A B.I.G. Start

The Notorious B.I.G.’s posthumous double album, “Life After Death,” sold 690,000 copies last week, the biggest opening-week figure in more than a year and the sixth-biggest first-week total since SoundScan began monitoring U.S. record sales in 1991.

The total--which translates into around $14 million in revenue--was the highest first-week total since the Beatles’ “Beatles Anthology 1” figure of 855,000 in November 1995. This year’s previous first-week sales high was 349,000, which was registered last month by U2’s “Pop,” a single-disc album.

“I’m not surprised by the sales figure at all,” Violet Brown, national urban buyer for the 231-store Wherehouse chain, said Wednesday. “I had expected the album to be huge while B.I.G. was alive . . . and it was. As a double record, it retailed for $19.99 on sale, where the average single album is $12.99, but the higher price didn’t affect buyers in the least. It outsold our No. 2 title 3-to-1.”

B.I.G., a 24-year-old New Yorker whose real name was Christopher Wallace, was slain by an unknown assailant on March 9 in Los Angeles while in town to promote the new album, the follow-up to his 1994 best-selling debut, “Ready to Die.”

There was so much consumer demand for the B.I.G. album that a few retailers began selling it before the formal March 25 release date. Though this is in violation of industry practice, there were enough early sales--an estimated 6,000--that “Life After Death” became the first album ever to chart on the basis of pre-release sales. It was No. 176 on last week’s Billboard magazine chart. It moved to No. 1 on this week’s chart.

The first-week sales highs of the SoundScan era: Pearl Jam’s “Vs.” in 1993 (950,000), Pearl Jam’s “Vitalogy” in 1994 (877,000), the Beatles’ “Beatles Anthology 1” (855,000), Snoop Doggy Dogg’s “Doggystyle” in 1993 (802,000), Guns N’ Roses’ “Use Your Illusion II” in 1991 (770,000).

What’s Hot

Here are some recent releases that are generating critical or commercial attention:

Aerosmith’s “Nine Lives” (Columbia). At a time when rock questions its future, this veteran, high-energy quintet still comes straight at you with solidly entertaining, Top 40-minded music.

The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Life After Death” (Bad Boy/Arista). Rarely has a rapper attempted to please so many different audiences--and done it so brilliantly.

Pavement’s “Brighten the Corners” (Matador/Capitol). Like Beck, Pavement unreels long strings of imagery, concocting a disarming blend of charm and mystery.

Diane Schuur’s “Blues for Schuur” (GRP). Pianist-vocalist Schuur belts jazz and blues, as always, in dynamic fashion.

U2’s “Pop” (Island). Engrossing mix of the energy of the dance music scene with songs that explore questions of personal and spiritual ideals and doubts.

Warren G’s “Take a Look Over Your Shoulder” (Def Jam/Mercury). Warren G’s remakes of Bob Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff” and Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It” mark him as one of hip-hop’s most musically gifted producers.

What’s New

The Chemical Brother’s “Dig Your Own Hole” (Astralwerks/Caroline), Buckshot Le Fonque’s (Branford Marsalis) “Music Evolution” (Columbia), Cyndi Lauper’s “Sisters of Avalon” (Epic), Little Axe’s “Slow Fuse,” Lit’s “Trip the Light Fantastic” (Malicious Vinyl/Red Ant), Everette Harp “What’s Going On” (Blue Note).

What’s Coming

Tuesday: Chris Rock’s “Roll With the New” (DreamWorks), Boz Scaggs’ “Come on Home” (Virgin), Sleater-Kinney’s “Dig Me Out” (Kill Rock Stars), that dog’s “Retreat From the Sun” (DGC), Various Artists’ “Romeo and Juliet Soundtrack, Vol. 2” (Capitol), Oscar Peterson’s “The Tribute Concert” (Telarc), Ronnie Laws’ “Tribute to the Legendary Eddie Harris” (Blue Note).