Mumford & Sons’ ‘Babel’ Has The Biggest Opening Week Of 2012 On The Album Chart

Robbie Daw | October 3, 2012 10:14 am

Babel, the sophomore LP from British indie rockers Mumford & Sons, not only tops the main album chart this week, it also barrels onto the Billboard Top 200 with the largest debut of the year. The band sold 600,000 copies of their latest record out of the gate, which now puts it ahead of these following big openers in 2012: Justin Bieber‘s Believe (which started with 374,000), Madonna‘s MDNA (359,000) and Pink‘s The Truth About Love (280,000).

Arriving behind Babel are Green Day‘s ¡Uno! (139,000) and No Doubt‘s Push And Shove (115,000), at #2 and #3, respectively. Each marks the first albums from both acts in this decade, as Green Day’s previous LP 21st Century Breakdown dropped in 2009 and No Doubt’s Rock Steady was released way back in 2001.

The other debuts in the Top 10 this week: hip hop star Lupe Fiasco‘s fourth LP Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 (89,000) at #5 and outspoken DJ Deadmau5‘s sixth offering Album Title Goes Here (58,000) at #6.

Next week we’ll find out if Babel is strong enough to fight off the latest releases from Miguel, Muse and Cher Lloyd to retain the top position.

The Top 10 Of Billboard’s Top 200 Chart

1. Mumford & Sons, Babel *new* *1 week*
2. Green Day, ¡Uno! *new*
3. No Doubt, Push And Shove *new*
4. Pink, The Truth About Love
5. Lupe Fiasco, Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 *new*
6. Deadmau5, Album Title Goes Here *new*
7. Kanye West Presents G.O.O.D. Music, Cruel Summer
8. Dave Matthews Band, Away From The World
9. Little Big Town, Tornado
10. The Killers, Battle Born