SLIPKNOT AND THE
GAME DUKE IT OUT

Roadrunner’s Grammy-winning heavy metal monolith Slipknot, whose new album, All Hope is Gone, is their first studio effort since 2004’s Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses) and first release since 2005’s 9.0 Live, go head to head with Geffen rapper The Game’s L.A.X. for the top spot on next week’s HITS Album Sales chart.

Both albums are expected to sell in the 230-250k range, and while the Des Moines, Iowa rockers have a slight lead in early returns, this one won’t be decided until all precincts have been heard from.

The band’s self-titled 1999 album is now certified double-platinum, 2002’s Iowa and 2004’s Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses) are both platinum, while 2005’s live album is gold.

The Game, a two-time Grammy winner himself in 2006 for a pair of collaborations with his now-estranged pal 50 Cent, returns with his third album, and second since shifting over from G Unit/Interscope to Geffen. His debut, 2005’s The Documentary, is still his most successful, selling two million in the U.S. and six million worldwide. The follow-up, 2006’s Doctor’s Advocate, has sold just shy of one million to date.

Other notable releases include UMe’s Now That’s What I Call Country, with sales estimates in the 35k area, while Roadrunner’s British power metal guitar band DragonForce looks like it could do as much as 25k on their fourth album (and second for Roadrunner after a pair with Noise/ Sanctuary), Ultra Beatdown.

The market was down 5% vs last week, down 13% vs same week last year and remains down 11% year-to-date.

Byt the way, when did the Olympics end and the Democratic National Convention begin?