The Killers are on course for their first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, according to industry forecasters. Those in the know suggest the rock band’s new album, Wonderful Wonderful, should open atop next week’s tally with perhaps 110,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Sept. 28. Wonderful Wonderful was released on Sept. 22 through Island Records, and is the band’s fifth full-length studio album.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The top 10 of the new Oct. 14-dated Billboard 200 chart (where The Killers will debut) is scheduled to be revealed on Billboard’s websites on Sunday, Oct. 1.
The Killers have so far notched seven entries on the Billboard 200, including a quartet of top 10 albums: Battle Born (No. 3 in 2012), Day & Age (No. 6, 2008), Sam’s Town (No. 2, 2006) and their debut effort Hot Fuss (No. 7, 2005 – though it was released in 2004). The act last debuted on the list in 2013 with the greatest hits compilation Direct Hits, which debuted and peaked at No. 20.
The new album was led by the single “The Man,” which has reached No. 2 on the Alternative Songs airplay chart – marking the group’s highest charting effort on that tally since 2006’s “When You Were Young” spent two weeks at No. 1.
Other albums heading for high debuts on next week’s Billboard 200 chart include Macklemore’s Gemini, Lecrae’s All Things Work Together and Midland’s On the Rocks.
