Music

The indie folk rock band lead a stampede of new names into the top five and prevent Billboard Hot 200 to have another record-breaking slow week.

• Jan 27, 2011

AceShowbiz - The Decemberists debut at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 200 this week. Their latest studio album "The King Is Dead" leads the U.S. albums chart with 94,000 copies sold in its first week of release, exceeding its initial prediction of around 70,000. It marks their highest-charting effort and their best-ever sale week.

The sale figure of the No. 1 album might still be quite so-so, but it manages to halt the string of Hot 200's record-breaking slow weeks. The other thing about this week's list is that all hold-overs are forced to move out of the Top 5 as new entries come flooding the chart.

"Kidz Bop 19" collection bows at No. 2 with 70,000, The Script's "Science & Faith [US Version]" enters at No. 3 (49,000), Social Distortion's "Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes" lands at No. 4, (46,000), and Gregg Allman's "Low Country Blues" starts at No. 5 (36,000).

Those surviving the Top 10 in this week's new-release crowded chart are Bruno Mars' "Doo - Wops & Hooligans", Taylor Swift's "Speak Now", Nicki Minaj's "Pink Friday" and Mumford & Sons' "Sigh No More". Meanwhile, coming back after being kicked out of the list is Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream".

Elsewhere, Bruno Mars leads Digital Songs chart with his second single "Grenade" (204,000). Trailing behind him is Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow" with 201,00 downloads. Last week's champ Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me" falls to No. 3 with another 183,000.

1. "The King Is Dead" - The Decemberists (94,000)
2. "Kidz Bop 19" compilation - various artists (70,000)
3. "Science & Faith [US Version]" - The Script (49,000)
4. "Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes" - Social Distortion (46,000)
5. "Low Country Blues" - Gregg Allman (36,000)
6. "Doo - Wops & Hooligans" - Bruno Mars (34,000)
7. "Teenage Dream" - Katy Perry (33,000)
8. "Speak Now" - Taylor Swift (31,000)
9. "Pink Friday" - Nicki Minaj (28,000)
10. "Sigh No More" - Mumford & Sons (27,000)