They may say that rock is dead, but don't tell that to the Billboard charts. This week, rock 'n' roll comes for the top of the album charts with a vengeance, as new releases from The Lumineers and Deftones lead the way in terms of sales and activity.
The Lumineers' new album Cleopatra was the most bought and sought after record in the U.S. this week, Billboard reports, with 125,000 album equivalent units. Led by the peppy single "Ophelia," Cleopatra had a solid amount of its units come from actual sales, with 108,000 copies sold.
But the folk rockers from Denver aren't the only rock act at the top of the charts. alt band Deftones also lead the charge at No. 2 with their latest offering, Gore. The nu-metal LP moved a total of 71,000 units -- nearly all of the (69,000) were from sales.
The new Lumineers and Deftones records are the only debuts on the Billboard 200's top 10 this week, but they're not the only rock LPs. Twenty One Pilots' breakout album Blurryface jumped back up three spots, to No. 7.
Beyond the rock releases, country and rap were well represented on the charts this week, thanks to genre jeggernauts Chris Stapleton and Kanye West (respectively, of course). Still riding high off his big wins at the ACMs, Stapleton's Traveller landed at No. 3 this week with 48,000 units. West's latest album The Life of Pablo, now in its second week of wide release, slipped from No. 1 to No. 4 with 47,000 units (almost entirely from streams.
Other records in the top 10 are familiar favorites. Rihanna's ANTI is at No. 5 this week, followed by Justin Bieber's Purpose at No. 6. Zayn's Mind of Mine, Adele's 25 and Lukas Graham's self-titled debut round things out at Nos. 8 through 10, respectively.
