THANK GOD FOR CREED!!!

Just when retailers were lamenting sales that lagged behind last year's numbers comes a week to add some holiday cheer. This week's Top 50 is 51% over last week's Top 50.

That's good.

There are many to thank for this. First, it's safe to say that Creed fans think the band is simply GODHEAD! It's also safe to say that retailers are anything but cross about that.

This week, Fred Durst's favorite rock band debuted at #1 with nearly 900k of the masses filling retailers' collection plates.

"Creed's fan base was very active this week," said Tower's Bob Feterl, who actively ponders active fan bases. "The momentum of the last album and the current hit single made this an extremely powerful debut."

But it wasn't just the Wind-up rockers providing retail with a religious experience. Check out the debut by the latest in the "Now" cash-cow compilation—a big #2 for Virgin's big "#8." And if that ain't enough "Now" wow for you, how about UTV's "Now Christmas" jumping 26-7 this week? Maybe there's some money in this whole Christmas thing after all.

Other Top 10 debuts belong to Atlantic's Kid Rock at #6 and Arista's Pink at #7, while Jive's Britney (#3), Capitol's Garth (#4) and Reprise's Enya (#5) round out the upper stratosphere.

Overall, it was a banner week for sales, with Interscope's Enrique, WB's Linkin Park and Roadrunner/IDJ's Nickelback all continuing to post impressive numbers. Meanwhile, Michael Jackson watchers are busy watching his album continue its excellent sales run, as the single "Butterflies" builds steadily. Yes, folks, Michael is packing a hit single.

Yeeehaaaaa! All this excitement, with next Tuesday still to come. Keep an eye peeled for chart debuts from J's Busta Rhymes, Columbia's "Concert for New York" Def Jam South/IDJ's Ludacris and Interscope's Smash Mouth.