Very impressive top 2 this week. The Weeknd debuting with a big number was to be expected but I can't say I was expecting quite that big. 326K proper sales and 412K overall make Beauty Behind The Madness the second-biggest #1 of the year so far, behind only Drake. For comparison's sake, he has already outsold his previous album Kiss Land, which entered at #2 and has sold roughly 273K. Halsey does amazing as well and without a hit to her name yet! She may plummet next week because of that but we'll see, still a great result. Speaking of plummeting, Carly Rae Jepsen drops from #16 to #64.

 

01 NE 01 The Weeknd, Beauty Behind The Madness (412,000 (326,000 | 86,000 SEA/TEA))

02 NE 01 Halsey, Badlands (115,000 (97,000 | 18,000 SEA/TEA))

03 02 04 Luke Bryan, Kill The Lights (50,000)

04 07 45 Taylor Swift, 1989 (44,000 (24,000 | 20,000 SEA/TEA))

05 03 04 Dr. Dre, Compton (32,000)

06 05 63 Ed Sheeran, x (28,000)

07 NE 01 Maddie & Tae, Start Here (28,000)

08 NE 01 Beach House, Depression Cherry (27,000)

09 NE 01 Ben Rector, Brand New (26,000 (25,000 | 1,000 SEA/TEA))

10 01 02 Disturbed, Immortalized (26,000)

11 12 07 Future, DS2

12 11 45 Sam Hunt, Montevallo

13 18 16 twenty one pilots, Blurryface

14 14 30 Drake, If You're Reading This It's Too Late

15 10 04 Various Artists, NOW 55

16 09 87 N.W.A., Straight Outta Compton

17 53 11 Tori Kelly, Unbreakable Smile

18 24 21 Shawn Mendes, Handwritten

19 19 34 Meghan Trainor, Title

20 20 33 Fall Out Boy, American Beauty / American Psycho

21 15 05 Soundtrack, Descendants

22 23 64 Sam Smith, In The Lonely Hour

23 27 39 J. Cole, 2014 Forest Hills Drive

24 45 38 Nicki Minaj, The Pinkprint

25 31 82 Eric Church, The Outsiders

26 29 10 Meek Mill, Dreams Worth More Than Money

27 21 19 Zac Brown Band, Jekyll + Hyde

28 26 03 Melanie Martinez, Cry Baby

29 39 28 Big Sean, Dark Sky Paradise

30 49 28 Skrillex & Diplo, Skrillex & Diplo Present Jack U

31 74 02 Alessia Cara, Four Pink Walls (EP)

32 34 14 Major Lazer, Peace Is The Mission

33 35 53 Maroon 5, V

34 40 25 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly

35 NE 01 Motörhead, Bad Magic

36 36 47 Florida Georgia Line, Anything Goes

37 62 79 The Weeknd, Trilogy

38 38 48 Hozier, Hozier

39 04 02 Kip Moore, Wild Ones

40 41 35 Rae Sremmurd, SremmLife

41 17 02 Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

42 56 19 Elle King, Love Stuff

43 46 17 Rachel Platten, Fight Song (EP)

44 37 30 Soundtrack, Fifty Shades Of Grey

45 42 14 Jason Derulo, Everything Is 4

46 50 08 Tyrese, Black Rose

47 47 18 Mumford & Sons, Wilder Mind

48 64 55 twenty one pilots, Vessel

49 52 11 Breaking Benjamin, Dark Before Dawn

50 48 40 WALK THE MOON, TALKING IS HARD

51 55 46 Little Big Town, Pain Killer

52 54 31 Fifth Harmony, Reflection

53 63 12 Charlie Puth, Some Type Of Love EP

54 117 19 Josh Groban, Stages

55 06 02 Rob Thomas, The Great Unknown

56 22 03 Elvis Presley, Elvis Forever

57 44 04 tobyMac, This Is Not A Test

58 NE 01 Foals, What Went Down

59 66 15 A$AP Rocky, At.Long.Last.A$AP

60 43 10 X Ambassadors, VHS

61 NE 01 Andra Day, Cheers To The Fall

62 13 02 Bon Jovi, Burning Bridges

63 NE 01 Jimi Hendrix Experience, Freedom: Atlanta Pop Festival

64 16 02 Carly Rae Jepsen, E*MO*TION

65 120 17 Soundtrack, Pitch Perfect 2

66 59 108 Luke Bryan, Crash My Party

67 60 68 Brantley Gilbert, Just As I Am

68 86 48 Jason Aldean, Old Boots, New Dirt

69 71 99 Drake, Nothing Was The Same

70 69 43 Zac Brown Band, Greatest Hits So Far...

71 84 157 Imagine Dragons, Night Visions

72 73 93 Dr. Dre, The Chronic

73 78 25 Soundtrack, Furious 7

74 101 17 Lauren Daigle, How Can It Be

75 79 29 Imagine Dragons, Smoke + Mirrors

76 61 188 Lana Del Rey, Born To Die

77 97 145 Michael Jackson, The Essential Michael Jackson

78 95 101 Fleetwood Mac, Greatest Hits

79 NE 01 Iration, Hotting Up

80 85 231 Eminem, The Eminem Show

81 70 127 Dr. Dre, Dr. Dre -- 2001

82 80 149 Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city

83 83 131 Drake, Take Care

84 51 06 Jill Scott, Woman

85 89 56 Trey Songz, Trigga

86 107 14 Florence + The Machine, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful

87 67 03 Various Artists, Wondaland Presents: The Eephus (EP)

88 91 54 Ariana Grande, My Everything

89 90 39 Carrie Underwood, Greatest Hits: Decade #1

90 28 02 Tasha Cobbs, One Place Live

91 58 22 Flo Rida, My House (EP)

92 94 160 Ed Sheeran, +

93 98 50 Kenny Chesney, The Big Revival

94 87 58 Sia, 1000 Forms Of Fear

95 82 58 Soundtrack, Guardians Of The Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1

96 NE 01 Yo La Tengo, Stuff Like That There

97 81 42 One Direction, Four

98 68 31 Andy Grammer, Magazines Or Novels

99 77 08 Kidz Bop Kids, Kidz Bop 29

100 99 144 Florida Georgia Line, Here's To The Good Times

101 NE 01 Van Morrison, The Essential Van Morrison

102 108 08 Cam, Welcome To Cam Country (EP)

103 NE 01 Soilwork, The Ride Majestic

104 NE 01 Meytal, Alchemy

105 88 07 Tame Impala, Currents

106 109 257 Eminem, Curtain Call: The Hits

107 92 108 Foo Fighters, Greatest Hits

108 100 110 2Pac, Greatest Hits

109 112 23 Kid Rock, First Kiss

110 111 372 Journey, Journey's Greatest Hits

111 103 58 5 Seconds Of Summer, 5 Seconds Of Summer

112 102 380 Bob Marley And The Wailers, Legend: The Best Of Bob Marley And The Wailers

113 114 79 Cole Swindell, Cole Swindell

114 113 49 Blake Shelton, Bringing Back The Sunshine

115 72 05 N.W.A., The Best Of N.W.A.: The Strength Of Street Knowledge

116 116 53 Chase Rice, Ignite The Night

117 RE 16 Darius Rucker, Southern Style

118 NE 01 Destroyer, Poison Season

119 115 60 G-Eazy, These Things Happen

120 151 24 James Bay, Chaos And The Calm

121 106 49 Tove Lo, Queen Of The Clouds

122 08 02 Ghost, Meliora

123 122 242 Bruno Mars, Doo-Wops & Hooligans

124 96 07 Alan Jackson, Angels And Alcohol

125 123 34 Mark Ronson, Uptown Special

126 132 237 Adele, 21

127 136 45 Billy Joel, The Essential Billy Joel

128 126 07 Queen, Greatest Hits I II & III: The Platinum Collection

129 118 12 Tim McGraw, 35 Biggest Hits

130 RE 11 James Taylor, Before This World

131 133 96 Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP 2

132 NE 01 Various Artists, Top 25 Praise Songs: 2016 Edition

133 125 124 Fall Out Boy, Save Rock And Roll

134 124 06 Soundtrack, Southpaw: Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture

135 138 125 Taylor Swift, Red

136 RE 13 Britney Spears, The Singles Collection

137 129 16 Kelsea Ballerini, The First Time

138 142 99 Metallica, Master Of Puppets

139 153 129 Michael Jackson, Bad

140 65 03 Bullet For My Valentine, Venom

141 128 10 Miguel, Wildheart

142 130 16 Zedd, True Colors

143 135 11 Kacey Musgraves, Pageant Material

144 NE 01 Sidewalk Prophets, Something Different

145 167 83 Five Finger Death Punch, The Wrong Side Of Heaven...Volume 1

146 144 91 Beyoncé, Beyoncé

147 121 40 David Guetta, Listen

148 RE 19 Frank Sinatra, Ultimate Sinatra

149 134 20 Alabama Shakes, Sound & Color

150 NE 01 Atlas Genius, Inanimate Objects

151 152 93 Soundtrack, Frozen

152 150 10 Soundtrack, Home

153 170 28 Travis Tritt, The Very Best Of Travis Tritt

154 157 15 Hillsong UNITED, Empires

155 148 09 Old Dominion, Old Dominion (EP)

156 NE 01 Nichole Nordeman, The Unmaking (EP)

157 156 12 Adam Lambert, The Original High

158 143 32 George Ezra, Wanted On Voyage

159 RE 92 Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, The Heist

160 131 194 AC/DC, Back In Black

161 147 78 One Direction, Midnight Memories

162 168 329 Guns N' Roses, Greatest Hits

163 177 128 Blake Shelton, Based On A True Story ...

164 160 97 Metallica, ...And Justice For All

165 155 128 OneRepublic, Native

166 166 33 J. Cole, Born Sinner

167 25 02 Pop Evil, Up

168 193 44 The Notorious B.I.G., Greatest Hits

169 141 11 Leon Bridges, Coming Home

170 140 06 Bea Miller, Not An Apology

171 158 205 Luke Bryan, Tailgates & Tanlines

172 174 55 Wiz Khalifa, Blacc Hollywood

173 146 18 Various Artists, NOW 54

174 165 104 Arctic Monkeys, AM

175 163 116 Green Day, American Idiot

176 173 203 Eminem, Recovery

177 RE 61 Kanye West, Graduation

178 RE 41 Nick Jonas, Nick Jonas

179 179 50 Chris Brown, X

180 NE 01 Various Artists, Mud Digger, Volume 6

181 187 43 J. Cole, Cole World: The Sideline Story

182 149 134 Amy Winehouse, Back To Black

183 191 243 Taylor Swift, Fearless

184 172 23 Soundtrack, Empire: Original Soundtrack From Season 1

185 RE 24 Barbra Streisand, Partners

186 RE 135 Bruno Mars, Unorthodox Jukebox

187 NE 01 Soundtrack, War Room: Music From And Inspired By The Original Motion Picture

188 181 88 Childish Gambino, Because The Internet

189 RE 55 Miley Cyrus, Bangerz

190 184 66 Miranda Lambert, Platinum

191 RE 11 The Weeknd, Kiss Land

192 188 97 Katy Perry, Prism

193 176 19 Ice Cube, Greatest Hits

194 178 06 Lamb Of God, VII: Sturm Und Drang

195 RE 45 A$AP Rocky, Long.Live.A$AP

196 RE 74 Snoop Doggy Dogg, Doggy Style

197 119 04 Michael Ray, Michael Ray

198 189 244 Creedence Clearwater Revival, Chronicle The 20 Greatest Hits

199 182 04 Anthony Brown & group therAPy, Everyday Jesus

200 110 07 Jason Isbell, Something More Than Free

The Weeknd's 'Beauty Behind the Madness' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart

By Keith Caulfield | September 06, 2015

 

The Weeknd rules the Billboard 200 albums chart as the singer's new album, Beauty Behind the Madness, bows at No. 1 with the second-biggest debut of 2015.

 

The album starts with a whopping 412,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Sept. 3, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 326,000 were pure album sales (his best sales week ever).

 

With the arrival, The Weeknd earns the second-largest overall weekly unit total and pure sales week for an album this year, behind only the debut of Drake's If You're Reading This It's Too Late (535,000 units; 495,000 in album sales).

 

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Sept. 19-dated chart (where The Weeknd is No. 1) will be posted in full to Billboard's Web sites on Wednesday, Sept. 9 (a day later than normal, due to the Labor Day holiday).

 

Beauty Behind the Madness was released through XO/Republic Records on Aug. 28 and is the third consecutive top 10 album for The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye. It follows 2012's Trilogy (it debuted and peaked at No. 4) and 2013's Kiss Land (a No. 2 debut/peak). The new album was led by three hit singles that have all reached the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 chart: "Earned It" (initially from the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack; the song peaked at No. 3), "Can't Feel My Face" (No. 1 for two weeks) and "The Hills" (climbing to a new peak of No. 4 on the Sept. 12-dated chart).

 

Shortly after the release of Beauty Behind the Madness, The Weeknd performed on the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) on Aug. 30 and starred in new TV commercials for Apple Music. Six days before the album hit retail, The Weeknd headlined the Billboard Hot 100 Festival on Aug. 22.

 

An act that will be touring with The Weeknd later this year, Halsey, debuts at No. 2 on the new Billboard 200 chart with her debut full-length album, Badlands. The set, released through Astralwerks Records, opens with 115,000 units (of which 97,000 are pure album sales) and also launches at No. 1 on the Alternative Albums chart.

 

Badlands secures the second-biggest debut of 2015 for a female artist's first full-length album both in units and pure album sales. It stands behind Meghan Trainor's Title, which bowed with 238,000 units and 195,000 in album sales.

 

With Badlands' No. 2 start, it gives the Astralwerks label its highest charting album ever, surpassing its previous high of No. 5 (earned when David Guetta's Nothing But the Beat debuted and peaked at the rank in 2011).

 

Halsey's debut EP, Room 93, reached No. 3 on the Heatseekers Albums chart in 2014 and has 41,000. Badlands' current single, "New Americana," has so far peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard + Twitter Top Tracks chart and No. 22 on Alternative Songs.

 

Luke Bryan's former No. 1 album, Kill the Lights, dips one rung to No. 3 with 50,000 units (down 25 percent). Taylor Swift's 1989 climbs 7-4 with 44,000 units (up 50 percent) and 24,000 in album sales (up 35 percent). Like The Weeknd, Swift performed on the VMAs and also took home multiple awards, including video of the year (for "Bad Blood"). Swift also benefits from the debut of the music video for 1989's new single "Wildest Dreams." It premiered on the VMAs pre-show.

 

Dr. Dre's Compton descends two spots to No. 5 with 32,000 units (down 47 percent) and Ed Sheeran's X moves 5-6 with just over 28,000 units (down 10 percent).

 

Country duo Maddie & Tae enter at No. 7 with their debut full-length album, Start Here (28,000 units). The pair earlier hit No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart with the album's "Girl In a Country Song" (which was also featured on their self-titled EP). Their current single, "Fly," reached the top 10 on the Country Airplay tally dated Sept. 12 (rising 12-9).

 

Another duo, but of a more alternative flavor, starts at No. 8: Beach House. The pair's new Depression Cherry bows with 27,000 units and gives the act its second top 10 album, following their previous release, 2012's Bloom (No. 7 debut and peak).

 

Singer-songwriter Ben Rector nabs his biggest week ever, as his latest studio effort Brand New debuts at No. 9 with 26,000 units (with 25,000 of that pure album sales). It's his best sales week and first top 10 album.

 

Last week's No. 1 album, Disturbed's Immortalized, falls to No. 10 with just over 26,000 units (down 73 percent) to close out the top 10.

Monstrous sales for The Weeknd! Very few acts can do those numbers now, not to mention outside Q4, and he doesn't strike me as an obvious huge album seller so I'm very impressed. Great to see him on such a marked upward sales trajectory as well, especially given that 'Kiss Land' has a respectable total (though apparently his compilation album 'Trilogy', which was released a year earlier, is on 560k :o).

 

Halsey's commercial success everywhere continues to mystify me, but fair play to her! Her popularity and any hype around the album seems to have completely passed me by. Only heard a few of her songs, all of which are decent, so will have to check out the album soon.

I too have to admit that I am surprised by Halsey's success, I thought she'd do similar to Tinashe and Ciara's recent albums, debut in the lower regions of the top 20, then disappear mysteriously never to surface again. However, like the former two albums, Badlands is stunning, and I have to admit it's one of my favourite albums of the year. Not quite sure how it will sell in the long run, but the first-week sales give me hope it could pass 500,000 eventually and go Gold

 

The Weeknd was always going to sell huge numbers in his first week, we knew that much as soon as CFMF was released and began to rise, though long term might be a different matter. It will easily cross 1,000,000 but I can't see further than that

 

And OH DEAR at Carly Rae Jepsen, 16-64 in one week, out of the top 150 next week I presume... whoops... then again, Bon Jovi haven't done much better, going 13-62, and I actually thought they'd sell some, considering their last three albums have all gone to #1 with their last two debuting with 101,000 and 163,000. I admit Burning Bridges isn't a "proper" studio album as some call it, but that's a woeful performance from them.

Embarrassing for Carly considering the amount of money pumped into this album.