Katy Perry vs. Arcade Fire: Did 'Prism' or 'Reflektor' sell more last week?

Another relatively stingy album buying week, although not as low as the previous, which set the record for fewest albums sold during a one week period. Next week promises to be big however, as Eminem will push the numbers with his new album The Marshall Mathers LP 2. But for now, let's see what happened during the last seven days:

WHAT'S NEW

The Arcade Fire were the talk of the town, both for critics and buyers, during a week that had few big name debuts. Reflektor sold 140,000 copies, the lowest total to top the Billboard 200 since Jack Johnson debuted with 117,000 in early September. Despite the seemingly constant hype, the number was also somewhat low for the band, selling 16,000 less during its first frame than previous release The Suburbs.

We would argue that it's too early for Christmas music but record buyers would not, it appears. The no. 3 and 4 spots went to carols, with Kelly Clarkson's Wrapped in Red and Duck Dynasty's Duck The Halls sold 70,000 and 69,000 copies respectively, and we have a sleigh suspicion that many who bought one also picked up the other.

Two more country stars debuted new work this week as well. Thomas Rhett sold 36,000 copies of It Goes Like This, and Toby Keith is right on his heels, moving 35,000 copies of Drinks After Work. The pair are at nos. 6 and 7, respectively.

The final debut this week was the Linkin Park remix album Recharged, which sold slightly less than 33,000 units.

WHAT'S NOT

Katy Perry and Prism might look like they've fallen off big time, dropping nearly 68 percent to 92,000 during its second week, but that percentage is actually the smallest drop off for a no. 1 debut since The Civil Wars debuted in August.

Drake may have fell to no. 5 on the list, and "only" sold 38,000 copies, but the total was enough to get Nothing Was The Same over the platinum status mark, meaning the record has now sold more than a million copies in the United States.

Two other female pop stars round out the returnees in the Top 10. Lorde sold an additional 34,000 copies of Pure Heroine during its fifth week, and Miley Cyrus's Bangerz moved 33,000 copies in its fourth week.