Jamie Foxx's <i>Unpredictable</i>
Photo: J-Records

For five weeks, Mary J. Blige and Jamie Foxx have waged a civil game of cat and mouse for the Billboard albums chart's ultimate prize.

The balanced contest — Blige's The Breakthrough opened at #1, Foxx's Unpredictable settled into the top spot for the following two weeks and Mary J. evened the score with last week's #1 — continues its seesawing action as Unpredictable outsells The Breakthrough by fewer than 2,500 copies to reclaim #1.

Sales of Foxx's second album were clocked at more than 97,000, according to the latest SoundScan numbers, while Blige's The Breakthrough sold close to 95,000 copies for the chart's #2 ranking.

As has been the case since late December, the remainder of Billboard's Top 200 doesn't provide much bonus excitement. With the exception of James Blunt's Back to Bedlam, there hasn't been significant movement in the chart's top 10.

Eminem's Curtain Call: The Hits climbs one position to #3 with sales of 74,000 plus, while last season's "American Idol" winner, Carrie Underwood, slips to #4, selling more than 73,000 copies of her debut Some Hearts.

The career retrospective The Legend of Johnny Cash climbs five spots to #5 with nearly 55,000 discs sold (a 37 percent boost), and Nickelback's All the Right Reasons finishes sixth with close to 50,000 scans. Chris Brown's self-titled debut follows at #7 with nearly 49,000 sales, while Notorious B.I.G.'s Duets: The Final Chapter slips three spots to #8, selling 43,000.

Blunt, a chart-topper in the U.K. whose album was released on these shores more than a year ago, finds himself among Billboard's top 10 albums for the first time. Back to Bedlam, which has sold more than 425,000 copies to date, has been inching its way up the chart since October, and claims the #9 spot with 41,000 sold. Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi netted sales of 40,000 to stay in Billboard's top 10.

Only two discs made their Top 200 debut this week. Gospel singer Juanita Bynum's A Piece of My Passion opens at #55 with 16,000 copies sold while Too Short's Pimpin' Incorporated claims the #80 slot with 11,000 scans.

Neil Diamond's latest, the Rick Rubin-produced 12 Songs, was the week's biggest gainer. On the heels of Diamond's recent appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," the album enjoyed a 259 percent sales jump, surging from #119 to #22 with more than 27,000 copies sold. The soundtrack to the Golden Globe-winning films "Walk the Line" and "Brokeback Mountain" also experienced sales gains — "Walk the Line" was up 19 percent to finish at #29 with 23,000 copies sold while "Brokeback Mountain" scored the chart's #54 spot thanks to a 124 percent sales increase. Matisyahu's Live at Stubb's experienced a 26 percent spike in interest, reaping sales of 22,000 and jumping 11 chart positions to #33. Sales of Nine Inch Nails' With Teeth were up (30 percent to finish at #117 with 8,000 copies sold), as were Avenged Sevenfold's City of Evil (up 17 percent to take #63 with 15,000 sold) and Death Cab For Cutie's Plans (up 26 percent to claim #39 with 20,000 sold).

See "The Metamorphosis Of Jamie Foxx" for a feature on the actor's move to music. And check out "Throwback With Mary J. Blige" for more on Blige's Breakthrough.

• Jamie Foxx
• Mary J. Blige
• James Blunt
• Eminem
• Johnny Cash

Neil Diamond
Photo: MTV News

He's sold millions of albums, serenaded crowds for four-plus decades and given the world classic sing-alongs like "Sweet Caroline," "Red, Red Wine," and "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon." But until last month, there was one thing Neil Diamond had never done: See one of his albums debut in the top 10.

With the release of 12 Songs, his first studio album in four years, it finally happened.

"It's been a long wait, but it's been worth it," Diamond gushed to MTV News backstage at "Jimmy Kimmel Live," shortly after learning the news.

Fittingly, 12 Songs is a return to the stripped-down, acoustic sound that jump-started Diamond's career back in the mid-'60s.

"The early albums were also very simple, basic, a few musicians, lots of handclapping," explained Diamond, who is a very youthful 64. "They were basic albums and the songs were pretty simple. And I think I've come full circle to that point again, after going through all kinds of conceptual albums and experimental songs, and to come back to the simplicity of these things, it's a good feeling."

Diamond can thank producer extraordinaire Rick Rubin (Beastie Boys, Tom Petty, Slipknot, Jay-Z's "99 Problems") for regaining that good feeling. After reaping huge success with his work on Johnny Cash's American Recordings series, Rubin wanted to give the same reinvention treatment to Diamond, who was more than happy to oblige.

"I knew a number of the artists that Rick has worked with over the years, and I like the artists," Diamond said. "And I thought this guy was pretty broad in his production abilities to be able to produce, you know, some heavy rock things or rap things and then go to Johnny Cash doing a very sparse album. And we got along very well. We met, and we had a lot of meetings about music and got to know each other, and I just followed his lead."

That lead led Diamond down memory lane — something the singer wasn't prepared for at first.

"We went through a lot of records together," Diamond recalled. "I wanted to get into some early rock and roll classics that I thought were wonderful, and he had a whole list of songs of mine that he was hoping to re-listen to, to see what I did years ago. And I didn't really understand why he was taking me on this nostalgic trip, but there was a method to his madness and he wanted to really put me in touch with whatever spark ignited those early songs. And it was good, because it helped me a lot."

Rubin went so far as convincing Diamond to pick up a six-string again, something he hadn't done on one of his albums in more than 30 years.

"On my very early records, 'Cherry, Cherry' or 'Kentucky Woman,' I played guitar, and I stopped playing so much on the recordings because I felt there were a lot better guitar players out there," Diamond said. "Occasionally I would play, but on this album Rick was very insistent that I play and sing at the same time. He felt it lent spontaneity and unselfconsciousness to the performance. And I think he was right — it was kind of a breakthrough for me."

While 12 Songs has already gained wide critical praise and is introducing Diamond to an even broader audience, it doesn't mean, however, that he's going to abandon his notorious sequined stage outfits or the sing-alongs.

"Never!" Diamond said. "The audience sings on their own volition and there are certain songs that they really want to join in on. But it never becomes old. When something ceases to excite you, you take it out. Fortunately, I have enough songs that people know, that I could replace it with something."

For a full-length feature on Rick Rubin, see "What's Up With That Bearded Guy In The '99 Problems' Video?".

• Neil Diamond
• Rick Rubin

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• The Smiths
• Morrissey
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