Ciara, Eminem lead U.S. album charts

LOS ANGELES - R&B singer Ciara led three new titles into the top three spots on the U.S. pop album charts Wednesday, while incumbent champ Incubus set a dubious new record with its fast-fading new disc, Billboard reported.

The California rock band's album, "Light Grenades," tumbled to No. 37 on the Billboard 200 in its second week, setting a new benchmark for the biggest position drop from No. 1. The old mark belonged to Marilyn Manson's 2003 album "The Golden Age of Grotesque," which slid to No. 21 in its second week.

While sales for "Ciara: The Evolution" marked a hefty improvement over her 2004 debut, comparative figures were less glowing for new releases by Eminem at No. 2 and Gwen Stefani at No. 3.

Overall, album sales in the week ended December 10 were up 27.8% from the previous week's count as the holiday buying season heated up, but down 1.9% from the year-ago period. Year-to-date sales are down 5% compared to 2005 at 519.4 million units.

"Ciara: The Evolution" sold 338,447 copies in the United States, a spokeswoman for her LaFace label said. Her debut, "Goodies," entered at No. 3 with 124,750 units and has sold 2.63 million to date, thanks to three No. 1 singles. The ballad "Promise," the second single from "Evolution," is currently at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The Eminem-branded multi-artist compilation "Eminem Presents: The Re-Up" (Interscope) landed at No. 2 with 309,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Featuring a host of new Eminem tracks plus appearances from 50 Cent and members of the Detroit rapper's Shady Records roster, the album comes a year after Eminem's "Curtain Call: The Hits" opened at No. 1 with 441,000.

Stefani's "The Sweet Escape" (Interscope) debuted at No. 3 with 243,000 units. Her solo debut, "Love.Angel.Music.Baby," started at No. 7 with 309,000 copies during the final week of November 2004, and eventually climbed to No. 5 thanks to the success of singles like "Hollaback Girl."

The soundtrack to Disney's former chart-topper "Hannah Montana" fell two to No. 4 with 243,000 units in its seventh week. The multi-label hits compilation "NOW 23" slipped one to No. 5 with 185,000.

Rounding out the top 10 were Il Divo's "Siempre," up 10 places to No. 6; "American Idol" finalist Chris Daughtry's "Daughtry," down four to No. 7; the Beatles' "Love," down three to No. 8; Sarah McLachlan's "Wintersong," down two to No. 9; and Carrie Underwood's "Some Hearts," up three to No. 10.

Sony Music's soundtrack to the upcoming movie "Dreamgirls," the single-disc "highlights" version," bowed at No. 20. The longer two-disc version entered at No. 132. Other big debuts included Lil Scrappy's "Bred 2 Die -- Born 2 Live" at No. 24 and R&B veteran Brian McKnight's "Ten" at No. 32.