When Babymetal's Moametal and Su-metal say in our new Revolver cover story, "There's no one like us," they have a point, and to further underscore that contention, the duo just hit No. 1 on Billboard's Top Rock Albums charts — a first for any Asian artist. The Japanese duo's latest and third studio album Metal Galaxy was released on October 11th in the United States, and as of October 26th will tally in at with "28,000 album units earned (27,000 in album sales), according to Nielsen Music," as reported by Billboard. Sitting at No. 2 on the chart is Queens' Greatest Hits, followed by the Beatles' Abbey Road, so the kawaii-metal leaders sit amid some lofty company.
In addition to debuting at No. 1 on the Top Rock Albums chart, Metal Galaxy also sits atop the Hard Rock Albums chart, a spot last held by someone of Asian descent when System of a Down singer Serj Tankian's solo album Elect the Dead landed there in 2007. (Tankian was born in Lebanon to parents of Armenian descent and then moved to the U.S. at age seven.)
Babymetal's previous album, Metal Resistance — released when they still performed as a trio — peaked at No. 6 on the Top Rock Albums charts upon its release in April 2016. While that LP also reached the respectable No. 39 position on the overall Billboard 200, the new one bests it with an impressive No. 13 ranking on the current list. See the full ranking here to see how Babymetal stack up to mainstream pop stars such as Taylor Swift, Post Malone, Lizzo and more.
