Ryan Adams, Interpol, Fall Out Boy Return To Rock Charts
After a three-year hiatus, unusual for the typically hyper-productive Ryan Adams, the singer/songwriter's self-titled 14th solo album in 14 years marks his first No. 1 on Top Rock Albums and his…

After a three-year hiatus, unusual for the typically hyper-productive Ryan Adams, the singer/songwriter’s self-titled 14th solo album in 14 years marks his first No. 1 on Top Rock Albums and his highest rank on the Billboard 200 (No. 4).
It starts with 45,000 first-week copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan, bumping the Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 soundtrack from the top of Top Rock Albums after five weeks. Adams’ previous proper album, 2011’s Ashes & Fire, debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 (tying 2007’s Easy Tiger for his former best ranking) and No. 3 on Top Rock Albums (with 49,000 opening-week units). The new set also tops Vinyl Albums (6,000 sold), marking his biggest vinyl sales week.
Since 1995, Adams has released three albums and four EPs with his former band Whiskeytown and 14 full-length albums and nine EPs as a solo act. Before settling on his new set, Adams scrapped an entire record he spent $100,000 to record with Glyn Johns (Led Zeppelin, the Who, Eagles).
Not even a month ago, Adams released 1984, a surprise 10-song, limited edition 7″ that evokes the hardcore music of its namesake year. The EP sold out through PAX-AM, Adams’ Los Angeles label and studio, selling 3,000 physical copies and an additional 2,000 digital copies. Adams released yet another EP on Sept. 17, Jacksonville, a three-track, 10-minute 7″ (and part of the PAX-AM Single Series). Meanwhile, first Ryan Adams single “Gimme Something Good” spends a second week at No. 2 on Adult Alternative Songs, where Adams has landed two No. 1s: 2001’s “New York, New York” and 2011’s “Lucky Now.”
INTER-ESTING: Interpol‘s fifth studio album El Pintor (an anagram of Interpol) starts at No. 2 on Top Rock Albums with 31,000 sold. It’s the group’s third consecutive top 10 on the Billboard 200 (No. 7), following its previous studio album, 2010’s self-titled set, which debuted and peaked at No. 7 and sold 38,000 first-week copies, and 2007’s Our Love to Admire (No. 4, 73,000). El Pintor also debuts at No. 2 on Vinyl Albums with 5,000 sold.
The set’s first single, “All the Rage Back Home,” ranks at No. 26 on Alternative Songs and debuts at No. 41 on Hot Rock Songs, boosted by a 137 percent increase in streaming points (328,000 U.S. streams, with 72 percent of streams from Spotify, according to Nielsen BDS).
El Pintor is the New York City-based post-punk band’s first album without previous bassist Carlos Dengler. For the new record, Paul Banks played double duty on lead vocals and bass, telling Billboard, “This is Interpol. It’s the same core, minus an ingredient. But it’s almost like with a chemical compound, how certain bonds can get stronger or become more radioactive when you take out one element.”
Four other sets enter the Top Rock Albums top 10. Former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant’s 10th solo album Lullaby and … The Ceaseless Roar starts at No. 4 (30,000 sold); Australian newcomer Vance Joy’s debut album Dream Your Life Away follows at No. 5 (18,000), as his hit “Riptide” tops Rock Airplay for a sixth week; Swedish death-metal group In Flames tops Hard Rock Albums for the first time with Siren Charms (No. 6, 9,000); and Death From Above 1979’s sophomore album The Physical World (No. 7, 8,000) arrives nearly 10 years after its debut You’re a Woman I’m a Machine.
‘CENTURIES’ STARTS: Fall Out Boy’s new single “Centuries” smashes onto Hot Rock Songs at No. 2, securing the band its highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100 (No. 22) since 2008’s “I Don’t Care” (No. 21). The track starts at No. 1 on Rock Digital Songs with 14,000 first-week downloads sold (which account for 81 percent of its total chart points).
The track, which will be featured in ESPN’s forthcoming college football playoff coverage, previews the group’s sixth studio album. The pop-punk anthem (whose chorus features a sample of Suzanne Vega’s “Tom’s Diner,” a No. 5 Hot 100 hit in 1990) starts at No. 24 on Alternative Songs. The group’s previous studio album, Save Rock and Roll, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in April 2013.
Fall Out Boy group recorded an EP produced by none other than Ryan Adams at his PAX-AM studio (PAX-AM Days EP), which debuted and peaked at No. 10 on Top Rock Albums and No. 25 on the Billboard 200 last November.