Lucky ‘Sevens’

Garth Brooks’ new “Sevens” album enjoyed another monster week, selling nearly 609,000 copies during the seven-day period that ended Sunday to push its two-week total past 1.5 million.

The country collection easily tops the nation’s pop sales chart for the second week in a row after more than doubling the sales figure of this week’s No. 2 album, Celine Dion’s “Let’s Talk About Love.”

The week’s highest debut was turned in by the two-disc compilation “Diana, Princess of Wales: Tribute,” which enters the chart at No. 15. It sold about 110,000 copies during its first week in stores.

Meanwhile, Elton John’s Diana tribute, “Candle in the Wind 1997,” was the nation’s top-selling single for the 11th week in a row.

What’s Hot

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

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.

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 in which 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.