BOW TO NOW!!!

It’s a certifiable monster, folks. After four weeks on the chart, UTV’s runaway smash compilation, Now That’s What I Call Music, Vol. 16 is still selling over 200k per week, and this week snatches the #1 chart position back from precocious pop debutante Ashlee Simpson.

It’s no fluke that Now is still tearing it up, of course. Powered by runaway radio smashes from OutKast, Hoobastank, D12 and Beyoncé, this one’s got depth to spare. In fact, some are saying it may prove to be the biggest Now ever. Now that’s saying something!

Said Tower Records’ Bob Feterl while looking on the ground for a lost vowel, “The latest Now compilation is showing no signs of giving up. The lineup on this edition is so strong that it should stick around for quite awhile.”

Now blazed by Ashlee this week, besting the younger Simpson by over 40k units and dropping her to #2. At #3 is the week’s top debut, the reunited 213 (featuring Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Warrren G), whose The Hard Way (TVT) moved just under 100k.

The ever-selling Usher takes #4 this week, as his Confessions (LaFace/ZLG) continues to sell at the 80k level. But perhaps the biggest story in the Top Five this week is the #9-#5 surge by Maroon 5, who see an 8% uptick in sales for Songs About Jane (Octone/J/RMG), which moves over 73k on the strength of enormosingle “She Will Be Loved.”

Other debuts on this week’s Top 50 include Ryan Cabrera’s Take It All Away (E.V.L.A./Atlantic) at #6, Saliva’s Survival of the Sickest (Island) at #17, Akon’s Trouble (SRC/ Universal), Queen’s Greatest Hits (Hollywood) at #46 and a re-entry for Jessica Simpson’s In This Skin (Columbia) at #47.

The week’s biggest gain goes to Vegas upstarts The Killers, whose Hot Fuss (Island) makes a monster #39-#18 move based on a whopping 32% sales gain, to over 38k.

And for mergerwatchers keeping track, it’s worth noting that the new Sony BMG has 8 of this week’s Top 15 in Usher, Maroon 5, Gretchen Wilson, Avril Lavigne, Jimmy Buffett, Los Lonely Boys, Mobb Deep and Alter Bridge.

Next week it’s all about Tim McGraw, Young Buck and R. Kelly. Buckle up.