Mumford & Sons Rules the Pop Chart

By JAMES C. MCKINLEY JR.

The Billboard album chart belonged to the English folk-rock group Mumford & Sons this week, as its second album, “Babel” (Glassnote), sold 599,900 copies in its first week, more than any other album has sold in a single week this year.

The quartet, from West London's folk scene, known for its anthemic songs, close harmonies and acoustic instrumentation, easily trumped the first-week sales of Justin Bieber's “Believe” in June and Madonna's “MDNA” in March, neither of which broke the 400,000 mark. The band's latest single, “I Will Wait,” has been getting heavy airplay on alternative rock stations. “Babel” was also streamed eight million times on Spotify during the past week, shattering the previous weekly record on the Internet service by a factor of three, according to Spotify.

Mumford & Sons' new album arrived in a week full of strong debuts. Green Day's “¡Uno!” (Reprise) sold more than 138,600 copies, which in many weeks would be enough to top the chart, but this week was only good enough for second place.

No Doubt's long-awaited “Push and Shove” (Interscope) took the third spot, with sales of 114,000 in its first week.  That album, which has received mixed reviews, is the first one that the pop-punk foursome, fronted by Gwen Stefani, has put out since 2001's “Rock Steady,” which sold much better in its first week.

Two other new records were in the Top 10. Lupe Fiasco, the Chicago rapper, grabbed the sixth slot with 88,800 sales of his new album, “Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1” (Atlantic). And Deadmau5, the electronic dance music D.J. who wears a giant mouse head at his concerts, had his highest-selling debut ever, selling 57,000 copies of his latest CD, which he has cheekily titled “Album Title Goes Here” (Ultra).

Last week's chart leader, Pink's “Truth About Love” (RCA), slipped to No. 4, eve n as it sold a respectable 94,000 copies.  Rounding out the Top 10 were Kanye West's hip-hop compilation,“G.O.O.D. Music: Cruel Summer” (G.O.O.D./Def Jam), at No. 7;  the Dave Matthews Band's “Away From the World” (RCA) at No. 8; Little Big Town's “Tornado” (Capitol) at No. 9; and the Killers' “Battle Born” (Island) at No. 10.