EMINEM REFUSES TO "LOSE"

Shady/Aftermath/Interscope rap icon Eminem tops the album chart again, though its 95k total was indicative of a week in which sales were off 35%.

Reprise’s Green Day is #2, followed by Def Jam South/IDJ’s Ludacris (#3), TVT’s Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz (#4), Mercury Nashville’s Shania Twain (#5), GOOD/Columbia/Sony Urban’s John Legend (#6), LaFace/ZLG’s Usher (#7), Columbia/CRG’s Destiny’s Child (#8), Warner Bros.’ Jay-Z/Linkin Park (#9) and RCA/RMG’s Kelly Clarkson (#10).

Epic’s Garden State soundtrack takes advantage of the DVD release to climb back onto the chart at #24. Also returning to the Top 50 are Epic’s Modest Mouse (#32), Atlantic/Rhino/WMG Strx’s Ray! soundtrack (#39) and Rounder/IDJ’s Alison Krauss (#46). In addition, the double-platinum posthumous Ray Charles album on Concord moves 19-13, thanks to saturation TV advertising and the Oscar and Grammy buzz surrounding the disc and hit movie.

Top movers include J Records/RMG’s Mario (#24-17), Epic/Sony Nashville’s Gretchen Wilson (#32-21), MCA Nashville’s George Strait (#30-22), Sony Classical’s Phantom of the Opera soundtrack (#42-27), J Records/RMG’s Fantasia (#43-31) and Warner Bros. Nashville’s Big & Rich (#44-34).

The year’s first big release will be Jan. 18, with G Unit/Aftermath/Interscope hip-hopper The Game’s Documentary, which won’t hit the chart until Tuesday, Jan. 25. The first 200k copies of the disc will include a limited edition DVD of the rapper’s life on the mean streets of Compton, CA.