Vampire Weekend Tops U.S. Album Sales Charts

New York band Vampire Weekend’s sophomore album “Contra” tops the charts this week. Selling 124,000 copies, it is the number one album sold on the Billboard 200.

Not only is “Contra” number one, but this week also marks the CD’s best sales yet. Their last album, which was self titled, opened with 28,000 copies in its first week and peaked at number 17 on the Billboard 200.

Other albums in the top ten for this week include Susan Boyle’s “I Dreamed a Dream” at number two, selling 77,000 copies. This is Boyle’s eighth week straight in the top two slots.

“Animal,” by Ke$ha, dropped from number one to number three this week, with 67,00 sales. Lady Gaga’s “The Fame” has also moved down a spot, and is now in the number four slot, with 64,000 albums sold. However, while one of Lady Gaga’s CD’s went down on the chart, another went up. “The Fame Monster” EP moved from number ten to number six with 36,000 sold.

Alicia Keys’ also moved down a slot to number five for her album “The Element of Freedom,” which sold 48,000 copies. In the number seven spot was Mary J Blige’s “Stronger With Each Tear,” with 35,000 copies sold.

Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” sold 33,000 albums, putting it at number eight. The soundtrack to “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” sold just under 33,000 copies, putting it at number nine.

Black Eyed Peas close out the top ten with their album “The E.N.D.” selling 32,000 copies.