FLATTS IS THE NEW UP

Yee-haw!!

Rascal Flatts’ Unstoppable, their first new Lyric Street/Disney studio album since Still Feels Good, which scored 556k in its debut on the HITS Album Sales chart back in October 2007, will also bow at #1 next week in the 310-330k range, based on first-day numbers from those retailers who haven’t yet vacated the premises.

Def Jam/IDJ controversial rap vet Jadakiss’ The Last Kiss follows his two previous albums, 2001’s Kiss tha Game Goodbye and 2004’s Kiss of Death, with a first-week total which should top 100k and could go as high as 125k.

Broken Bow/RED country phenom Jason Aldean’s third album, Wide Open, could also do 100k, based on the success of the lead single, “She’s Country,” currently the #1 ringtone at iTunes, with download sales of more than 400k. He’ll also perform on NBC’s Today Show Friday (4/10) and, later that night, at opening day for the Atlanta Braves.

Reprise legend Neil Young’s Fork in the Road, a concept album about developing an electric car, debuts with a first-week number between 40-50k. The disc’s been streaming in its entirety on MySpace.

Also coming this week: Lyric Street’s Billy Ray Cyrus and Capitol rapper MIMS, both in the 10-15k neighborhood.

The market was up 5% vs. last week, down 11% vs. same week last year and down 13% year to date. You may now return to watching that illegally streamed version of X Men Origins: Wolverine on your office computer with Roger Friedman.