Will the new Rolling Stones album outsell "Late Registration"?

I started this thread ova heeyrrr

Rolling Stones OTM

When Uncut (it might still have been Vox at the time) reviewed Bridges To Babylon at the time of its release it gave it five stars and called it a stunning return to form after the disappointing Steel Wheels.

Muddy Waters, Van Morrison, New Order, and LL Cool J would like a word with you in the front office.

Rapper Kanye West's blurt-out on Friday night's telethon is still reverberating. But one thing's for sure: His new album, "Late Registration," was already set to debut at No. 1 today on the charts. He's thought to have sold upward of a whopping 900,000 copies in his opening week.

West's big hit single, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone," is completely based on Shirley Bassey singing "Diamonds Are Forever." The song was written by "James Bond" composer John Barry.

The rest of "Late Registration," while very entertaining, contains almost no original compositions.

Ironically, singer Brandy makes an appearance on one track, even though she was dumped off the new collection of Ray Charles "duets."

The producers evidently didn't think she was hip enough to remain with Charles on record. Now she's on the No. 1 album in the country.

There are plenty of other collaborators on "Late Registration" since West, you know, like Sean "Diddy" Combs and other rap entrepreneurs, does not actually sing.

Because of this, the multi-talented John Legend makes not one, but two appearances as guest vocalist. In those cases, Legend was hired to perform by West. So too were back-up singers Tony Williams and Keyshia Cole, as was Maroon 5's Adam Levine.

But wow — look at the sampled singers. Besides Bassey, there's Bill Withers (a track of his called "Roses" is included), as well as the KayGees, Etta James on "My Funny Valentine," Orange Krush's 1982 recording called "Action" and Natalie Cole from a Michael Masser/Gerry Goffin song called "Someone That I Used to Love."

Gil Scott Heron, a legendary performer of whom West's fans probably know zilch, is an integral part of "Late Registration" on his sampled "Home Is Where the Hatred Is." There's also an appearance by Hank Crawford on "Drive Slow."

Will all these people be listed as Grammy nominees when the time comes? If there are winners, will they all be included? That's something I'd like to see.

"Late Registration" is fun to listen to, but in many ways it's a con job. It's a clip job, too. Try to imagine Marvin Gaye not composing all of "What's Going On?" but splicing together other people's music and recordings over which he'd chant his musings. He would have been laughed out of the business.

But times have changed. We have Alicia Keys, Anthony Hamilton, Legend and just a few R&B performers who can actually create music. The rest has to be a clever construction.