On The Rod Again

The Idol was hardly idle. Clay Aiken held on to No. 1 despite a strong showing by rocker-turned-crooner Rod Stewart, whose second collection of standards debuted at No. 2 with 212,000 copies sold. Another covers set, Mandy Moore’s ”Coverage,” found favor with 53,000 fans, scoring a No. 14 entry. And the Eagles’ hits disc landed the third-place slot with 162,000. Meanwhile, a few folks still want to hear new songs: 80,000 Bad Boys bought Loon’s first CD, and it took one week for Barenaked Ladies to sell 71,000 albums.

POP ALBUMS

LAST WEEKS WEEK ON CHART

1 1 CLAY AIKEN Measure of a Man, 19/RCA 2 2 — ROD STEWART As Time Goes By…, J Records 1 3 — EAGLES The Very Best Of, Warner Bros. 1 4 4 OUTKAST Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, Arista 5 5 2 LUDACRIS Chicken-N-Beer, Def Jam South 3 6 — LOON Loon, Bad Boy/Universal 1 7 6 DIDO Life for Rent, Arista 4 8 3 JAGGED EDGE Hard, Columbia 2 9 5 BARBRA STREISAND The Movie Album, Columbia 2 10 — BARENAKED LADIES Everything to Everyone, Warner Bros. 1 11 9 HILARY DUFF Metamorphosis, Buena Vista 9 12 15 CHINGY Jackpot, Disturbing Tha Peace/Capitol 15 13 12 NICKELBACK The Long Road, Roadrunner/Island Def Jam 5 14 — MANDY MOORE Coverage, Epic 1 15 18 3 DOORS DOWN Away From the Sun, Republic/Universal 9

(c) 2003 VNU BUSINESS MEDIA, INC./NIELSEN SOUNDSCAN. USED WITH PERMISSION FROM BILLBOARD, OCT. 31, 2003.

IN STORES NOVEMBER 11

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IN STORES NOVEMBER 11

PINK Try This (LaFace) Featuring a duet with raunchy electro-rapper Peaches, This is less revelatory and more about revelry than Pink’s soul-baring M!ssundaztood.

KID ROCK Kid Rock (Lava/Atlantic) On the follow-up to 2001’s multiplatinum Cocky, the Kid’s in Bad Company, covering the rockers’ 1975 hit ”Feel Like Makin’ Love.”

JOSH GROBAN Closer (Reprise) The male Charlotte Church reteams with producer David Foster for a second album of classy, elegiac pop.

TRIUMPH THE INSULT COMIC DOG Come Poop With Me (Warner Bros.) Freshly made sketches and ditties, plus appearances by dogged supporters Adam Sandler, Conan O’Brien, and Jack Black.

IN THE STUDIO

LL COOL J, in Miami, getting set to prove all over again that rap stardom can last for decades, not just days. Producer Timbaland is overseeing what will be the Cool one’s 11th album. No official release date or title yet. (Just don’t call it a comeback.)

SLIPKNOT, in L.A., with Uberproducer Rick Rubin (System of a Down, Johnny Cash), banging out an as-yet-untitled CD that’s due in the first quarter of 2004.

MONSTER MAGNET, in L.A., working on a disc tentatively called Monolithic Babies, with producer Scott Humphrey. The band’s eyeing an early-’04 release.