New Elvis #1's collection about to debut on top of the world:

Twenty-five years after his death, Elvis Presley, the King of Rock 'n Roll, is about to do something he never managed in life — debut an album at No. 1 on record charts around the world.

According to industry watchers, Presley's "Elvis 30 Number One Hits" compilation, which was released by Bertelsmann AG ( news - web sites)'s RCA Records on Sept. 24, is poised to top the charts in at least 12 countries around the world.

Sales in the United States alone are expected to hit almost 500,000 units in the last week, said a spokesman for RCA, noting it would be the first time an Elvis album ever debuted at No. 1.

There already are more than a dozen Presley greatest hits compilations, but music fans have been anticipating this CD, a broad collection of tunes, thanks largely to a $10 million publicity push aimed at showcasing the King to a new generation.

The collection features songs from each part of Presley's career and includes early hits such as "Don't Be Cruel" and "Jailhouse Rock," as well as later songs like "Return to Sender" and "Burning Love."

This past summer, thousands of fans paid homage to the King on the 25th anniversary of his death as "Elvis-mania" took the world by storm, fueled in part by the success of a new remix of the song, "A Little Less Conversation," which is also on the new CD.

"This has been the biggest marketing push I can think of that has ever been put together for an Elvis compilation," said Geoff Mayfield, director of charts for Billboard, a music trade magazine. "I suspect this will be a big seller into the holiday season."

The new Stones collection isn't doing too badly either:

There are gallstones, kidney stones, stones thrown at glass houses and stones left unturned. Then there are the Rolling Stones, whose 40th anniversary extravaganza now includes a re-mastered, career-spanning compilation that could very well turn up at #1 on next week's chart.
The "could" is because to do so, the Stones will have to dethrone the King of Rock & Roll himself, Elvis Presley, who was last seen alive and kicking in 1977, just around the time medical science first pronounced Keith Richards "undead."

The Stones set, 40 Licks (Virgin) is on track to sell more than 300k for the week, according to early reports from national accounts, making it a strong contender indeed for the top chart berth. ELV1S 30 #1 Hits (RCA), however, sold some 517k this week and is not likely to experience the kind of second-week falloff most records see, given that it's an older-skewing collection and also continues to do big numbers via television. Other releases of this ilk (read: Beatles 1) have ramped up over a number of weeks; Elvis could do the same.

Thus, it'll be a battle of rich, famous and on the road versus rich, famous and in the ground. Who will prevail? Stay tuned.

More on the Stones here, here, here, and here.

How's this for an exquisite dilemma? You have to pick one collection or the other, each containing many of the greatest rock 'n' roll ever recorded - which do you pick and why??