NCT 127 nets its third No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Oct. 2) as the Korean pop group’s latest studio release, Sticker: The 3rd Album, opens atop the tally with 58,000 copies sold in the U.S. in the week ending Sept. 23, according to MRC Data.
Sticker: The 3rd Album leads a busy top 10, where a total of six albums debut in the region, including the latest projects from Lil Nas X, Spiritbox, Bob Dylan, Daughtry and Mozzy.
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 MRC Data. Pure album sales were the measurement solely 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. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of Sticker: The 3rd Album’s sales of 58,000, physical album sales comprise 57,000 (all from CD sales) and 1,000 via digital download. Like many K-pop releases, the CD edition of the album was issued in multiple collectible packages and boxed sets (nine, including a Target-exclusive edition). NCT 127 previously led Top Album Sales with NCT #127: Neo Zone, The 2nd Album in 2020 and NCT #127 We Are Superhuman: The 4th Mini Album in 2019.
Lil Nas X’s first full-length album, Montero, arrives at No. 2 with 22,000 copies sold, all via digital download.
Rock band Spiritbox sees its debut full-length set Eternal Blue bow at No. 3 with 19,000 sold. Of that sum, 10,000 were sold via vinyl LP while the rest were mostly split between CD and digital download sales. The album’s vinyl sales were robust enough to land a No. 1 debut on the Vinyl Albums chart. Eternal Blue also arrives at No. 1 on both the Top Rock Albums and Hard Rock Albums tallies.
Kacey Musgraves’ Star-Crossed falls 1-4 in its second week with 15,000 sold (down 69%). Bob Dylan’s latest archival release, Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 16, 1980-1985, bows at No. 5 with 13,000 sold. Metallica’s self-titled former No. 1 album dips 2-6 with 12,000 (down 58%) while Olivia Rodrigo’s chart-topping Sour dips 5-7 with nearly 12,000 (down 18%).
Rounding out the new top 10 are Daughtry’s latest release, Dearly Beloved (a debut at No. 8 with 11,000 sold), Mozzy’s new Untreated Trauma (debut at No. 9 with nearly 11,000) and Iron Maiden’s former No. 1 Senjutsu (falling 3-10 with 8,000; down 48%).
