Brad Paisley's Wheelhouse claims the No. 1 spot on the country albums charts this week. According to Nielsen Soundscan data, the singer's eighth studio effort sold more than 100,000 copies in its first week.

Wheelhouse is the country superstar's most lyrically and sonically daring project to date, as some of its tracks provoke meaningful conversation, and some tackle a more eclectic sound than he's ever tried before. "One of the rules that I said was, 'Every song has to have some little twist to it that you don't see coming,'" Brad tells The Boot of his mindset in making the album. "It could be a lyric where you don't realize the song is about one thing until you get to another point in the song, and it twists. Every song was meant to make you do what my dog's head does when he hears something for the first time. When he hears his name, if I say, 'Holler, don't go over there,' his head goes sideways. Every song is supposed to be not quite exactly what you would expect it to be, and in that sense, I'm very happy with it because that's a scary place to start from."

"Accidental Racist," the song from Wheelhouse that has made national headlines, makes quite an impressive debut over on the country digital tracks' chart. With almost 43,000 downloads to date, it's the only song on country's Top 20 that is not a radio single. So though it's the butt of a lot of late-night TV jokes, it's Brad and duet partner LL Cool J who are laughing all the way to the bank.

Wheelhouse, the singer-songwriter's first self-produced album, just barely missed the top spot on the all-genre albums charts. Nashville-based punk rock band, Paramore is No. 1 on the Top 200, with just over 106,000 copies sold of its latest, eponymous album.

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