After last week's totally not label-contrived battle royale between Kanye West and 50 Cent, there's a new King of Hip-Hop atop the album charts this week. That is, if by "king" you instead read "queen" and for "hip-hop" you substitute "country music." For Reba McEntire has made her triumphant return from the world of laugh tracks and sweeps ratings, with the singer turned sitcom mom bullying her way back into her primary profession in a huge way. OK, so it was by releasing , yes, we know, we know, a duets album called, yes, we know, we know, 'Reba Duets.' And on this 'Reba Duets' duets album Reba duets with a passel of fellow country hitmakers including Kelly Clarkson, Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Faith Hill and Tennessee's own native son, Lonesome Justin Timberlake. This is McEntire's first No. 1 album ever on the pop charts, selling 302,000 copies this debut week.

• 'View,' schmew, he says: Barry Manilow continues his success with yet another decade-focused retrospective, as his 'Greatest Songs of the Seventies' covers LP came in at No. 4 in its first week, shifting 113,000 units. And that's without including his announced, recorded but ultimately unreleased duet with former 'View'-mistress Rosie O'Donnell on 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart.' Those of you getting the clamors for that musical magical moment will just have to turn those frowns upside down. That's conduct unbecoming to a true Fanilow!
  


• Oh, and Mister James Blunt, last year you told us we're beautiful, but what have you said to us lately? You haven't even noticed our new hairstyle or that we've lost 10 pounds. Pay a little more attention to us instead of those damn puppet friends of yours and perhaps more than 93,000 of us will pick up a copy of your new 'All the Lost Souls,' which debuted at a slightly less than beautiful No. 7.
  


• You want Top 40 debuts? Just reach your hand into this pickle barrel of pop, rock, rap and jazz gherkins! First week smashes were turned out by the briny likes of Chamillionaire (No. 8), KT Tunstall (No. 9), Twista (No. 10), an Eddie Vedder soundtrack (No. 11), H.I.M. (No. 12), Motion City Soundtrack (No. 16), Diana Krall (No. 19), Dropkick Murphys (No. 20), Gloria Estefan (No. 25), Mark Knopfler (No. 26) and Paul Potts (No. 30). Where in heaven's name were they last week? Are all the artists so chickenhearted that they wouldn't release their records during the same time the Kanye vs. Fiddy tussle was gobbling up more than its share of media outlets? For shame!

The top five albums for the week ending September 23:

1. 'Reba Duets,' Reba McEntire (302,000 in 1st week)
2. 'Graduation,' Kanye West (226,000 in 2nd week; 1,184,000 total)
   
3. 'Curtis,' 50 Cent (143,000 in 2nd week; 835,000 total)
4. 'Greatest Songs of the Seventies,' Barry Manilow (113,000 in 1st week)
   
5. 'Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates,' Kenny Chesney (112,000 in 2nd week; 499,000 total)