Top 5 Highly Anticipated Albums of 2010

Eclipse: The Twilight Saga soundtrack. Adam Lambert has already expressed his interest on getting a song on the album, and the movie already has a release date of June 30, 2010.[1] The "Twilight" soundtrack was the second highest-selling digital album of the decade, selling half a million albums while the "New Moon" album is presently at No. 9 on the charts and has already sold 72,000 copies. [2] [3] It's just become evident that Twilight fans are hungry for and will purchase anything Twilight related.

Coldplay. They just finished the tour for their Viva La Vida album, but Coldplay is already working on their next album with producer Brian Eno, the same man who worked on Vida. Going for a stripped down sound, they are recording in a North London church and plan to do a small tour of smaller venues once they are done. There is no projected album release date, but the album is said to be out in 2010, much earlier than expected.[4]

Lil Wayne. His "Rebirth" album was initially set to be released in May of 2009 and has been pushed back to a later date five times. The rappers experimental rock CD now has a New Years release date. So far, two singles ("Prom Queen" and "Hot Revolver') off the upcoming album with one only of the singles getting as high as #15 on the Billboard charts. While this is admirable in most respects, compared to Wayne's mega success with his 2008 album Tha Carter IIIit was a disappointment. It is unknown if the lack of interest the singles generated or Carter's impending incarceration for a illegal weapons charge are to blame for the album being pushed back to 2010. [5]

Drake. The Canadian rapper/actor Drake aka Aubrey Graham has already pushed his debut album "Thank Me Later" back to Valentine's Day 2010, and now word is it won't be released until March 2010, at the earliest. The Degrassi: The New Generation actor has already earned a Grammy nomination despite this with his number one hit single "The Best I Ever Had" (No. 1 on the Billboard Rap Charts and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100). [6]

Big Boi. One half of the rap group Outkast, Big boi's single album has been 3 years in the making. In that time he has changed record labels (from Jive to Def Jam) and has released half a dozen singles from "Royal Flush" to "Sumthins gotta give" staring Mary J. Blige. His album "Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty" is said to have a release date "at the top of the year". According to Big Boi, there is also an Andre 3000 and Outkast CD likely to be released in 2010. Contributors on the "Sir Luscious" album include Lil Jon, Too $hort, TI, and Jamie Foxx.[7]

[1] http://blog.beliefnet.com/idolchatter/2009/12/eclipse-release-date-more-twil.html
[2] http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/233422/eminem-named-bestselling-artist-decade
[3] http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=9294352
[4] http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1152242&SMap=1
[5] http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.10260/title.lil-waynes-rebirth-pushed-back--again
[6] http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118012509.html?categoryId=16&cs=1
[7] http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/12/noted_perfectionist_big_boi_is.html