Sweet Return

Basia, the Polish singer who blends soul and Brazilian styles, is coming back with a flourish after being on hiatus for the past several years. Her “Sweetest Illusions” debuted on The Times’ Southern California pop album chart at No. 9. The rock soundtrack from the Brandon Lee action movie “The Crow” soared over the competition, nesting in the No. 1 spot in its first week on the hard-rock chart. It even scored in the pop chart--No. 9--and may challenge the chanting Benedictine Monks for the No. 1 position. Could it be that next week will have “The Crow” at No. 1 and the Counting Crows, now No. 3, at No. 2?

TOP 10 ALBUMS

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 Chant, Benedictine Monks (5) 1 2 Above the Rim, soundtrack (7) 3 3 August and ... After, Counting Crows (6) 4 4 The Division Bell, Pink Floyd (4) 2 5 The Sign, Ace of Base (3) 5 6 Read My Mind, Reba McEntire (2) 13 7 Toni Braxton, Toni Braxton (10) 8 8 The Crow, soundtrack (15) -- 9 Sweetest Illusions, Basia (27) -- 10 The Cross of Changes, Engima (12) 6

TOP 10 SINGLES

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 Regulate, Warren G. & Nate Dogg (10) 1 2 I’ll Remember, Madonna (4) 2 3 I Swear, All-4-One (2) -- 4 Back in the Day, Ahmad (77) 5 5 Back & Forth, Aaliyah (9) 9 6 The Most Beautiful Girl..., Prince (6) 3 7 Bump ‘n’ Grind, R. Kelly (1) 4 8 Return to Innocence, Enigma (8) 6 9 The Sign, Ace of Base (3) 7 10 Mmm Mmm Mmm..., Crash Test Dummies (5) 8

TOP 10 HARD ROCK ALBUMS

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 The Crow, soundtrack (1) 5 2 Superunknown, Soundgarden (3) 1 3 Siamese Dream, Smashing Pumpkins (2) 2 4 In Utero, Nirvana (4) 3 5 Jar of Flies, Alice in Chains (5) 8 6 Nevermind, Nirvana (7) 4 7 Far Beyond Driven, Pantera (8) 6 8 Live Through This, Hole (17) 7 9 The Downward Spiral, Nine Inch Nails (10) 9 10 Vs., Pearl Jam (9) 10

Source: SoundScan Inc., for week ending May 8