HOLE'S RUN AT #1 ENDS

After only 3 weeks, Hole's record breaking "Celebrity Skin" loses enough points to make way for a new #1, Creed's "What's This Life For", which has an amazing week, scoring over 200 points, with very few popular points boosting it. There's good news and bad news for Hole. The bad news is that Hole loses any real chance of staying on top for more than 3 consecutive weeks. The longest consecutive runs at #1 were for "Skin" and Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris", which stayed 3 weeks on top. Even if "Skin" returns to #1, it is unlikely that it will beat the record. The good news is that Hole may return to #1 and break the 4 weeks at #1 record which "Iris" holds, or tie it. And even better news is that "Skin" goes gold after only 5 weeks on the chart, the shortest time for a single to go gold on the chart.

A STRONG CHART WEEK

Nearly every title is bulleted in the Top 20, except for a few. In the Top 10, 9 songs are bullleted which means a very strong and competitive week. Despite this, there are only two new singles in the Top 20, Seven Mary Three's "Over Your Shoulder" and the huge modern rock and mainstream rock crossover hit "Fly Away", Lenny Kravitz's latest, a strong contender for the top spot in the coming weeks. Just outside the top 10, two songs make huge leaps, Stabbing Westward's "Sometimes It Hurts", which is doing so well that their other single, "Save Yourself", a strong recurrent, has hit a new peak in the Top 20, after a not so hot chart run a few months back. "Hurts" bullets 26-11. Meanwhile, the "Most Improved" title goes to Kiss' "Psycho Circus", a really cool comeback single for Kiss, moving 45-12.

ROCK SPOTLIGHT

For a 5th week, Creed's "What's This Life For" is #1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart and moves to #1 on Bryan's Rock 50. The Christian rock band has built a strong following and strong record sales, without hype or pop airplay. Their sales come mostly from rock airplay and the album is now double platinum. On the Mainstream Rock charts, they have had 3 Top 3 singles. The previous two were "Torn" (#3) and "My Own Prison" (#2). Their stay at #1 may just end next week as Kiss' "Psycho Circus" has been gaining points consistently for the past few weeks at #2 on the official chart. Meanwhile, on the Modern Rock Chart, Hole's "Celebrity Skin" spends a second week on top and is set for a long run up there. Moving up both charts is Lenny Kravitz's "Fly Away", which is #1 on The Rock Big Picture chart, and may just take its claim on the individual charts. On Modern Rock, the Goo Goo Dolls are looking for their second #1 of 1998 with "Slide".

GOLD

Two singles go gold this week. And who can be better companions than Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins? As you may know, they are currently involved in a bitter feud and are no longer in speaking terms. After 10 weeks, "Perfect" finally goes gold in what may be its last week on the chart.

Billboard Mainstream Rock Top 10	Billboard Modern Rock Top 10
[ 1] Creed What's This Life For [ 2] Kiss Psycho Circus [ 3] Lenny Kravitz Fly Away [ 4] Days Of The New The Down Town [ 5] Hole Celebrity Skin [ 6] Eve 6 Inside Out [ 7] Monster Magnet Space Lord [ 8] Kenny Wayne Somehow, Somewhere [ 9] Aerosmith What Kind Of Love Are You On [10] Rob Zombie Dragula	[ 1] Hole Celebrity Skin [ 2] Eve 6 Inside Out [ 3] Goo Goo Dolls Slide [ 4] Everclear Father Of Mine [ 5] Barenaked Ladies One Week [ 6] Lenny Kravitz Fly Away [ 7] Beastie Boys Intergalactic [ 8] Cake Never There [ 9] Garbage I Think I'm Paranoid [10] Eagle Eye Cherry Save Tonight