TOMORROW X TOGETHER lands its third No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated May 28), as Minisode 2: Thursday’s Child debuts atop the tally. The set sold 65,500 in the U.S. in the week ending May 19, according to Luminate, marking the third-largest sales week of 2022 for any album.
The South Korean pop quintet has previously hit No. 1 on Top Album Sales with The Chaos Chapter: Freeze (in 2021) and Minisode1: Blue Hour (2020).
Also in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart: new albums from Florence + The Machine, Kendrick Lamar, The Black Keys and The Rolling Stones all debut, while Slipknot’s Iowa and One Direction’s Four both return to the top 10 after they were each reissued on vinyl LP.
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 Luminate. 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 May 28, 2022-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on May 24. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Minisode 2: Thursday’s Child enters at No. 1 on Top Album Sales with the third-largest sales week of any album in 2022 – 65,500 sold. It also marks the best sales week yet for the group. Effectively all of that sum was sold through CDs while only about 500 were sold via digital download. The five-track album was not available on any other configuration, such as vinyl LP or cassette.
Like many K-pop releases, the CD configuration of the album was issued in collectible packages (eight total, including exclusive versions for Target and Barnes & Noble), each with a standard set of internal paper items and randomized elements, such as photocards and post cards.
Florence + The Machine’s new studio album Dance Fever debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales with 42,500 copies sold – with 17,000 of that sum on vinyl LP. (It also debuts at No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart, which ranks the top-selling vinyl albums of the week.)
Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers starts at No. 3 on Top Album Sales with 35,500 sold – all from its digital download. The album, which also launches at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, won’t be released on CD until May 27.
The Black Keys’ Dropout Boogie bows at No. 4 on Top Album Sales with 27,500 copies sold – of which 13,500 are vinyl LPs. It’s No. 2 on the Vinyl Albums chart.
The Rolling Stones’ live archival album, Live at the El Mocambo, debuts at No. 5 on Top Album Sales with 11,500 sold. The release chronicles two secret concerts the Stones staged at the El Mocambo club in Toronto in March of 1977. It includes the band’s full set from the March 5 show and three bonus tracks from the March 4 concert.
Slipknot’s Iowa album, released in 2001, re-enters Top Album Sales at No. 6 with 7,500 sold (up from a negligible sum the previous week), following a new green-colored vinyl pressing of the set. Effectively all of the album’s sales were via vinyl.
Olivia Rodrigo’s former No. 1 Sour rises 8-7 with 7,000 sold (up 8%) and Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city jumps 12-8 with 6,500 sold (up 33%).
One Direction’s chart-topping Four, released in 2014, re-enters the chart at No. 9 after its Urban Outfitters-exclusive red-colored vinyl pressing was restocked. In total, the album, across all configurations, sold 6,500 copies (up 1,820%) with a little over 6,000 of that from vinyl LP sales.
Arcade Fire’s We rounds out the top 10 of the Top Album Sales chart, falling from No. 1 to No. 10 in its second week, selling 6,000 copies (down 77%).
In the week ending May 19, there were 1.765 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 4% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.347 million (up 1.1%) and digital albums comprised 418,000 (up 1.1%).
There were 648,000 CD albums sold in the week ending May 19 (up 4.2% week-over-week) and 690,000 vinyl albums sold (up 5.6%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 12.639 million (down 12% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 14.746 million (up 3.9%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 35.676 million (down 7.9% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 27.572 million (down 4%) and digital album sales total 8.104 million (down 19%).
