Eric Church's 'The Outsiders' Set To Hit #1 On Billboard 200

Good news for Eric Church! One of the most highly-anticipated records of 2014, Eric's The Outsiders, was released on February 11, and already industry insiders are predicting that it will hit #1 on the Billboard 200 next week.

It is predicted to sell between 275,000 and 300,000 copies in its first week, and it was only released two days ago so this number could be even higher. This is a ridiculously high debut for a country artist, as most don't even sell 100k in their first week, and indeed it would be the biggest sales week for a country artist since Luke Bryan's Crash My Party last August at 528,000 copies.

Eric's last album, 2011's critically-acclaimed, breakout and award-winning Chief, sold 145,000 copies in its first week, and was then his best first sales week. The Outsiders, his fourth studio release, is clearly going to shoot him to new explosive heights. It will also be the biggest selling debut week of any genre so far in 2014.

It's also already receiving some outstanding reviews from critics and bloggers, and I personally have not heard a bad opinion of it yet. It's my album of the year, in fact (perhaps a bit prematurely, admittedly). Is there basically anything Eric Church can't do?