British rockers Mumford & Sons have topped the Billboard 200 Albums chart with the release of Wilder Mind. With sales of 249,000 units, 231,000 of which are purely album sales, this marks the band’s second chart topping release and their second highest first week sales to date.
Mumford & Sons also have the third best selling album of 2015 thus far, beat out from the number two slot by a mere 3,000 units from Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly. Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late remains at the top spot in terms of sales with 495,000 units moved in his debut week.
Although sales of Wilder Mind are impressive, they are not quite as high as they were with the band’s 2012 release of Babel. Buoyed by the success of their 2009 debut Sigh No More, Babel moved 600,000 units in its first week. The album has the accolade of the largest sales week for a rock album this decade and has gone on to sell an impressive 2.7 million copies.
Behind Mumford & Sons on the Billboard 200 chart is Josh Groban’s Stages, which holds steadily at the number 2 position. With hits from the likes of Taylor Swift, Maroon 5, and One Direction, Now 54 debuted on the chart at the number 3 spot, earning the Now That’s What I Call Music! collection it’s 60th top ten album. Tech N9ne hit the number 4 spot with the release of Special Effects, while Zac Brown Brown Band’s Jekyll + Hyde falls from the top spot to number 5 on the chart.
The Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack remains strong at the number six spot thanks to an increase in sales related to the film’s impending home release. Another soundtrack, Furious 7’s, holds the number seven position, slipping down a few spots from last week’s chart. Rounding out the top ten are Sam Smith’s In The Lonely Hour, Taylor Swift’s 1989, and Ed Sheeran’s x, all of which have been performing exceptionally well on the charts since their releases in 2014.
Since it’s release Wilder Mind has garnered mixed reviews from fans and critics alike. The album’s lead single “Believe” topped the Alternative Songs and Adult Alternative Songs charts; however, it peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
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