Alt-metal kings Korn pulled into Strawberries Records in Framingham, Mass., on Wednesday (Aug. 26) armed with a #1 record, Follow the Leader, and a new lease on their music.

In the midst of their ongoing "Korn Kampaign" to drum up interest in their third album, Korn spent part of the day boasting about their chart position to the crowd of 2,000 fans and friends who had come out to see them.

"They announced it and everyone went crazy," said Heather Richardson, 20, a clerk at Strawberries. "People were really happy for them and they started chanting, 'Korn! Korn! Korn!' " According to SoundScan, Follow the Leader sold 270,000 copies in the week ending Aug. 23, enough to send the group to the top spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The band's previous album, Life Is Peachy, debuted at #3 on the chart before reaching the platinum mark (1 million sold) of their self-titled debut.

Also celebrating Korn's chart success was Eric vanHoven, the 19-year-old senior at Zeeland High School in Zeeland, Mich., who was suspended for a week earlier this year for wearing a T-shirt that simply bore the name of the group.

"I think that it's great that they got to #1," vanHoven said Wednesday afternoon (Aug. 26). "I like the album a lot and I really like 'Got The Life' and 'All In The Family' [RealAudio excerpt]. This album has a lot more rap than their other albums and I think it's cool."

Earlier this year, Korn singer Jonathan Davis said he had high expectations for the album and the promotional effort behind it. That includes Korn's headlining slot on this fall's highly anticipated "Family Values" alternative metal tour with Limp Bizkit, Ice Cube, WC, Rammstein and Orgy.

"We're not really that big yet," Davis explained, "[but] probably after this album, we will be. Our mugs are gonna be on TV a lot more now."

Korn's success came at Snoop Dogg's expense. The Dogg's Da Game Is to Be Sold, Not to Be Told, which had held the #1 spot for the past two weeks, slipped to #3, sliding past the #2-charting Hello Nasty from punk-rappers the Beastie Boys. Also making a move in the top 10 this week was the R&B-centric soundtrack to the film "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," which inched up from #10 to #8 after selling 91,000, bringing its two-week total up to 191,000.

The next-highest debut of the week belonged to the greasepainted rap duo Insane Clown Posse, whose Forgotten Freshness Vol. 1-2, a collection of hard-to-find tracks from their pre-major-label days, came in at #46 after selling 30,000 copies. ICP's previous disc, The Great Milenko, dropped six spots to #132.

Also debuting this week was Phoenix Rising from Motown legends the Temptations at #59 and the soundtrack to "Blade," which features new tracks from such hip-hoppers as Mystikal and KRS-One, at #70.

Meanwhile, the current leader of the swing revival, former Stray Cat Brian Setzer, made his way into the top 15. His orchestra's The Dirty Boogie moved to #14, up four notches from last week. None of his genre-cohorts, however, fared as well: Cherry Poppin' Daddies slipped five spots to #30; Squirrel Nut Zippers lost 11 places to hit #40; and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy dropped six to #63.

Also headed south on the chart was a collection of artists that made big impressions last week. Funkmaster Flex, for example, saw his The Mix Tape Volume III: 60 Minutes Of Funk -- The Final Chapter tumble from #4 to #15 on sales of 70,000, bringing his two-week total up to 193,000. West Coast gangsta-rapper E-40 also experienced a drop, sliding from #13 to #26. Further down the chart, alt-rock darling Liz Phair saw her third full-length album, whitechocolatespaceegg, drop from #35 to #67 on sales of 39,000, bringing her two-week total to 62,000.

Several older albums made sizable leaps this week. Madonna's Ray of Light boosted itself 25 slots to #31. The Crystal Method's Vegas -- which has yo-yoed its way up and down the chart since being released last year -- was up again this week, from #175 to #158.

Finally, the most coincidental chartings of the week go to two debuts on the chart's lower reaches. "Hooch"-rockers Everything took #186 with their major-label debut, Super Natural. Beating them by a hair is soul singer Des'ree, whose Supernatural came in at #185.

The rest of the top 10: various artists, Armageddon -- The Album (#4); 'N Sync, 'N Sync (#5); Barenaked Ladies, Stunt (#6); Dr. Dolittle: The Album (#7); Backstreet Boys, Backstreet Boys (#9); and City Of Angels soundtrack (#10).