Album of the year winner Herbie Hancock's "River: The Joni Letters" (Verve) explodes 159-5, with a 967% bump to 54,000, while Foo Fighters' "Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace" (Roswell/RCA) climbs 65-22 with 33,000 (+160%). Kanye West's "Graduation" (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam) ascends 64-40 with a 74% gain, selling 23,000.
"As I Am" (J) by Alicia Keys, who performed twice at the ceremony, stays put at No. 3 for a second week with 109,000 (+36%). The "2008 Grammy Nominees" compilation climbs a notch 5-4 with 72,000, a 40% increase.
Mary J. Blige's Matriarch/Geffen album "Growing Pains" slips 6-7 with 49,000 (+9%) as Atlantic's soundtrack to the film "Step Up 2" steps up 13-10, moving 45,000 units with a 44% increase.
Considering its status as a catalog release, the new 25th anniversary reissue of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" (Epic/Legacy) was ineligible to chart on The Billboard 200 this week. But it does bow at No. 1 on the Top Pop Catalog Albums tally after selling 166,000. The project includes reworked "Thriller" tracks by Akon, Kanye West, Fergie and will.i.am.
Ciara Rocking it on DrewReports.com







