, will sell up to 105,000 copies. “Now That”s What I Call Music 45” looks good for No. 45 with 90,000 units, according to Hits Daily Double.
Christian contemporary act Red”s fourth album, “Release The Panic” looks good for No. 10. The Nashville-based group”s previous album, “Until We Have Faces” bowed at No. 2.
No. 4 will likely belong to Grammy album of the year nominee “Babel” from Mumford & Sons. Though most of the Grammy winners won”t see big jumps until the chart after this, if “Babel” wins several Grammys, expect it to possibly move higher than No. 4. Similarly, best new artist nominee The Lumineers could also see its self-titled set climb higher than No. 5, as it is now projected to land.
This week”s No. 1, “Believe Acoustic” from Justin Bieber, likely falls to No. 6. Bruno Mars” “Unorthodox Jukebox” and Taylor Swift”s “Red” are in tie for No. 7, with each targeted to sell 40,000-45,000 copies.