Great ‘Communication’

E verybody loves the Beastie Boys. It’s rare that one album, the group’s new “Ill Communication,” makes such a splash in the mainstream and in so many tributaries. The album by the white rap outfit not only debuted at No. 1 on both The Times’ Southern California and national pop charts, but--and get this--it also entered at the top of the R&B;, rap and hard-rock charts--also both in this region and nationally. The only major chart it didn’t score on was, naturally, country. A truly remarkable chart performance.

TOP 10 ALBUMS

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 Ill Communication, Beastie Boys (1) -- 2 The Crow, soundtrack (3) 1 3 Chant, Benedictine Monks (7) 2 4 The Sign, Ace of Base (2) 3 5 August and ..., Counting Crows (6) 4 6 Seal, Seal (20) -- 7 The Lion King, soundtrack (13) -- 8 Above the Rim, soundtrack (5) 6 9 Toni Braxton, Toni Braxton (12) 11 10 All-4-One, All-4-One (10) 9

TOP 10 SINGLES

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 I Swear, All-4-One (1) 1 2 Regulate, Warren G. and Nate Dogg (2) 2 3 Back and Forth, Aaliyah (3) 4 4 Any Time, Any Place, Janet Jackson (5) 6 5 I’ll Remember, Madonna (7) 3 6 Back In The Day, Ahmad (49) 5 7 The Most Beautiful Girl ..., Prince (9) 7 8 Fantastic Voyage, Coolio (39) 8 9 You Mean The World To Me, Toni Braxton (16) 9 10 Your Body’s Callin,’ R. Kelly (6) 11

TOP 10 HARD ROCK ALBUMS

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 Ill Communication, Beastie Boys (1) -- 2 The Crow, soundtrack (2) 1 3 Smash, Offspring (24) 5 4 Superunknown, Soundgarden (3) 2 5 Dookie, Green Day (6) 4 6 Siamese Dream, Smashing Pumpkins (4) 3 7 In Utero, Nirvana (8) 6 8 Core, Stone Temple Pilots (17) -- 9 Downward Spiral, Nine Inch Nails (12) 8 10 Candlebox, Candlebox (5) 7

Source: SoundScan Inc., for week ending June 5