One Direction has lengthened the gap between themselves and its competition in the record books, as Four debuted at no. 1 and set a new record for the most consecutive top albums logged in their debut week by a music group, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The boy band set the record for the first time last year with Midnight Memories, becoming the first group to see its first three albums debut at no. 1, and Four ups the tally to, well, four.
Don't get too excited too soon however, Directioners: The group is still one behind the overall record for most consecutive no. 1s to begin a career for acts in general. Two acts managed to top the Billboard 200 with their first five albums: Beyoncé and...DMX, believe it or not. X has since seen his streak end but Beyoncé has yet to see one of her albums not start at the top of the charts, and based on her continued influence, we're willing to be she'll take sole control of the record whenever she opts to surprise us with her next album.
Two other groups have also reached no. 1 with their first four albums—The Monkees and The Kingston Trio (who actually reached no. 1 with its first five records)—but the latter two acts don't qualify for this count because their albums didn't debut at no. 1 but rather worked their way up. Tough luck.
Not much use being too petty with qualifications for records and whatnot...no matter how you slice it, One Direction has had a heck of a sales career thus far. Four debuted at no. 1 with 387,000 copies sold during its first week, making it the second-highest selling debut of the year (although Taylor Swift still has the two highest sales week of the year).
And, at the rate One Direction seems to work (having put out all four of those albums over the last three years), it might not be long before they catch up to the competition for the overall streak.
