A Strong ‘Bodyguard’

Whitney Houston is getting a lot of mileage out of her hit movie “The Bodyguard.” Last week fans were obviously buying the soundtrack after they saw the movie, since both the album and the love-theme single, “I Will Always Love You,” sit atop The Times’ Southern California charts.

Ice Cube’s second-ranked “The Predator” had a strong second week, as did pop-jazz instrumentalist Kenny G, whose album “Breathless” moved up a notch to No. 3.

Pearl Jam’s year-old “Ten” still tops the hard rock/heavy metal chart and shows no sign of faltering.

TOP 10 ALBUMS

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 The Bodyguard, soundtrack (1) 2 2 The Predator, Ice Cube (3) 1 3 Breathless, Kenny G (8) 4 4 Love Deluxe, Sade (11) 3 5 Unplugged, Eric Clapton (2) 5 6 Home for Christmas, Amy Grant (6) 11 7 Timeless, Michael Bolton (4) 6 8 A Very Special Christmas 2 (9) -- 9 Christmas Album, Neil Diamond (14) -- 10 Automatic for the People, R.E.M. (13) 8

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TOP 10 SINGLES

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 I Will Always. . .,Whitney Houston (1) 1 2 Rump Shaker, Wreckx-N-Effect (2) 2 3 If I Ever Fall in Love, Shai (3) 3 4 In the Still of the Night, Boyz II Men (4) -- 5 Back to the Hotel, N2Deep (11) 4 6 I’d Die Without You, PM Dawn (6) 6 7 Jump Around, House of Pain (8) 7 8 Rhythm Is a Dancer, Snap (7) 8 9 Saving Forever for You, Shanice (15) 11 10 How Do You Talk. . .?, The Heights (5) 5

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TOP 10 HARD ROCK ALBUMS

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 Ten, Pearl Jam (1) 1 2 Dirt, Alice in Chains (3) 3 3 What Hits?, Red Hot Chili Peppers (7) 5 4 Metallica, Metallica (4) 4 5 Keep the Faith, Bon Jovi (2) 2 6 Greatest Hits, Queen (5) 6 7 Countdown to Extinction, Megadeth (8) 7 8 Live, AC/DC (6) 8 9 Singles, soundtrack (11) -- 10 Temple of the Dog, Temple of the Dog (14) --

Source: SoundScan Inc., for week ending Nov. 29