The next time Creed release an album, take Scott Stapp's hunches as prophesy. A week after predicting his band's Weathered would overshadow new albums by Pink, Kid Rock and others on next week's Billboard 200 albums chart (see [article id="1451152"]"Creed Think They'll Beat Out Pink, Sting, Now 8 For #1 Chart Slot"[/article]), it did just that, while also achieving the honor of having the second highest first-week sales totals of any album released this year.

The Floridian rockers sold more than 887,000 copies of Weathered to land at #1 on next week's chart, according to SoundScan figures released Wednesday (November 28). Creed is now two for three when it comes to placing albums atop the chart, as their previous album, 1999's Human Clay, occupied the same slot after its first week in stores.

Only 'NSYNC's Celebrity, with 1.8 million in first-week sales, topped Weathered's impressive numbers this year. Britney Spears' Britney, which will come in at # 3 next week, is the album with the third highest first-week sales.

Weathered's debut-week sales rank it third among rock albums in the SoundScan era (since 1991), following Limp Bizkit's Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water, which sold more than 1.02 million in its first week last year, and Pearl Jam's Vs., which moved more than 950,000 copies its first week in 1993.

Albums by Kid Rock and Pink will also make noble first-week showings. Rock's Cocky will land at #7 with more than 222,000 in sales, while Pink's Missundaztood follows right behind with more than 220,000.

The rest of next week's top 10 finds this week's top dog, Garth Brooks' Scarecrow, at #4; Now That's What I Call Christmas! jumping up 10 spots to #5; Enya's A Day Without Rain, seemingly immovable from the top tier after over a year of chart life, at #6; Enrique Iglesias' Escape sliding from #6 to #9; and Linkin Park re-entering the top 10 at the rear with Hybrid Theory.

Besides the chart prevalence of Christmas albums — Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas Extraordinaire continues to crawl up the chart to land next week at #15 — another sure sign the shopping season is upon us is an increase in overall sales. All but seven albums in the top 40, including Michael Jackson's Invincible (falling from #4 to #11), Shakira's Laundry Service (#3 to #16) and Jewel's This Way (#9 to #20), sold more copies than it did the week before.

'NSYNC's Celebrity will be the biggest gainer on next week's chart, as the group's latest LP, released in July, leaps 11 spots to #22, with more than 108,000 in sales, nearly doubling last week's figures.

The flipside of the winner-loser coin finds Rob Zombie's Sinister Urge taking the greatest chart plunge. The groovy ghoulie's second solo effort will slip from #8 to #30, selling nearly half of its first-week figures.

The remainder of the top 20 includes Nickelback's Silver Side Up at #12; Madonna's Vol. 2 - Greatest Hits at #13; Usher's 8701 at #14; Ja Rule's Pain Is Love at #17; Pink Floyd's Echoes - The Best of Pink Floyd at #18; and Backstreet Boys' The Hits - Chapter One at #19.

Among next week's other notable chart debuts are Timbaland & Magoo's Indecent Proposal at #29; Smashing Pumpkins' retrospective Greatest Hits at #31; Ghostface Killah's Bulletproof Wallets at #34; Jill Scott's first live album, Experience: Jill Scott, at #38; Mick Jagger's Goddess in the Doorway, the Rolling Stones singer's fourth solo album and first in eight years, at #39; Sting's live album All This Time at #40; the Dungeon Family's Even in Darkness at #42; 8Ball's Almost Famous at #47; Marc Anthony's Libre at #57; Too Short's Chase the Cat at #71; G-Dep's Child of the Ghetto at #105; Prince's Rainbow Children at #108; "The Lord of the Rings" soundtrack at #116; Mudvayne's The Beginning of All Things to End at #122; and Hoobastank's self-titled debut at #135.