‘American Gangster’ is Jay-Z’s 10th No. 1 album

Jay-Z’s album inspired by the film “American Gangster” scores him another No. 1 album on the U.S. pop chart, selling 425,000 copies in its first week in stores. The rapper withstands a strong second-week showing from the Eagles’ “Long Road Out of Eden” to earn his 10th album at No. 1, making him only the third artist in history to land 10 or more albums in the pole position.

The rapper is tied at No. 2 with Elvis Presley. Only the Beatles logged more No. 1 albums, with 19. “American Gangster” went to No. 1 without the support of iTunes, as Jay-Z opted not to sell the album via the digital retailer.

Meanwhile, the actual soundtrack to “American Gangster” enters at No. 36 after selling 21,000 copies.

“Long Road Out of Eden” falls to No. 2 after selling 359,000 copies. In two weeks, the Wal-Mart exclusive has sold more than 1 million copies – sales no doubt buoyed by other retailers beefing up their Eagles inventory from Wal-Mart.

The “Ultimate Hits” collection from country star Garth Brooks enters at No. 3, selling 352,000 copies. The album comes as Brooks has again been playing live, and is pondering multiple-date stints in select cities.

The sophomore effort from young R&B star Chris Brown, “Exclusive,” manages a No. 4 debut, selling 294,000 copies. The album’s “Kiss Kiss” has been the country’s No. 1 single for the last two weeks.

Last week’s Country Music Assn. Awards gave a huge boost to Taylor Swift, the teen singer-songwriter who performed on the show and won the CMA’s Horizon Award, for up-and-coming artists. Her debut album, “Taylor Swift,” was rereleased last week in an expanded edition and jumped from No. 26 to No. 8, with a 156% sales increase to 68,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Next week’s chart will see the latest from Alicia Keys, “As I Am,” vying with Celine Dion’s new “Taking Chances.”

 todd.martens@latimes.com