Mitski’s Laurel Hell debuts atop Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Feb. 19), selling 24,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 10, according to MRC Data. It’s the best sales week yet, and first top 10, for the artist, who released her first full-length studio album a decade ago. Laurel Hell is the singer-songwriter’s sixth studio set, and first since she became wildly popular on TikTok. (Mitski’s last album was released in 2018.)
Also on Top Album Sales: new releases from Korn, Yo Gotti, Animal Collective and Bastille debut in the top 10.
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now MRC Data. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units.
The new Feb. 19, 2022-dated chart (where Laurel Hell debuts at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Feb. 15. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Laurel Hell was released on Feb. 4 via the record label Dead Oceans, and the set marks the first No. 1 on Top Album Sales for the company. The effort also arrives at No. 1 on Top Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums, Vinyl Albums, Tastemaker Albums and Top Current Album Sales. Laurel Hell bows at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 – Mitski’s first top 40-charting album on that tally.
Top Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums rank the week’s most popular alternative and rock releases, respectively, by equivalent album units. Vinyl Albums tallies the week’s top-selling vinyl LPs. Tastemaker Albums reflects the best-selling albums at independent and small chain record stores. Top Current Album Sales ranks the week’s biggest-selling current albums (not including catalog – older – releases).
Of Laurel Hell’s 24,000 copies sold in the week end Feb. 10, physical sales comprise 22,000 (nearly 17,000 on vinyl; 4,000 on CD and 1,000 on cassette) and digital sales comprise 2,000. With almost 17,000 copies sold on vinyl LP, the set scores the largest vinyl sales week for any album released in 2022, and largest vinyl debut for an album by a female artist since Adele’s 30 launched with 35,000 (Dec. 4, 2021-dated chart).
Mitski charted one earlier title on Top Album Sales, Be the Cowboy, which spent one week on the chart at No. 11 in 2018.
Korn’s new studio effort Requiem arrives at No. 2 on Top Album Sales, securing the 15th top 10-charting album for the rock band. Of the set’s nearly 20,000 copies sold in its first week, physical album sales comprise almost 14,000 (just over 8,000 on CD; 5,000 on vinyl LP and less than 1,000 on cassette) and digital sales comprise 6,000.
Disney’s Encanto soundtrack is a non-mover at No. 3 on Top Album Sales with 17,000 sold (up 5%).
Yo Gotti’s CM10: Free Game bows at No. 4 with 15,000 sold – the rapper’s fourth top 10 on Top Album Sales. Adele’s former leader 30 falls 4-5 with 12,000 sold (down 9%) and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours rises 9-6 with 11,000 sold (up 81%, largely owed to promotion in the iTunes Store).
Animal Collective captures its first top 10 on Top Album Sales as its new studio album Time Skiffs debuts at No. 7 with 7,000 sold. It’s the act’s first new album in six years. Animal Collective had previously gone as high as No. 13 in 2009 with Merriweather Post Pavilion.
The Weeknd’s Dawn FM falls 1-8 with 6,000 sold (down 83%). It reached the summit a week earlier following its release on CD.
Bastille bows at No. 9 with Give Me the Future, selling nearly 6,000 copies in its first week. It’s the third top 10 set for the group.
Taylor Swift’s chart-topping Red (Taylor’s Version) climbs 15-10 with 5,000 sold (up 3%).
In the week ending Feb. 10, there were 1.757 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 5.1% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.329 million (up 5.1%) and digital albums comprised 428,000 (up 5.2%).
There were 644,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Feb. 10 (down 10.5% week-over-week) and 678,000 vinyl albums sold (down 6.8%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 3.65 million (down 10.5% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 4.22 million (down 6.8%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 10.375 million (down 10.4% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 7.918 million (down 8.5%) and digital album sales total 2.457 million (down 16.2%).