The ’94 List: Stones vs. Stone Roses

Coming off a record sales year, the pop world is counting on a highly diverse array of key albums to maintain the 1993 momentum.

Who knows whether the next 12 months can duplicate the phenomenal sales punch of 1993, during which the “Bodyguard” soundtrack album sold 10 million copies, g-style rappers became household names (can you say Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg? Sure you can) and the sophomore jinx was defied by alternative rockers Nirvana and Pearl Jam?

Based on the albums drawing the most early attention, industry insiders are optimistic because the coming months offer the same kind of diverse pop lineup that characterized 1993.

Here are 10 of the collections that are likely to generate the most attention during the first half of 1994:

* Ice Cube and Dr. Dre--The teaming of the N.W.A. alumni could give us the rap album of the year. Tentatively titled “Helter Skelter,” the collection, which could be in the stores as early as June, matches Cube (arguably the most acclaimed West Coast rapper) and Dre (unarguably the most talented producer in all of rap).

* Nine Inch Nails--Trent Reznor, the one-man industrial music wizard, releases in March his first full-length follow-up to 1990’s groundbreaking “Pretty Hate Machine.” Titled “The Downward Spiral,” the album was partially recorded in the Benedict Canyon home that was the scene of the Manson Family murder of Sharon Tate and four others. Reznor set up a home studio, which he calls “Pig,” in the rented house.

* Arrested Development--After winning Grammys as the best new artist and best rap group of 1992, the Atlanta outfit expects to have its follow-up completed in time for a summer release.

* Lyle Lovett--The country-pop singer-songwriter has finished “Creeps Like Me,” his first album since 1992’s “Joshua Judges Ruth”--and his first since his celebrated marriage last July to actress Julia Roberts. It’s due in the spring. Lovett also will be featured on a soul-meets-country duet collection whose participants include Al Green, Natalie Cole, Vince Gill and Gladys Knight. It’s scheduled for March release.

* Bonnie Raitt--The blues-based rocker, whose 1991 “Luck of the Draw” proved to be an even bigger commercial success than 1989’s “Nick of Time,” returns in March with “Longing in Their Hearts.”

* Soundgarden--Although one of the most respected bands in the Seattle grunge scene, this band has been somewhat overshadowed by the success of Nirvana and Pearl Jam. A&M; is hoping that “Superunknown,” due in March, will correct that.

* Red Hot Chili Peppers--Currently on its fourth guitarist (Dave Navarro, from Jane’s Addiction), the Los Angeles funk-punk pioneers are aiming for a midsummer release for the follow-up to their mainstream breakthrough, “Blood Sugar Sex Magik.”

* The Stone Roses--After a five-year delay, the Manchester quartet’s upcoming “Second Coming” couldn’t be more aptly titled. When Geffen Records signed the critically acclaimed group after its 1989 album made it the toast of British rock, the Roses seemed poised to storm the U.S. charts. But after all this time, is anyone still waiting for the group’s second album? If so, they’ll find it in the stores in March.

* Hole--In a dazzling Palace show last November, the punk-spawned band, led by volatile and charismatic Courtney Love, played a collection of new songs that reflected a vitality and depth that could earn Hole a place on the national charts. Let’s hope that those songs will dominate the April album.

* The Rolling Stones--You never know with these guys. Just when you count them out, they can pop up with another gem, a la 1978’s “Some Girls” or 1981’s “Tattoo You.” But we certainly didn’t get one with the 1989 tour’s leaden “Steel Wheels.”