Taking It to the Limit

‘The Songs of the Eagles” has soared a lot higher than expected. In its first week on The Times’ Southern California charts, this collection of Eagles songs performed by various country stars is nesting at No. 4 on the pop album chart and at the top of the country chart. One of the most highly regarded cuts is “I Can’t Tell You Why,” by Vince Gill, whose own album, “I Still Believe in You,” is No. 7 on the country chart. And look out for Meatloaf: The beefy rocker’s “Bat Out of Hell II” is winging its way up the chart, from No. 20 to No. 8--and definitely has No. 1 potential.

TOP 10 ALBUMS

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 Music Box, Mariah Carey (5) 1 2 In Utero, Nirvana (3) 2 3 janet., Janet Jackson (6) 3 4 Songs of the Eagles, Various artists (10) -- 5 Blind Melon, Blind Melon (9) 5 6 Toni Braxton, Toni Braxton (11) 7 7 River of Dreams, Billy Joel (4) 17 8 Bat Out of Hell II, Meatloaf (1) 20 9 Greatest Hits Vol. 2, Reba McEntire (7) 6 10 Everybody Else Is. . ., Cranberries (28) 9

TOP 10 SINGLES

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 All That She Wants, Ace of Base (4) 1 2 Indo Smoke, Mista Grimm (44) 7 3 Just Kickin’ It, Xscape (2) 3 4 Hey Mr. D.J., Zhane (6) 4 5 I’d Do Anything for Love, Meatloaf (1) 14 6 Anniversary, Tony Toni Tone (8) 2 7 Whoomp! (There It Is), Tag Team (3) 5 8 I Get Around, 2Pac (10) 6 9 Dreamlover, Mariah Carey (5) 8 10 Soul to Squeeze, R.H. Chili Peppers (11) 9

TOP 10 COUNTRY ALBUMS

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 Songs of the Eagles, Various artists (4) -- 2 Greatest Hits Vol. 2, Reba McEntire (2) 2 3 In Pieces, Garth Brooks (1) 1 4 Easy Come, Easy Go, George Strait (3) 3 5 Lot About Livin’, Alan Jackson (5) 4 6 Tell Me Why, Wynonna Judd (7) 5 7 I Still Believe in You, Vince Gill (6) 7 8 No Time to Kill, Clint Black (12) 6 9 Come On. . ., Mary-Chapin Carpenter (13) 8 10 This Time, Dwight Yoakam (15) --

Source: SoundScan Inc., for week ending Oct. 17