WEEK IN PREVIEW: USHER, AVRIL TUSSLE FOR TOP CHART SPOT

As the sales reports continue to come in and be factored into the weekly arithmetic headache our retail analysts refer to as the HITS album chart, it’s still too early to say whether Usher will return to #1 or Avril Lavigne will hold onto the top spot for a second consecutive week.

Hey, we picked the Lakers in four, too.

Usher’s Confessions (LaFace/ZLG), in its 11th week of release, continues to sell at smash levels, while Lavigne’s Under My Skin (Arista/RMG) is coming off its major 356k #1 debut last week. We may not yet be able to tell you who’ll win, but we can tell you this: Either way, it’s going to be another big week for BMG.

The sales cycle ended Sunday (6) began with the Memorial Day holiday, which was bolstered by many of the mass merchants (Best Buy, Wal-Mart, etc.) having major sales. As a result, this week’s chart will probably show only a modest drop in volume despite the lack of major debuts.

Speaking of major debuts, RCA’s Velvet Revolver hits the street tomorrow to initial projections of a 100k-120k first week, while Capitol’s Beastie Boys are lined up for next week. Initial projections for that album are running in the 500k range.