Tears for Fears’ The Tipping Point debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated March 12), selling 29,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending March 3, according to MRC Data. It’s the best sales week for the duo (Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith) since MRC Data began tracking sales in 1991.
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The Tipping Point is Tears for Fears’ first new studio album since 2004’s Everybody Loves a Happy Ending.
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 March 12-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on March 8. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of The Tipping Point’s 29,000 copies sold in the week end March 3, physical sales comprise 21,500 (12,000 on CD; 9,500 on vinyl and a negligible sum on cassette) and digital sales comprise 7,500. Sales were bolstered by the availability of multiple physical format variants of the album, including a Target-exclusive CD and vinyl LP (each with two bonus tracks).
The Tipping Point was ushered in with performances by Tears for Fears on ABC’s Good Morning America (Feb. 22) and CBS’ The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (Feb. 24), a feature on CBS’ Sunday Morning (Feb. 20) and a profile on NPR’s Weekend Edition (Feb. 26).
The Tipping Point is the first top 10 for Tears for Fears on the 30-year-old Top Album Sales chart. It also launches at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, marking the third top 10 for the band on that older list, following The Seeds of Love (No. 8 in 1989) and Songs From the Big Chair (No. 1 for five weeks in 1985).
The Tipping Point also debuts at No. 1 on Top Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Current Album Sales.
Top Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums rank the week’s most popular alternative and rock releases, respectively, by equivalent album units. Top Current Album Sales ranks the week’s biggest selling current albums (not including catalog – older – releases).
Avril Lavigne’s new Love Sux debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales with 19,000 copies sold, marking the seventh consecutive top five-charting effort for Lavigne (the entirety of her charting releases). Love Sux is her highest charting title on Top Album Sales since The Best Damn Thing spent two weeks at No. 1 in 2007. (She also previously led the list for one week with Under My Skin in 2004.)
Sturgill Simpson’s The Ballad of Dood & Juanita re-enters Top Album Sales at No. 3 following its release on vinyl LP on Feb. 25. The album was previously only available to purchase on CD and as a digital download.
In total, the album sold 14,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending March 3 (up 8,927%), with a little over 13,000 on vinyl LP. It also debuts at No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart – Simpson’s fourth leader. Ballad was issued on three vinyl variants – a standard black edition, a brown colored pressing exclusive to Vinyl Me Please and a clear vinyl edition (dubbed “natural” colored) with expanded packaging available via independent record stores.
The Ballad of Dood & Juanita debuted at No. 6 on the Sept. 4, 2021-dated Top Album Sales chart and spent two weeks on the list, before re-entering the new chart.
Veteran band Scorpions arrive at No. 4 on Top Album Sales with its new release Rock Believer, selling 12,000 copies. It’s the highest charting effort for the group on the 30-year-old Top Album Sales chart. Over on the Billboard 200, the set begins at No. 59, marking the 20th charting effort for the band, and highest charting title since 2010’s Sting in the Tail debuted and peaked at No. 23.
The chart-topping Encanto soundtrack falls 3-5 on Top Album Sales with 10,000 sold (down 16%), Adele’s former leader 30 dips 4-6 with 8,000 (down 6%) and Olivia Rodrigo’s No. 1 Sour descends 5-7 with 7,000 (down 2%).
The Pokemon 25: The Album compilation re-enters the chart at No. 8 following its release on vinyl LP. It sold 6,000 copies in total for the week (up 6,034%), nearly all on vinyl. It also bows at No. 3 on the Vinyl Albums chart.
Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours falls 7-9 on Top Album Sales with nearly 6,000 sold (down 11%). Machine Gun Kelly’s Tickets to My Downfall re-enters the list at No. 10 with nearly 6,000 sold (up 2,314%) following its release on pink-colored vinyl exclusively via Walmart stores. Tickets debuts at No. 5 on the Vinyl Albums chart.
In the week ending March 3, there were 1.727 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 4.8% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.332 million (up 5.7%) and digital albums comprised 395,000 (up 1.7%).
There were 621,000 CD albums sold in the week ending March 3 (up 8.1% week-over-week) and 701,000 vinyl albums sold (up 3.9%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 5.48 million (down 8.5% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 6.325 million (down 2%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 15.535 million (down 7.8% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 11.883 million (down 5%) and digital album sales total 3.652 million (down 16%).