No tears for Faith Hill as ‘Cry’ debuts in first place

There’s no reason for Faith Hill to cry this week. Despite some negative reviews, her “Cry” album entered the national sales chart at No. 1 on Wednesday.

The Warner Bros. release sold 472,000 copies last week to more than triple the 154,000 total of the week’s runner-up, rapper LL Cool J’s new collection, “10.” The figure also easily topped the 250,000 first-week sales total of Hill’s last album, 1999’s “Breathe.”

In the new album, the country music star continues her pursuit of her pop crossover dreams, but often at the expense of human warmth. Except for the tender “You’re Still Here,” most of the selections suffer from vocal histrionics.

In the oldies hits war, Elvis Presley continues to lead the Rolling Stones. Presley’s single disc package, “Elvis: 30 #1 Hits,” claimed third place on the sales list by selling 143,000 copies last week. That brings the album’s four-week total to 1.2 million. The Stones’ “Forty Licks,” a two-disc set, sold 147,000 last week for a three-week total of 576,000.

Besides Hill and LL Cool J, five other artists entered the Top 25 this week, according to Nielsen SoundScan: Gerald Levert (No. 9), Dave Hollister (No. 10), Fleetwood Mac (a greatest-hits package) (No. 12), Taproot (No. 17) and Tracy Chapman (No. 25).

On the singles chart, “American Idol” winner Kelly Clarkson’s “Before Your Love” is No. 1 for the fifth week.