Leppard Gets Quick Jump on the Boss : * Pop music: Def Leppard beats out Bruce Springsteen in first week’s sales figures.

Bruce Springsteen may be the Boss to legions of loyal fans, but the 42-year-old veteran rocker no longer rules the pop charts.

Springsteen’s new “Human Touch” and “Lucky Town” albums sold only 246,000 and 208,000 copies, respectively, to finish second and third behind pop-metal band Def Leppard’s “Adrenalize” album, which sold 380,100 units to capture the No. 1 position in the nation’s sales race last week. The albums were part of a blockbuster lineup that went on sale March 31.

“From the second we opened the doors, ‘Adrenalize’ was a bigger seller than Bruce,” said Arnie Bernstein, executive vice president of operations and marketing for the 1,000-store, Minneapolis-based Musicland, the largest chain in the nation. “We expected Def Leppard to explode out of the box and that’s what it did.”

Def Leppard’s strong showing did not surprise officials at the nation’s top discount houses either.

“Leppard is the kind of band that appeals to kids who want to be the first on their block to own the album,” said Mario DeFilippo, senior vice president of purchasing at the Handleman Co., a Michigan-based distribution firm that supplies records to more than 5,000 discount stores including K mart. “It’s a demographic phenomenon similar to what happened with Metallica last year. But that doesn’t mean Bruce isn’t selling. Both of his records are turning huge numbers too.”

Albums by Def Leppard and Springsteen weren’t the only big sellers last week. Retailers sold an estimated 12 million units across the nation, with sales for the Top 10 albums nearly doubling--from 737,000 to 1,461,000--over the previous week.

Other new releases that will enter the Top 10 when Billboard magazine publishes its pop album chart on Saturday: country singer Wynonna Judd’s “Wynonna,” which sold 122,000 to capture the No. 4 slot, and rap group Kris Kross’ “Totally Krossed Out,” which sold 76,000 its first week out to enter at No. 9.

“It was an astounding week across the board,” said Angie Diehl Jacobs, head of marketing at the 92-store, Los Angeles-based Music Plus chain. “If only we could have more weeks like this one. It wasn’t just Def Leppard and Bruce in their neck-and-neck race. What about Wynonna Judd? All I can say about her new solo album is, ‘Wow! What a debut!’ ”

Despite its strong showing, Def Leppard’s sales fall well below first-week totals registered last year by Metallica and Guns N’ Roses. Metallica’s “Metallica” sold 600,000 copies its first week out. GNR’s “Use Your Illusion II” and “I” sold about 770,000 and 685,000 copies, respectively, when they hit the stores in October.

However, Leppard topped the 300,000-plus debuts of Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous,” country hero Garth Brooks’ “Ropin’ the Wind” and hard-rock veteran Van Halen’s “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.”

Mercury Records, the company that releases Def Leppard’s music, took a low-key approach to promoting “Adrenalize,” relying on the band’s impressive, 12-year, 22.5-million-album sales track record to draw consumers into the stores.

“We didn’t feel it was appropriate or necessary to hype a band that is the most consistently successful rock group in the world,” Mercury President Ed Eckstine said Wednesday. “Our philosophy was that the record would speak for itself.”

Springsteen outsold Def Leppard at several retail chains on both coasts. “Human Touch” was the best seller at both the Torrance-based, 295-outlet Wherehouse Entertainment and the 78-outlet, Roslyn, N.Y.-based Record World.

“It was a very close race at our stores,” said Jim Dobbe, vice president of sales at Wherehouse. “Springsteen beat out Def Leppard by only 30 pieces.”

“Where we sell records it’s definitely Springsteenland and Bruce is still No. 1,” added Jim Feldman, executive vice president of merchandising and advertising for Record World. “We sold about 12,000 copies of the two Springsteen records this week as opposed to about 5,000 Def Leppards.”

Officials at Springsteen’s label, Columbia Records, said the firm was “pleased” with Springsteen’s first-week sales report.

“This is the best start we’ve ever had with a new studio album by Bruce,” said Rich Kudolla, senior vice president of sales at Columbia. “We couldn’t be happier.”

The Boss, Def Leppard Album Sales

Bruce Springsteen and Def Leppard have released albums at the same time. Below are their previous U.S. sales, in millions.

YEAR BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN RELEASED SALES “Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.” 1973 1.0 “The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle” 1973 1.0 “Born to Run” 1975 3.0 “Darkness on the Edge of Town” 1978 2.0 “The River” 1980 2.0 “Nebraska” 1982 1.0 “Born in the U.S.A.” 1984 12.0 “Live 1975-1985” 1986 3.0 “Tunnel of Love” 1987 3.0 Total 28.0

DEF LEPPARD YEAR RELEASED SALES “On Through the Night” 1980 1.5 “High ‘n’ Dry” 1981 2.2 “Pyromania” 1983 8.3 “Hysteria” 1987 10.5 Total 22.5

SOURCES: Mercury Records for Def Leppard; Recording Industry Assn. of America for Springsteen.