Fall Out Boy Scores Third No. 1 Album on Billboard 200

Rock band Fall Out Boy earns its third No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, as American Beauty/American Psycho arrives atop the tally. The Island Records album, which was released on Jan. 20, moved 218,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Jan. 25, according to Nielsen Music.

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).

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American Beauty/American Psycho’s launch was powered by 192,000 in pure album sales — the group’s second-best sales week ever, and largest since 2007. That year, the quartet’s Infinity On High became their first No. 1 when it opened in the penthouse with a career-high 260,000.

The new album’s first week sales also easily outpaces the start of their last album, Save Rock and Roll, which became their second leader when it launched at No. 1 in 2013 with 154,000.

Also notable: Fall Out Boy collects the second-biggest sales week for a rock album in the last two years. Only Coldplay’s bow (eight months ago) with Ghost Stories (383,000 in the week ending May 21, 2014) was larger.

American Beauty/American Psycho is Island Records’ first No. 1 album since Save Rock and Roll.

As Fall Out Boy’s latest set follows Meghan Trainor’s big arrival a week ago with Title (selling 195,000 in its opening frame), it marks the first time January (normally a sleepy month for big releases) has seen two debuts start with over 150,000 since 2010. That year, three albums launched north of 150,000 in January: Kesha’s Animal (152,000), the Hope For Haiti Now live album (171,000) and Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now (481,000).

Following Fall Out Boy on the latest Billboard 200 is Taylor Swift’s 1989, which holds at No. 2 with 119,000 units (down 9 percent compared to the previous week). It has spent all 13 of its chart weeks within the top two rungs on the list, with nine of those frames at No. 1. Last week’s leader, Meghan Trainor’s Title, falls to No. 3 with 86,000 units (down 64 percent). Ed Sheeran’s x is steady at No. 4 with 76,000 units (down 3 percent).

The second of four debuts in the top 10 is up next, as rapper Joey Bada$$ bows at No. 5 with his debut effort B4.Da.$$, clocking in with 58,000 units. The bulk of that figure (94 percent) is comprised of traditional album sales, which enables the set’s No. 1 debut on both Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Rap Albums.

Back on the Billboard 200, Nicki Minaj’s The Pinkprint is a non-mover at No. 6 with 54,000 units (down less than 1 percent).

Alternative rock band The Decemberists bow at No. 7 with What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World, moving 51,000 units. The vast majority of that sum (97 percent) is traditional album sales. The new album is the group’s first full-length studio album in four years, and is their second top 10 set, following the chart-topping launch of The King Is Dead in 2011.

A third rock act starts in the top 10, as Marilyn Manson clocks in at No. 8 with The Pale Emperor (51,000 units). Like The Decemberists, Marilyn Manson’s bow was fueled by pure album sales (49,000). The Pale Emperor is Marilyn Manson’s eighth top 10, and sixth straight title to reach the region.

Rounding out the top 10 is Sam Smith’s In the Lonely Hour (7-9 with 50,000; up 1 percent) and Mark Ronson’s Uptown Special (5-10 with 49,000; down 37 percent). The latter title is driven primarily by TEA, with 71 percent of its unit total coming from track equivalent albums. That hefty share is thanks largely to the tremendous success of its single, “Uptown Funk!,” featuring Bruno Mars.