ROLLING ROCK!!!

Yes, it's still the first quarter. Yes, the usual suspects are in the Top Five. And yes, there have been times in the music industry that we will remember more fondly than these. That said, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it's shining well, quite loudly—you should pardon the mixed metaphor.

Please check out the jumps for Island/IDJ's Hoobastank (29-25), RCA's The Strokes (50-26) and the monster Top 50 debut for TVT's Default (#44). These are all new artists. These are all rock bands. These are all smashes.

Please greet the first real good news of the first quarter.

"Yes, there are some major signs of life in the new year," said Wherehouse Music's Bob Bell, trying to hide his necrophiliac tendencies. "Hoobastank and Default are picking up very nicely, and the Strokes are just exploding."

Of course, there's this week's Top Five of Arista Nashville's Alan Jackson, Wind-up's Creed, Warner Bros.' Linkin Park (a rock band), Def Jam South/IDJ's Ludacris and Roadrunner/IDJ's Nickelback (a rock band). There's also a #7 debut from Nothing/Interscope's Nine Inch Nails (a rock band) and an epic sales spike for Epic's Shakira and V2's I Am Sam soundtrack, with its concentration on Beatles covers By the way, have you seen what Hoobastank, The Strokes and Default did this week!?! Just asking.

"These rock records are not a quick burn," said Wherehouse's Bell, who's a bit burned out himself. "I fully expect to see them around at the end of the year."

And just like Florida Governor Jeb Bush's daughter, we look for the right prescription for our ills. LET'S ROCK!