Halen Farewell

It’s really rough for veteran hard-rockers these days. For instance, Van Halen’s month-old “Balance” is No. 5 and dropping--down two notches in a week--on The Times’ Southern California pop album chart, which is topped by young rockers Green Day, with “Dookie.” “Balance” is also second to “Dookie” on the hard rock chart.

TOP 10 ALBUMS

Title, Artist (Nat’l Rank) Last Week 1. Dookie, Green Day (3) 1 2. II, Boyz II Men (2) 2 3. Hell Freezes Over, Eagles (5) 4 4. Throwing Copper, Live (8)6 5. Balance, Van Halen (4)3 6. Crazysexycool TLC (7) 7 7. The Hits, Garth Brooks (1) 5 8. Bedtime Stories, Madonna (14) 8 9. Boys on the Side, soundtrack (17) 9 10. No Need to Argue, The Cranberries (9) 10

TOP 10 SINGLES

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1. Take a Bow, Madonna (4) 2 2. Baby, Brandy (1) 1 3. Candy Skin, Soul For Real (3) 6 4. If You Think. . ., K-CI Hailey (7) 5 5. Creep, TLC (2) 3 6. Tootsee Roll, 69 Boyz (16) 4 7. Foe the Love Of $, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony (19) 10 8. If You Love Me, Brownstone (5) 8 9. Big Poppa, Notorious B.I.G (6) 7 10. I Miss You, N II U, (22) 13

TOP 10 HARD ROCK ALBUMS

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1. Dookie, Green Day (1) 1 2. Balance, Van Halen (2) 2 3. Vitalogy, Pearl Jam (3) 3 4. Unplugged in New York, Nirvana (5) 4 5. Smash, Offspring (4) 5 6. Sixteen Stone, Bush (10) 7 7. Purple, Stone Temple Pilots (8) 6 8. Live Through This, Hole (16) -- 9. Rotting Pinata, Sponge (21) 8 10. Superunknown, Soundgarden (12) 9

Source: SoundScan Inc., for week of Feb. 19