Diddy scores his first No. 1 album on The Billboard 200 since 1997 this week with Press Play. The Bad Boy/Atlantic effort also knocks Lloyd Banks' Rotten Apple from the throne on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop chart after only one week. Press Play sold 170,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the lowest first-week sum of Diddy's solo career.

Diddy's Press Play.

Under his previous moniker Puff Daddy, his debut No Way Out also topped the 200 with a whopping 561,000 units in 1997. The follow-up, 1999's Forever (205,000) and 2001's The Saga Continues (186,000) both debuted and peaked at No. 2.

Evanescence's Wind-Up effort The Open Door keeps the No. 2 spot warm for a second week with 112,000 copies, a 31 percent sales decline. Pop youngster JoJo returns to the chart with her sophomore set The High Road (Da Family/Blackground) at No. 3. Moving 108,000 units, the set also trumps the No. 4 chart entry of her 2004 self-titled debut.

Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds, which topped the chart for two weeks earlier this month, jumps up 7-4 with 99,000, an 8 percent sales increase. Dierks Bentley arrives at No. 5 with Long Trip Alone (Capitol Nashville), which also bows at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart.

The set shifted 82,000, good enough for his best sales week and Billboard 200 charting position to date; his 2005 release Modern Day Drifter began with 75,000 at No. 6. Long Trip was previewed by the single "Every Mile a Memory, which ascends 3-1 on new Hot Country Songs chart, to be posted tomorrow on Billboard.com.

After entering at the summit of the big chart last week, Rod Stewart's J Records release Still the Same... Great American Rock Classics of Our Time falls to No. 6 with 79,000 (-57 percent). Meanwhile, Hinder's Extreme Behavior continues to prosper in its 38th week on the chart, ascending 9-7 with 76,000 and a sales decline of less than 1 percent.

American Idol second-season winner Ruben Studdard is back with The Return (J) at No. 8 with 71,000 units. His debut set, Soulful, started at No. 1 in 2003 with 417,000, while the gospel-dominated follow-up I Need An Angel began at No. 20 in 2004.

Tony Bennett's Duets: An American Classic (RPM/Columbia) falls 5-9 with 68,000, a sales slip of 35 percent, while the Killers' Sam's Town (Island) rounds out the top 10, falling 6-10 with 62,000.

Bentley is not the only country star to enjoy a strong debut this week. Vince Gill impacts the chart with the four-disc album These Days (MCA) at No. 17, which sold 42,000 copies. Other big debuts include Frankie J's Priceless at No. 30 (Columbia, 26,000), Aeromsith's Devil's Got a New Disguise--The Very Best of Aerosmith at No. 33 (Columbia, 23,000), Lonestar's Mountains at No. 37 (BNA, 22,000), Hi-Tek'sHi-Teknology, Vol. 2: The Chip at No. 38 (Babygrande, also 22,000), and Sarah McLachlan's holiday set Wintersong, at No. 42 (Arista, 20,000).

Overall CD sales are down 2.3 percent from last week's count and down 2.3 percent compared to the same week a year ago at 9.86 million units. Sales for 2006 are down 5 percent compared to 2005 at 423.5 million units.