Cyrus sidesteps Clarkson to lead albums chart

Miley Cyrus, star of The Disney Channel's series ''Hannah Montana'', performs during the ABC Good Morning America Summer Concert Series in New York, June 22, 2007.

NEW YORK (Billboard) - In a battle between two top-selling female acts, Miley Cyrus triumphed over Kelly Clarkson to score the No. 1 position on the U.S. pop album charts Wednesday.

The confusingly titled double album "Hannah Montana 2 (Soundtrack)/Meet Miley Cyrus" sold 326,000 units during the week ended July 1, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Clarkson's "My December" opened at No. 2 with 291,000, an improvement upon her previous release.

The "Hannah/Miley" album is a two-disc, 20-song set evenly divided between music from Cyrus' Disney Channel series "Hannah Montana" and her debut studio album. The first "Hannah Montana" soundtrack also debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 last October with 281,000. Cyrus is the daughter of country music singer Billy Ray Cyrus, who co-stars in "Hannah Montana."

Clarkson's first-week total with "My December" improves on the opening frame of her 2004 smash "Breakaway," which started at No. 3 with 250,000. But the new album has been mired in controversy, beginning with rumors that Clarkson's RCA label didn't like the self-penned material and continuing with Clarkson's split with her manager and cancellation of her summer tour due to poor ticket sales.

Last week's No. 1, Bon Jovi's "Lost Highway," slipped to No. 3 with 125,000 units. The White Stripes' "Icky Thump" fell two to No. 4 with 88,000. Brad Paisley's "5th Gear" was also down two, to No. 5, with 81,000.

Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black" rose one to No. 6 in its 16th week, matching its previous high, with sales of 63,000. Singer/songwriter Ryan Adams scored his highest position ever with "Easy Tiger," which debuted at No. 7 with 61,000. It trumps his prior high-water mark of No. 26 with 2005's "Cold Roses."

Rounding out the top 10, Linkin Park's "Minutes to Midnight" fell two to No. 8 with 57,000, Paul McCartney's "Memory Almost Full" dropped four to No. 9 with 54,000, and Maroon 5's "It Won't Be Soon Before Long" was down two to No. 10 with 51,000.

New at No. 15 was the Beastie Boys' instrumental album "The Mix-Up" (Capitol), which sold 44,000. It's a far cry from the opening week numbers for 2004's "To the 5 Boroughs," which debuted at No. 1 with 360,000. The rap trio's prior instrumental release, 1996's "The In Sound From the Way Out!," debuted at No. 45 and sold 22,000 in its first week.

Other notable debuts included Pearl Jam's seven-disc live boxed set "Live at the Gorge," which sold 19,000 to land at No. 36. The Paul Simon double-disc "Essential" album started at No. 42 with 17,000, while late Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwo'ole debuted at No. 44 with "Wonderful World," selling 17,000 units. It's his biggest sales week ever, helping him garner his second No. 1 on Billboard's Top World Music chart.

Reuters/Billboard