Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball knocks Adele from No. 1

Bruce Springsteen’s “Wrecking Ball” didn’t so much smash Adele’s “21″ as it did graze it just enough to knock it off the top of the Billboard 200, scoring 196,000 first-week sales to Adele’s 195,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. But it’s a No. 1 nonetheless, and “Wrecking Ball” ends “21′s” 10-week run at the top of the charts, which was part of the Brit’s larger 23-week chart domination.

“Wrecking Ball” marks Springsteen’s 10th No. 1 set, tying him with Elvis Presley for the third most No. 1 albums in the history of the Billboard chart; only the Beatles (19) and Jay-Z (12) have more. “Wrecking Ball” comes in with less first-week sales than 2009′s “Working on a Dream,” which started with 224,000 units and also knocked a reigning pop starlet from the top spot (Taylor Swift, whose “Fearless” had been No. 1 for 7 weeks).

Elsewhere on the chart, sales of Whitney Houston’s albums remain strong but start to slide, with her “Greatest Hits” set falling from No. 2 to 6, and both “The Bodyguard” soundtrack and her self-titled debut falling out of the Top 10. Albums from WZRD and Tyga also slip from the Top 10.

Making Top 10 debuts this week are Luke Bryan and Andrew Bird.

Billboard’s Top 10 albums (sales in parentheses, figures according to Nielsen SoundScan)

1. Bruce Springsteen, Wrecking Ball (196,000)

2. Adele, 21 (195,000)

3. Various artists, Now 41 (152,000)

4. Lady Antebellum, Own the Night (108,000)

5. Coldplay, Mylo Xyloto (100,000)

6. Whitney Houston, Whitney! The Greatest Hits (70,000)

7. Drake, Take Care (58,000)

8. Lil Wayne, Tha Carter IV (36,000)

9. Luke Bryan, Spring Break 4 – Suntan City (30,000)

10. Andrew Bird, Break It Yourself (30,000)