`N Sync set to fade out with arrival of big new releases.(Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service)

Call it the calm before the superstar storm. Next week, huge new CDs from Britney Spears, Pearl Jam and Whitney Houston are due to blast onto Billboard magazine's top albums chart, so this week's list is the last hurrah for 'N Sync's record-setting "No Strings Attached."

In its eighth week as the nation's most popular CD, "No Strings Attached" sold a mere 188,000 copies, which still gave it a nice lead over the album that debuted in the No. 2 spot, the soundtrack from the latest "Mission: Impossible" film, starring Tom Cruise. "M:I-2" sold 130,000 units in its first week, but could get a boost from the success of one featured song: Metallica's "I Disappear," which already is No. 2 on the …