Week of March 20

Melodic pop/rock seems to be the sound of the week, as two of the most proficient groups of that genre enter the chart this week and singer James Blunt returns to No. 1 with his latest slice of it.

With such hits as the No. 1's "Everybody Hurts" (1993) and "Strange Currencies" (1995) and the No. 2's "Losing My Religion" (1991) and "Drive" (1992), R.E.M. was one of the top artists of the 1990s. The group hasn't been quite as active in the past decade, but it returns to the charts with "It Happened Today" at No. 40. That's from the band's latest CD, "Collapse Into Now." It's the first chart hit for R.E.M. in about three years, since "Supernatural Superserious" went to No. 21.

As active as R.E.M. was in the '90s, the group at No. 39 was the past decade. Lifehouse didn't connect on my charts with the song that ruled Billboard's Hot 100 in 2001, "Hanging by a Moment." But the band made up for that with a strong run the past five years, including three No. 1's: "First Time" in 2007, "Whatever It Takes" in 2008 and "It Is What It Is" last year. "Falling In," which debuts this week, is the latest Lifehouse hit co-written by another strong pop/rock act of the 1990s, Jude Cole. As a solo singer, Cole hit the Top 10 five times in a row between 1990 and 1993, including No. 1 in 1990 with "Time for Letting Go" and in 1993 with "Tell the Truth."

At the top of the charts, James Blunt earns his second No. 1 hit with "There She Goes Again." (His first on my charts was "1973"; "You're Beautiful" was a hit before the charts restarted in mid-2006.)