Pop Idol Fends Off Rock Vets on Album Chart

Aiken's RCA debut sold 225,000 copies in the week ended Oct. 26, according to Nielsen SoundScan data issued Wednesday, bringing his two-week total to 838,000.

Stewart's second collection of standards "As Time Goes By: The Great American Songbook Part II" (J Records), opened at No. 2 with sales of 212,000 copies. His previous album, "It Had To Be You: The Great American Songbook," entered the chart No. 4 last year with 115,000 copies and has sold 1.8 million to date. "It Had To Be You" benefits from the release of the new album, bolting 95-46 this week on a 73% sales burst to 23,000 copies.

Veteran California rock act the Eagles landed at No. 3 with a two-disc retrospective, "Eagles -- The Very Best Of." The 33-track album from Warner Strategic Marketing -- the Eagles' first two-disc collection -- sold 162,000 units. The group's "Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)" is considered one of the top-selling albums of all time, having been certified by the Recording Industry Association of America for U.S. shipments of 28 million.

Sales of OutKast's two-CD set "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" (Arista) slipped just 13% to 146,000 copies. The steady seller maintained its No. 4 post, as sales have now surpassed 1.1 million in just five weeks of release.

"Chicken & Beer" from Ludacris drifted three spots to No. 5 in its third week on the chart. The Disturbing Tha Peace/Def Jam set suffered a 36% sales dip to 123,000 copies, bringing its total to 746,000 copies.

The self-titled Bad Boy/Universal debut from hip-hop artist Loon opened at No. 6 with 80,000 copies. The P. Diddy protege has appeared on cuts from the hip-hop superstar, as well as Toni Braxton, Dream and Foxy Brown. His single "Down for Me" featuring Mario Winans is up 25-19 on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks tally.

Dido's "Life for Rent" fell one spot to No. 7 in its fourth week on the chart. Sales of the Arista set were down 24% to 78,000 copies. Jagged Edge's "Hard" dropped five rungs to No. 8 in its second week on the chart, with sales of the Sony album declining 58% to 76,000 copies.

Barbra Streisand's "The Movie Album" (Columbia) slipped 5-9 in its second week. Sales fell 56% to 72,000 units, giving the singer a two-week total of 234,000.

Canadian act Barenaked Ladies bowed at No. 10 with "Everything to Everyone" (Reprise). The album sold 72,000 copies, a sharp decline from the group's "Maroon," which arrived at No. 5 in late 2000 with 128,000 copies. The latter has sold 1.1 million units to date.

Mandy Moore debuted just outside the top-10 with "Coverage" (Epic). The covers set sold 53,000 copies to arrive at No. 14, making this her highest-charting release. Moore, however, has had better sales weeks, as her 2000 album "I Wanna Be With You" bowed at No. 21 with 60,000 units, and her 1999 debut "So Real" sold 55,000 during that year's holiday season.

Also landing in the top-20 was the first solo effort from Marques Houston, "MH" (Interscope). The former member of teen R&B trio Immature has a hit with current single "Clubbin" featuring Joe Budden and Pied Piper, which last week reached the top-40 of Billboard's Hot 100.

Other notable entries this week included Something Corporate's "North" (Geffen) at No. 24 with 41,000 copies, Van Morrison's "What's Wrong With This Picture?" (Blue Note) at No. 32 with 33,500 copies, Rush's "Rush in Rio" (Anthem/Atlantic) at No. 33 with 33,000 copies and Mark Wills' "And the Crowd Goes Wild" (Universal) at No. 68 with 18,000 copies.

Reuters/Billboard