Billboard 200 Chart Moves: ‘Guardians’ Soundtrack Surpasses 1 Million in Sales

On the latest Billboard 200 albums chart, Taylor Swift‘s 1989 ruled for a ninth nonconsecutive week atop the list, shifting 155,000 units in the week ending Jan. 11 (according to Nielsen Music). Just one album debuted in the top 30, with hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd entering at No. 5 with SremmLife (49,000). The Billboard 200 chart measures multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

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Let’s take a closer look at some of the action on the chart:

— Ed Sheeran, x – No. 2 — Ed Sheeran‘s x continues its climb back up the list, as it rises 3-2 — its highest rank since the list dated July 19, 2014 (when it fell 1-2 in its second chart week). The album moved 76,000 units in the most recent tracking week, with 46 percent of that sum coming from traditional album sales.

— Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy – No. 8 — The Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack skips ahead of the 1 million sales mark, as the all-oldies compilation sold another 35,000 copies in the week ending Jan. 11, according to Nielsen Music. (On the Billboard 200, it falls 5-8 with 35,000 in overall equivalent units, including SEA and TEA.) The former No. 1 set’s cumulative sales stand at just over 1 million: 1,003,000 to be more precise. It’s the most recently released soundtrack to sell a million copies since, you guessed it, Frozen, which jumped past the million mark nearly a year ago (in the week ending Feb. 16, 2014). Frozen has moved 3.9 million copies in total since its release on Nov. 26, 2013. Both Guardians of the Galaxy and Frozen were released by the Disney Music Group (Guardians on Marvel/Hollywood and Frozen through Walt Disney Records).

— Sia, 1000 Forms of Fear – No. 20 — Sia’s buzzy new video for “Elastic Heart” helps its parent album soar to its highest position since August, with overall units for the week up by 102 percent (to 17,000). Its pure album sales surge by 155 percent to 7,000.

— AC/DC, Back In Black – No. 70 — The mega-selling set climbs (73-70) to its highest position since the Dec. 8, 2012 chart, when it re-entered at No. 67 following its digital retail debut. The album is one of the 10 biggest selling releases ever in the U.S., with 22 million sold, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

— Rihanna, Unapologetic – No. 120 — While the masses patiently wait for the diva to release her next studio album, her last set returns for the first time since May 2014, thanks to a $5.99 sale price in the iTunes Store. It’s up 59 percent in units for the week.

— Lecrae, Anomaly – No. 125 — With an 18th week on the chart, his former No. 1 set Anomaly becomes his longest-charting album. (It climbs 147-125). It passes the 17-week runs of both Rehab (released in 2010) and Gravity (2012).