Top 10 New Pop Albums October 30, 2012

Since the release of Calvin Harris' last studio album Ready For the Weekend in 2009, he has become a pop superstar in the US as well as his native UK. 18 Months includes his major solo hits "Feel So Close" and "Let's Go" and the Rihanna collaboration "We Found Love" which first put him on the pop charts in the US.

Pop music legend Rod Stewart has said that he always thought making a Christmas album was beneath him. It is a collaboration with producer David Foster who worked on massive hit holiday collections by Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban. The new album follows seven consecutive top 5 albums of covers by Rod Stewart.

This is a collection of re-intepretations of holiday favorites by mostly alternative pop and rock acts. Breakthrough group fun. are included as well as The Shins and Rufus Wainwright. The primary mainstream pop artist on the collection is the legendary Paul McCartney who turns in a performance of Nat King Cole's classic "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)."

Christian alternative metal band Flyleaf climbed into the top 10 on the overall album chart with their second studio set Memento Mori released in 2009. This is their follow up to that hit. The title song of the album is a #2 Christian rock hit.

Psychedelic Pill is the phenomenal 35th studio album from the legendary Neil Young and he is still exploring new territory. Although consisting of only nine songs, the album is 87 minutes long featuring extended jam sessions on some of the tracks. The opening song "Driftin' Back" is over 27 minutes in length.

Blood On the Dance Floor are a rising edgy electronic rock and dance band. Their most recent album Evolution reached #1 on the electronic albums chart while climbing into the top 50 of the overall album chart. The Anthem Of the Outcast is an EP from the band and includes the single "Hell On Heels (Givin' In to Sin)."

Rapper Meek Mill landed in the top 5 of the rap and R&B singles charts with "Amen" earlier this year. The song caused controversy over his use of religious language that disturbed a number of religious organizations. Dreams and Nightmares is his first solo album.

Australian metalcore band Parkway Drive have climbed progressively higher on the album chart in Australia with each of their three albums. Deep Blue, the most recent, reached #2 in 2010.

Cee Lo Green has expanded his range of potential fans through taking part in NBC's hit TV show The Voice as one of four coaches of the contestants. Cee Lo's Magic Moment is his first holiday album. It is a collection of classic songs and includes collaborations with Christina Aguilera, the Muppets, and Rod Stewart.

Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird has received strong critical acclaim for his unique approach to his recordings. His most recent studio album Break It Yourself, released earlier this year, became his first top 10 hit. Hands Of Glory is an EP intended as a companion to Break It Yourself.