Mayer's Mark

How heavy is platinum? John Mayer already has a pretty good idea, but it looks like he’ll have another plaque to throw onto the scale with ”Heavier Things,” his second studio album, enjoying a boffo first-week bow and 316,000 units sold. Seal’s commercial fate remains yet unsealed, seeing how his new effort ”Seal IV” debuted at No. 3 with a reasonable 81,000. The most startling chart leap belonged to Warren Zevon, whose ”The Wind” sold 47,000 and jumped 28 spots in week 3 to No. 12 — aided, speaking of heavy, by the long-dreaded headlines announcing his passing.

POP ALBUMS

LAST WEEKS ON WEEK CHART

1 — JOHN MAYER 1 Heavier Things, Aware/Columbia 2 1 HILARY DUFF 3 Metamorphosis, Buena Vista 3 — SEAL 1 Seal IV, Warner Bros. 4 3 ALAN JACKSON 5 Greatest Hits Volume II…, Arista Nashville 5 4 BEYONCE 12 Dangerously in Love, Columbia 6 6 VARIOUS ARTISTS 4 The Neptunes Present…Clones, Arista 7 5 EVANESCENCE 28 Fallen, Wind-up 8 2 MARY J. BLIGE 3 love & life, Geffen 9 7 CHINGY 9 Jackpot, Disturbing Tha Peace/Capitol 10 9 VARIOUS ARTISTS 9 Bad Boys II soundtrack, Bad Boy/Universal 11 10 50 CENT 32 Get Rich or Die Tryin’, Shady/Aftermath/Interscope 12 40 WARREN ZEVON 3 The Wind, Artemis 13 11 YOUNGBLOODZ 3 Drankin’ Patnaz, So So Def/Arista 14 8 COLDPLAY 55 A Rush of Blood to the Head Capitol 15 14 LIL JON & THE EAST SIDE BOYZ 46 Kings of Crunk, TVT

(C) 2003 VNU BUSINESS MEDIA, INC./NIELSEN SOUNDSCAN. USED WITH PERMISSION FROM BILLBOARD, SEPT. 19, 2003.

IN STORES SEPTEMBER 30

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IN STORES SEPTEMBER 30

DIDO Life for Rent (Arista) Her debut, No Angel, made her the best-selling U.K. female artist ever. No pressure, then, for this follow-up to do well.

LYLE LOVETT My Baby Don’t Tolerate (Curb/Lost Highway) Fourteen new tunes that span R&B, gospel, folk, and different shades of country.

STING Sacred Love (A&M) Mary J. Blige feels the Love on ”Whenever I Say Your Name,” a duet with adult-contemporary radio’s tantric hero.

BETTE MIDLER Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook (Columbia) Yes, it’s another CD of standards from another aging singer. But unlike Rod, Midler’s been working this genre since the days of eight-tracks. Bet it’ll be divine.