Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The verdict is in … well, at least sort of.

And for the most part, fans are apparently ignoring the lackluster reviews critics have given “Baptized,” the new album from Chris Daughtry and his band.

Chris Daughtry and his band’s fourth album, “Baptized,” landed at number six on the Billboard 200. (AP Photo)

That’s two spots better than its predecessor, “Break the Spell,” which was released the same week exactly two years ago.

Just two new albums charted better — the latest from Five Finger Death Punch and the Hunger Games soundtrack.

That left the album at number three on Billboard’s rock chart.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that first-week sales of “Baptized” are estimated to be in the 55,000 to 60,000 range, compared to 129,000 for “Break the Spell.”

Which tells you a lot about what’s happened in terms of album sales over the past two years.

“Baptized” is the fourth album for Daughtry since Chris finished fourth on Season 5 of American Idol. The band’s first two albums hit number one on the Billboard 200 and sold in excess of 1 million copies.

Elsewhere on the Bilboard charts:

* Good news for Kelly Clarkson, whose “Wrapped in Red” Christmas album is number nine on the Billboard 200, clinging to a Top 10 position four weeks after its release. The album debuted at number three.

* Three country singing show stars who released albums recently saw those tumble on the charts. Kellie Pickler’s “The Woman I Am” dropped from 19 to 69 in its second week on the chart. Scotty McCreery’s “See You Tonight” dropped from 48 to 63 in its sixth week. Cassadee Pope’s “Frame by Frame” dropped from 65 to 83 in its seventh week.

Over on the country albums chart, Scotty is at number eight, Kellie at number 10 and Cassadee at number 14. They’ll be joined next week by Danielle Bradbery. The Season 4 Voice winner released her debut album Tuesday.

* Mandisa’s fourth studio album held steady at number 124 on the Billboard 200 this week, 13 weeks after its release. It’s number four on the Christian albums chart. “Overcomer” the single got bumped from number one on the Christian singles chart this week by United’s “Oceans.” But the tune is still number one on the Christian airplay chart.