‘Nellyville’ Leads a Rap Triple Play on Sales Chart

Nelly’s “Nellyville” led a rap contingent that claimed the top three places on the nation’s album sales chart this week, according to Neilsen SoundScan.

The St. Louis rapper’s album sold 447,000 copies in its second week in stores to hold onto the top chart position that it had earlier wrested away from Eminem’s “The Eminem Show,” which had been No. 1 for the previous five weeks. The Eminem album sold 263,000 copies last week to push its sales total to 3.9 million since its release in late May.

Third place on the new chart was claimed by the first solo album by record executive and producer Irv Gotti. Featuring such guest artists as DMX and Ashanti, “The Inc” sold 193,000 copies in its first week.

Aerosmith’s “Ultimate Greatest Hits,” which finished fourth with sales of 137,000 copies, was the only other new release to make the Top 10.

The remaining positions in the Top 10 are held, in order, by Avril Lavigne, Ashanti, Korn, N.O.R.E., Pink and the compilation “Totally Hits 2002.”

“Nellyville” is expected to be challenged by the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ just-released “By the Way” for the No. 1 spot next week. The remix version of Elvis Presley’s 1968 recording “A Little Less Conversation” remains No. 1 on the singles chart.

Sound Advice

(From Times reviews)

Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “By the Way” (Warner Bros.). The collection lacks the striking spareness of its “Californication,” but the arrangements are rich and often surprising, deploying strings, spacey effects and acoustic stretches.

Nelly’s “Nellyville” (Universal). Here’s another rap album that mines the familiar theme of surviving celebrity. But the follow-up to the hugely successful “Country Grammar” proves that the story doesn’t have to be hackneyed.

Eminem’s “The Eminem Show” (Aftermath/Interscope). What makes Eminem such an extraordinary blend of commercial appeal and artistic accomplishment is that he can move from the darkness of “Cleaning Out My Closet,” one of the most gripping songs on this album, to the catchiness of pop tunes that seduce with their cute, nursery-rhyme charm.

Avril Lavigne’s “Let Go” (Arista). Girl-rock meets boy-rock in this polished debut from a 17-year-old Canadian waif with attitude.

Papa Roach’s “Lovehatetragedy” (DreamWorks). These new tunes, however heartfelt, lack the contagious energy and undeniable hooks of the band’s first album.

Oasis’ “Heathen Chemistry” (Epic). The opening track, “The Hindu Times,” echoes everything that once made this band’s music so joyful, but little else suggests that songwriter Noel Gallagher has regained the confidence and direction that abandoned him after 1997’s “Be Here Now.”