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Bruce Springsteen- seen here at a press conference discussing his Super Bowl Halftime Show - has no competition for the No. 1 slot on the albums charts next week. (picture courtesy of AP/Morry Gosh)

All-American musical hero Bruce Springsteen is set to dethrone the current It Girl on the Billboard 200.

Hits Daily Double projects that Springsteen’s Working on a Dreamwill sell in the neighborhood of 225,000-250,000 in its first week, ending the eight-week reign of Taylor Swift’s Fearless.

Swift’s run is the longest for a female act this decade, topping the six weeks logged by Norah Jones’ Feels Like Home. The last female album to spend longer than eight weeks at No. 1 was Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill, which reigned for 12 weeks back in 1995. The last album of any sort to hold on top for longer than eight weeks was Usher’s Confessions, which spent nine weeks at the summit.

With album sales continuing to drop, Swift unlikely will come anywhere near the level of sales enjoyed by Morissette and Usher (both sold more than 10 million copies).

Among country albums, Fearless’ domination is the longest since Garth Brooks’ The Hits also spent eight weeks atop the Billboard 200. The last country album to dominate the chart longer was back in 1992, when Miley’s dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, logged 17 weeks on top.

But, back to The Boss. Springsteen’s new record will become ninth No. 1 album, as well as his 16th top 10 album, the latter feat tying him with Johnny Mathis and Elton John for most top 10 albums. Only eight other acts have racked up more top 10 albums in the rock era- the Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, Barbra Streisand, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney (and Wings) and Madonna.

On the No. 1 albums front, all Springsteen will need is one more to tie Presley and rapper Jay-Z for having the second-most No. 1 albums. The Beatles are way out in front, with 19.

The Boss has a huge- and fitting- gig this coming Sunday, playing the Halftime Show at Super Bowl 43. If viewers like what they hear, they could run to their computer and buy a copy from their favorite online digital store. In the past, such impact would not be felt until the following chart, but thanks to iTunes and other online outlets, consumers don’t have to leave the house to experience instant musical gratification.

Now, if only consumers would start buying more digital albums, to compensate for the decline in CD sales. Perhaps in time…

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