Again, showing that I can sometimes be out of touch with mainstream music, I was somewhat surprised to discover that not only did Linkin Park open at #1 this week on Billboard, but they did so with the biggest sales week for anybody in a long time. Minutes to Midnight sold well over 600,000 copies in its first week, proving that someone survived the late 90's rap-rock bloodshed (although I suppose Linkin Park is more prog-metal than rap-rock these days).
Anyway, other fun chart news include Wilco debuting at #4 with Sky Blue Sky, the triumphant return of MEGADETH to the top 10 with United Abominations (ha!) at #8, our TIG crush Rufus Wainwright's new one making it all the way up to #23 and another surprise, the solo debut of former Cranberries singer Dolores O'Riordan making it in at #77 with Are You Listening? Well, Dolores, apparently somebody still is.