Pop Albums

What’s Happening

The Spice Girls’ “Spice” was the nation’s top-selling album for the second week in a row, but the big news among chart watchers was the dramatic rise of Bob Carlisle’s “Butterfly Kisses (Shades of Grace),” which jumped from No. 95 to No. 2 after selling nearly 100,000 copies. (The Spice Gils’ album sold nearly 135,000 copies.)

Carlisle’s album sales are being driven by the radio success of the hit single “Butterfly Kisses,” which the singer wrote a few years ago for his daughter’s 16th birthday.

Carlisle is known in the country field for his songwriting talents, having penned the Dolly Parton No. 1 hit “Why’d You Come in Here Lookin’ Like That?”

Meanwhile, Hanson’s “MMMbop” maintained its No. 1 position on the pop singles chart, edging out Notorious B.I.G.’s “Hypnotize.”

What’s Hot

Here are some recent releases that are generating critical or commercial attention:

Ani DiFranco’s “Living in Clip” (Righteous Babe). DiFranco pumps emotions up to heroic scale, emerging as the bruised, enraged female counterpart to Springsteen’s sensitive Jersey boy.

Erasure’s “Cowboy” (Maverick). With such tasty techno-pop bonbons as “Rain,” the veteran British synth-pop duo of Vince Clarke and Andy Bell display their usual flair for melodic vocals and blurb-like sentimentality.

John Fogerty’s “Blue Moon Swamp” (Warner Bros). It’s a good sign when an album leaves you humming. It’s not so good when what you’re humming isn’t on the album in question. The very first bars of “Southern Streamline” practically dare you not to start singing “Bad Moon Rising.” What was visionary in the late ‘60s here sounds stale now.

Indigo Girls’ “Shaming of the Sun” (Epic). Aside from “Shame on You,” which perfectly showcases the Girls’ folksy charms, the rest of the album’s themes are drowned in a morass of instrumental bombast and overblown sentimentality.

George Strait’s “Carrying Your Love With Me” (MCA Nashville). Like Dirty Harry, Strait knows his limitations, and like Clint Eastwood, he plays to his strengths as he gets older. Although he sounds more sprightly than ever, he’s still unable to breathe life into the vaguely drawn ballads here with vocal power alone.

Various Artists’ “Time and Love: The Music of Laura Nyro” (Astor Place). This project of music by women doesn’t boast the powerhouse names, but the lineup, featuring Rosanne Cash, Phoebe Snow, Jill Sobule, Suzanne Vega and others, is marked by an integrity and independence benefiting the honoree.

What’s New

Last Tuesday: John Fogerty’s “Blue Moon Swamp” (Warner Bros.), Michael Jackson’s “Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix” (Epic), Blessed Union of Soul’s “Blessed Union of Souls” (EMI), the Foo Fighters’ “The Colour and the Shape” (Roswell/Capitol) and Skunk Anansie’s “Stoosh” (Epic).

What’s Coming

Next Tuesday: Paul McCartney’s “Flaming Pie” (Capitol).

June 3: The Wu-Tang Clan’s “Wu-Tang Forever” (Loud/RCA).