The Country Swoons for Garth’s Croon, While Celine Serenades L.A.

Garth Brooks’ “Sevens” continues to post big numbers. The new collection of songs by the country music superstar sold about 678,000 copies last week to hang on to pole position as the nation’s top-selling album.

That’s about 150,000 copies more than it sold the previous week and puts it at more than 2.7 million after only four weeks in stores.

In Southern California, however, “Sevens” had to settle for No. 2. It was outsold locally by Canadian diva Celine Dion’s “Let’s Talk About Love,” which includes “My Heart Will Go On,” the “love theme” from “Titanic,” the nation’s No. 1 movie.

Overall, the Dion album sold nearly 574,000 copies last week as it continues to inch its way toward the top of the chart.

Meanwhile, Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind 1997” sold about 260,000 copies last week and is the nation’s top-selling single for the 13th week in a row. The charity record has sold 7.9 million copies.

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.

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 icy menace rules.

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.