Dethroning 'N Sync proves 'Impossible'

'Mission' grabs No. 2 spot, 'Gladiator' shows big jump

By DON WALLER

‘N Sync staked their claim to the top spot on the national music charts for an eighth straight week, selling more than 188,000 copies of “No Strings Attached” (Jive), according to sales data released Wednesday.

Sales of ‘N Sync’s disc for the week ending May 14 were about 57,000 copies greater than those for the various artists’ soundtrack to “Mission: Impossible 2” (Hollywood), which moved more than 130,000 units and came in at No. 2, the week’s highest debut.

One of the week’s other significant debuts was young brother-band Hanson’s “This Time Around” (Island), which sold more than 64,000 copies and came in at No. 19.

Meanwhile, the week’s other big debut came from young female pop vocalist Mandy Moore, whose second album, “I Wanna Be With You” (550/Epic), shifted more than 58,000 units and landed at No. 21.

Eleven discs posted sales increases of more than 10,000 units for the week, led by Faith Hill’s “Breathe” (Warner Bros. Nashville) and Celine Dion’s “All The Way… A Decade Of Song” (550/Epic).

And in an eyebrow-raising display of cross-marketing potential, veteran film composer Hans Zimmer and Dead Can Dance vocalist Lisa Gerrard’s soundtrack score to DreamWorks’ current No. 1 box office hit, “Gladiator” (Decca), took a 14,000-unit leap.

The other members of this week’s five-figure sales-increase club were the country-crossover queens the Dixie Chicks’ “Fly” (Monument) and veteran musical hyphenate Sting’s “Brand New Day” (A&M), both up 13,000 copies; rockers Creed’s “Human Clay” (Wind-up) and 3 Doors Down’s “The Better Life” (Republic/Universal), both up 12,000 copies; and neo-soul singer Macy Gray’s “On How Life Is” (Epic), Latin popster Marc Anthony’s eponymous English-language debut (Columbia) and new rock group Papa Roach’s “Infest” (DreamWorks), up 10,000 units each.

Universal took home the lion’s share of the current album market, 26.6%; followed by Sony, 16.4%; BMG, 15.6%; Warners, 15.1%; and EMI, 9%.