WEEK IN PREVIEW:
SHAMAN SHINES, FOOS FIGHT ON, ROD & ROWLAND ROCK

With fewer than 60 shopping days until Christmas, only 32 until Hanukkah and 59 until Kwanzaa, the Q4 heat is now officially on high. Those with functioning consciences would like to remind us of the "true meaning" of the holidays and remind us that "it’s the thought that counts," but the only kind of holiday bells those with product to ram through the system are interested in hearing at this point are attached to cash registers.

That said, those very bells have been ringing in earnest this week for Santana’s Shaman (Arista), which will run away with #1 on the chart this week, thanks to the Michelle Branch duet "The Game of Love" and, of course, the people’s enduring love for a spritual fella named Carlos.

Shaman should come in at around 300k, besting current chart-topper Faith Hill by as much as 100k, as the latter’s Cry (Warner Bros.) experiences substantial second-week drop off.

RCA’s Foo Fighters, meanwhile, appear destined for a 125k showing for One by One. And Rod Stewart’s J Records debut, It Had to Be You... The Great American Songbook, looks to have broken the 100k barrier, while Kelly Rowland’s Simply Deep (Columbia/CRG) appears at this point to have moved about 70k for the week.

Hitting the street Tuesday are some truly hot tamales: Eminem’s 8 Mile soundtrack (Shady/Interscope) will, of course, be next week’s number one, with most figuring it does at least 800k. Other big releases include Christina Aguilera (RCA), Nirvana (Geffen) and Shaggy (MCA).

But back to this week: At Top 40 radio, it’s all about Good Charlotte’s "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" (Epic), Sean Paul’s "Gimme the Light" (VP/Atlantic) and T.A.T.U.’s "All the Things She Said" (Interscope).

At Crossover, it’s a four-way contest for Most-Added bragging rights: Tyrese’s "How You Gonna Act Like That" (J), Aaliyah’s "Gotta Give It Up" (Blackground/Universal), Toni Braxton’s "Hit the Freeway" (Arista) and Snoop Dogg’s "From tha Chuuuch to tha Palace" (Priority/Capitol) are all competing for the attentions of the most stations.

And at Post Modern, it looks like Trust Company and their "Running from Me" (Geffen) will best the rest, with Pacifier’s "Bullitproof" (Arista) right behind.