Brooks Scores Big With the Roll-Out of ‘Sevens’

Garth Brooks’ “Sevens” smoked the competition during the first week of the holiday album sales rush, posting the biggest opening-week total this year and the second-highest first-week figure since SoundScan began monitoring U.S. record sales in 1991.

The 14-song Capitol Nashville collection sold nearly 897,000 copies during the seven-day period that ended Sunday, falling about 53,000 shy of the SoundScan-era record established by Pearl Jam’s 1993 album, “Vs.”

The top figure this year had been the Notorious B.I.G.’s “Life After Death,” a two-disc set that sold nearly 690,000 copies during its first week in stores last March.

2Pac’s two-disc “R U Still Down? (Remember Me)” continued the enormous success of rap this year but had to settle for second place this week despite selling nearly 549,000 copies, the 15th-highest opening-week total of the SoundScan era and the fifth-highest first-week total this year. Three other rap albums--B.I.G.’s “Life After Death,” the Wu-Tang Clan’s “Wu-Tang Forever” and Puff Daddy’s “No Way Out”--generated higher first-week sales totals this year.

Surprisingly, another high-profile hip-hop collection, a compilation titled “In tha Beginning . . . There Was Rap,” debuts at a disappointing No. 15.

Other debuts include Sublime’s “Second-Hand Smoke” at No. 28, Will Smith’s “Big Willie Style” at No. 31 and Babyface’s “MTV Unplugged” at No. 106.

Meanwhile, Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind 1997” was the nation’s top-selling single for the 10th week in a row. The charity record sold almost 156,000 copies, experiencing a week-to-week sales increase for the first time since it was released in September.

What’s Hot

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

Bob Dylan’s “Time Out of Mind” (Columbia). Rock’s master songwriter has come up with what is arguably his most artful and convincing collection since the ‘70s.

Garth Brooks’ “Sevens” (Capitol Nashville). The country superstar’s strongest collection to date is a 40-plus-minute couch session in which good ol’ boy becomes human-potential poster boy.

Celine Dion’s “Let’s Talk About Love” (550 Music/Epic). Dion’s voice is a technical marvel, but her delivery lacks the personality and intuitive sense of drama that are a diva’s stock in trade.

Janet Jackson’s “The Velvet Rope” (Virgin). As a musician, Michael’s little sister has never seemed more confident or ambitious than she does here.

Led Zeppelin’s “Led Zeppelin: BBC Sessions” (Atlantic). Not only does this two-CD set capture the English band’s vibrant live energy at the peak of its career, but it also helps illustrate the quartet’s place in rock history.

Mase’s “Harlem World” (Bad Boy/Arista). With the exceptions of fellow rappers Erick Sermon and Too Short, no one with a flow as slow and nonchalant as Mase’s has succeeded so well in a genre where testosterone and icy menace rule.

Metallica’s “Re-Load” (Elektra). Less a sequel to last year’s “Load” than a virtual repudiation of it, the follow-up is strong enough to make you forgive the band its past concessions to mass tastes.

Shania Twain’s “Come On Over” (Mercury). Predictable songs of revelry and ecstasy dominate this follow-up to “The Woman in Me,” the best-selling album ever by a female country artist.

Spice Girls’ “Spiceworld” (Virgin). If you’re gonna conquer the world with your outrageous antics and messages of “girl power” and “positivity,” you ought to muster a bit more zest for your second album than the English quintet has done here.

Barbra Streisand’s “Higher Ground” (Columbia). The heart of this studio collection showcases the kind of higher aspirations that are all too rare in mainstream pop.

2Pac’s “R U Still Down? (Remember Me)” (Amaru/Jive). This two-disc set shows that the slain rapper had a lot more to offer the world. Unfortunately, the material is culled from his least artistic period.

What’s New

Various Artists’ “Diana, Princess of Wales: Tribute” (Columbia).

What’s Coming

Tuesday: Bryan Adams’ “MTV Unplugged” (A&M;).