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11/07/2007: "Britney Gets Owned By ... The Eagles!"

Good news has been few and far between for Britney Spears lately, what with losing the kids and running over the photog's foot and having to pay her ex's legal fees. The one bright spot on the Spears Horizon has been the impending release of her new album. While more a tribute to the producers twiddling the knobs than to Britney herself, the critics have given it grudginly decent reviews. Powered by those reviews, it appeared that her new album would top the Billboard Hot 200 Charts when it was released this week.

Yes, but this is the human train wreck we're talking about here - good things tend to avoid her, and such is the case once again. Also releasing a new album this week are rock legends Eagles, whose Long Road To Eden is their first full disc of new studio tracks since I was in college - the first time. However, the album is only available online or from WalMart, and was thus ineligible for the charts - until Billboard changed the rules today. The result? Brit takes second to a bunch of old farts.

Early SoundScan numbers have the Eagles taking the top perch on The Billboard 200 with 711,000 copies sold, with most sales moved by Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores. For now, the only other U.S. outlets carrying "Eden" are walmart.com, where both physical copies and downloads are sold, and the Eagles' own Web site.

Britney Spears' new Jive album, "Blackout," which would have been No. 1 had the Eagles' data not been reported, will open at No. 2 with first-week sales of 290,000 copies.

The girl just can't catch a break. For what it's worth, I'm one of those 711,000 owners of "Eden" - and it's a great album. More than I'll ever be able to say about "Blackout", I suspect ...