A Flying Start

Alice in Chains’ “Jar of Flies” album igured to be off to a fast start--but not this fast. It debuted on top of both The Times’ Southern California and the national pop album charts. Quite a feat for this Seattle quartet, which climbs into heavyweight commercial category with bands like Pearl Jam and Nirvana. Look for Celine Dion’s single “The Power of Love”--up another notch to No. 2--to power its way to the top in the next week or two. A fast-rising album with No. 1 potential is Ace of Base’s “The Sign,” which jumped from No. 16 to No. 8.

TOP 10 ALBUMS

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 Jar of Flies, Alice in Chains (1) -- 2 Music Box, Mariah Carey (2) 1 3 Colour of My Love, Celine Dion (16) 10 4 Doggystyle, Snoop Doggy Dogg (4) 2 5 Toni Braxton, Toni Braxton (10) 4 6 Lethal Injection, Ice Cube (27) 3 7 Very Necessary, Salt-N-Pepa (7) 5 8 The Sign, Ace of Base (17) 16 9 August &. . .After, Counting Crows (15) 6 10 Greatest Hits, Tom Petty (5) 15

TOP 10 SINGLES

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 So Much in Love, All-4-Love (21) 1 2 The Power of Love, Celine Dion (1) 3 3 Stay, Eternal (46) 18 4 Whatta Man, Salt-N-Pepa (4) 5 5 All for Love, Adams/Stewart/Sting (2) 2 6 Getto Jam, Domino (3) 4 7 The Sign, Ace of Base (8) 8 8 Breathe Again, Toni Braxton (6) 6 9 Hero, Mariah Carey (9) 7 10 Understanding, Xscape (7) 10

TOP 10 R&B; ALBUMS

Title, Artist (National Rank) Last Week 1 Music Box, Mariah Carey (1) 1 2 Doggystyle, Snoop Doggy Dogg (2) 2 3 Toni Braxton, Toni Braxton (6) 4 4 Lethal Injection, Ice Cube (9) 3 5 Very Necessary, Salt-N-Pepa (4) 5 6 janet., Janet Jackson (7) 6 7 Diary of a Mad Band, Jodeci (3) 7 8 Old School, Old School (49) 8 9 12-Play, R. Kelly (5) -- 10 The Bodyguard, soundtrack (8) 10

Source: SoundScan Inc., for week ending Jan. 30