By the skin of its feline teeth, Aerosmith has the nation's No. 1 album. "Nine Lives," the band's twelfth studio release, sold 139,979 copies for the week ending March 23, according to SoundScan. That was exactly 169 more copies than the No. 2 Space Jam soundtrack -- one of the thinnest margins for No. 1 since the counter-scanning technology of SoundScan was introduced in 1991.
With a No. 1 rock radio hit, "Falling In Love (Is Hard On The Knees);" a March 22 performance on "Saturday Night Live;" and a major promotional push from Columbia, anxious to break even on its reported $30 million Aerosmith investment, it would have been a black eye for the Boston band if it hadn't come in on top. Aerosmith's surprisingly close competition came from the four-month-old "Space Jam" soundtrack, whose upsurge in popularity can be explained by the fact that the movie recently hit video stores, exposing a new pool of consumers to its music. Since its arrival at video two weeks ago, the album has climbed from No. 14 to No. 2.
Despite its hard-fought victory, Aerosmith's top spot will be short-lived. Because as surely as the Oscar goes to the sweeping love story, "Nine Lives" will be squashed like a bug next week when the late Notorious B.I.G.'s "Life After Death" debuts huge at No. 1. The album will almost certainly sell a half-million copies in its first seven days of release.
From the top, it was "Nine Lives"; "Space Jam"; Scarface's "The Untouchable" (112,000 copies sold); LeAnn Rimes' "Unchained Melody" (106,000); "The Spice Girls" (104,000); Jewel's "Pieces of You" (100,000); U2's "Pop" (99,000); The Wallflowers' "Bringing Down the Horse" (94,000); and No Doubt's "Tragic Kingdom" (81,000).
Note of encouragement: The soundtrack to "Selena" jumps from No. 20 to No. 12 in its second week of release. Note of concern: U2's "Pop" slides from No. 1 to No. 8 in its third week.
On the singles side, Puff Daddy (aka producer Sean "Puffy" Combs) continues to rule with his "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" (featuring Mase) at No. 1 (172,000 copies sold), followed by the Spice Girls' "Wannabe" (96,000); Dru Hi