And a Grammy... good week.

Hats off (no pun intended for hat act lovers) to Lady Antebellum’s Charles, Dave and Hillary on topping the overall and country album sales charts with 481,000 debut-week sales for the group’s Need You Now. The Nielsen SoundScan total is the biggest debut by a country artist since Taylor Swift’s Fearless bowed with 592,000 units in November 2008.

A large percentage is suspected to attributed to massive downloads of the smash multi week title track. Combined single downloads are figured into the tally. Christmas iTunes cards must’ve helped here. Record breaking January sales.

Dave Tweeted -”We’re Absolutely stunned!”

The band used their weekly webisode to thank the fans — see the brilliant thank you below…

Haywood, Scott and Kelley

When their debut cd – the self titled “Lady Antebellum” – was released in 2008 it surprised a lot of people. The unknown trio debuted on top of the country album charts and at #4 on the all genre Top 200.   The self-titled “Lady Antebellum” album ended up being one of the best CDs of the 2008.

This week  Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley, and Dave Haywood will release their “sophomore” release “Need You Now” surrounded my much higher expectation. Overall CD sales have tanked since the first release but they have been one of the few acts – especially in country – to actually sell product.

There is a lot to be excited about. On top of a Grammy nomination The title track has already peaked on radio with a multi week number one and the follow up “American Honey” is sure to be another smash as country radio programmers realize that – after the group’s attention grabbing “CMA Group Of The Year” snatch (someone hand the smelling salts to Brooks and Dunn AND Sugarland) – this trio is one of the new leaders in Country. It seemed to happen very fast but diversity is taking over Nashville.

Some in Nashville are suspicious that this new CD may be all pop but after ten seconds of hearing “Our Kind Of Love” you can defiantly hear the group has found their country sound. It starts with a Charlie Brown piano lead in and they hits the fiddles. Hillary’s leading lady twang seems more out front than on the first album giving everything a more Nashville sound.    The group really takes advantage of the duel leads to add a unique take on love songs.   The trio had a hand in the writing too. Together they penned all but two of the songs on the record.

The album is filled with somber fare but also include some more fun cuts like “Stars Tonight” and “Perfect Day.” Prefect Day is surprisingly mainstream country with Hillary’s crisp voice really shining through.

“I was up until 5 in the morning one night while we were making the album, writing Dave and Charles an email,” says Hillary on the groups website. “I stepped back from it and just looked at why we wrote or chose each song, and it hit me that all of these songs are just about feeling to the utmost of your ability. Whether it’s ‘I’m so desperate for you, I miss you so much, I need you NOW’ desperation,’ or ‘American Honey,’ which is nostalgic and wanting to go back to that innocence and sweetness. And then you have ‘Hello World,’ which is this man’s story of this awakening in his soul, opening his eyes and seeing what’s important in his life again.”

“When you’re in the valleys, they suck and it’s not fun, but you appreciate the mountaintop way more whenever you’ve gone through something tough,” Hillary continues.  “That’s how I personally try to live my life, just enjoying every moment—but when it hurts, let it hurt. Because you loved something or someone so much, it’s only natural to grieve that. So that’s what I verbalized to them, that I was proud of our ability to be that honest and just lay it all out there.”

There are a bunch of people looking to Lady A to re-invent country music.  They haven’t changed it too much here (that’s a good thing) but there is a nice coat of paint to enjoy for a while.

Kelley shines on the somber but intense “Hello World.”    The song is poignant and smooth with full orchestra and building energy this one will find some fans in the contemporary christian world too.

Watch for big sales the first week – perhaps overshadowed by Michael Jackson (or perhaps the other way around).  Some of the story for release week continues to be the global shift to downloads and iTunes over physical CDs.   Watch for the trio to make headlines.

Amazon : Need You Now

or      

TRACK LISTING  - Lady Antebellum: Need You Now

1. NEED YOU NOW
(Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, Josh Kear)

2. OUR KIND OF LOVE
(Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, Michael Busbee)

3. AMERICAN HONEY
(Shane Stevens, Cary Barlowe, Hillary Lindsey)

4. HELLO WORLD
(Tom Douglas, Tony Lane, David Lee)

5. PERFECT DAY
(Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, Jerry Flowers)

6. LOVE THIS PAIN
(Marv Green, Jason Sellers)

7. WHEN YOU GOT A GOOD THING
(Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, Rivers Rutherford)

8. STARS TONIGHT
(Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, Monty Powell)

9. IF I KNEW THEN
(Charles Kelley, Monty Powell, Anna Wilson)

10. SOMETHING ‘BOUT A WOMAN
(Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, Craig Wiseman)

11. READY TO LOVE AGAIN
(Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, Michael Busbee)

Rumor starter:  Will the trio be in Cupertino, CA with Steve Jobs this week to launch the new Apple Tablet and unveil some new multimedia features?

Overall Grade:  A

Download:  ”Hello World”  and “Need You Now”