One Direction has scored its second No. 1 album in less than a year, as "Take Me Home" explodes atop the Billboard 200 chart with 540,000 copies sold in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

It's the third-largest sales week of the year, surpassed only by the debuts of Taylor Swift's "Red" (1.2 million in its bow) and Mumford & Sons' "Babel" (a 600,000-unit start).

"Take Me Home," the group's second effort, follows its "Up All Night" debut, which started atop the Billboard 200 dated March 31 with 176,000 sold. That set marked the first time a U.K. group's debut album bowed at No. 1 in the 56-year history of the chart.

The vocal ensemble also becomes the first group to debut at No. 1 with their first two albums since Danity Kane strutted into the penthouse with "Welcome to the Dollhouse" in 2008 and its self-titled debut in 2006.

Further, One Direction is the second act this year to notch a pair of No. 1 albums within 12 months' time: Justin Bieber did it with "Believe" in July, which came eight months after he bowed at No. 1 with "Under the Mistletoe."

"Take Me Home's" launch is right on target with the number that industry forecasters were projecting last week. Label sources said last Wednesday (14) that the album was aiming to start with between 500,000 to 575,000.

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Top 10 Selling Albums 1. One Direction, "Take Me Home" 540,000 2. Taylor Swift, "Red" 145,000 3. VA, "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Pt. 2" 93,000 4. The Weeknd, "Trilogy" 86,000 5. Soundgarden, "King Animal" 83,000 6. Rod Stewart, "Merry Christmas, Baby" 80,000 7. Christina Aguilera, "Lotus" 73,000 8. VA, "Now 44" 70,000 9. Green Day, "¡Dos!" 69,000 10. Lana Del Rey, "Paradise" 67,000

540k is very impressive Huge numbers for a British boy band. They've really proved their worldwide appeal

Next week Adele is going diamond.

I hope they certify 21 then.

I think they will. The MOMENT Skyfall scanned 500K, they certified it lmao.

Simon must be proud.

I wonder if One Direction will be a threat to Rihanna next week (or anyone else releasing next week).

Who's Rihanna's competition for next week?

As earlier reported, One Direction crashes in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with its second album, "Take Me Home." The SYCO/Columbia set sold 540,000 copies in its first week according to Nielsen SoundScan, marking the third largest sales frame of the year. Only the debuts of Taylor Swift's "Red" (1.2 million in its bow) and Mumford & Sons' "Babel" (a 600,000-unit start) were larger.

Taylor Swift's "Red" relinquishes the No. 1 slot after a three-week run, falling to No. 2 with 145,000 (down 26%). After four weeks on sale, the set has sold 1.89 million copies.

At No. 3 this week is the second of seven debuts in the top 10, as the soundtrack to "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2" bows with 93,000. All five of the soundtracks to the film series have debuted in the top four slots on the chart. The first "Twilight" launched with 165,000 at No. 1 while "New Moon" debuted at No. 2 with 115,000 (before hitting No. 1 the next week with 153,000). "Eclipse" debuted and peaked at No. 2 with 146,000 while "Breaking Dawn Part 1" also peaked where it started: No. 4 with 105,000.

The Weeknd's major label debut album, "Trilogy," arrives in the No. 4 slot this week, shifting 86,000. The Toronto singer's set comprises his three earlier mixtapes ("House of Balloons," "Thursday" and "Echoes of Silence") in addition to a few extra bonus tracks.

The reformed Soundgarden returns to the chart as its first studio set in 16 years, "King Animal," launches at No. 5 with 83,000 and also debuts at No. 1 on Hard Rock Albums. The quartet's last effort, 1996's "Down on the Upside," spent 43 weeks on the list, debuting and peaking at No. 2.

Rod Stewart's holiday set "Merry Christmas, Baby," continues to hold tight in a very busy top 10, as it slips 3-6 -- but with a gain in sales.The set sold 80,000 last week, up 8%. Watch for the album to grow over the next few weeks as Christmas nears.

Pop diva Christina Aguilera blooms at No. 7 with her fifth studio album "Lotus," starting with 73,000. She last visited the top 10 with 2010's "Bionic" -- her previous studio set -- which bowed at No. 3 with 111,000. Later that year, she notched at No. 18 hit with the soundtrack to her film "Burlesque."

The "Now 44" compilation slides 2-8 this week with 70,000 (down 29%) in its second frame, bringing its two-week sales sum to 169,000.

Closing out the top 10 are two more debuts: Green Day's "Dos!" at No. 9 (69,000) and Lana Del Rey's "Paradise" at No. 10 (67,000). The former is the second in a three album series from the band. It follows "Uno!," which debuted and peaked at No. 2 with 139,000 on the Oct. 13 chart. Next up is "Tre!," due out Dec. 11.

As for Del Rey, "Paradise" is her second top 10 this year, after bowing at No. 2 with her debut major label full-length set "Born To Die." The new "Paradise" is an eight song album, which was also offered as part of a deluxe reissue of "Born to Die." In turn, the original "Born to Die" album (now powered by sales from both the original album and the new deluxe version) jumps 79-37 on the chart with 16,000 (up 190%).

Holy cow, Christina

Can't wait for next week. I hope Billboard metions Adele's legendary achievement at least, even though it actually deserves a whole article.

Bravo boys!

X



What's Born To Die's total?

RIAA better be polishing up that plaque

Lana

1D slaying

One Direction this week becomes the first boy band in chart history to land two #1 albums in a calendar year. The quintet's sophomore album, Take Me Home, debuts at #1 with first-week sales of 540K. The album sold more than three times as many copies as One Direction's debut album, Up All Night, did when it bowed at #1 in March with first-week sales of 176K.

New Kids On The Block, Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC and Jonas Brothers also had two #1 albums each, but in different calendar years.

Take Me Home posted the biggest first-week sales tally for an album by a boy band since *NSYNC's Celebrity opened with sales of 1,880,000 in July 2001. Take Me Home had the third biggest opening by any album so far in 2012. It trails only Taylor Swift's Red (1,208,000) and Mumford & Sons' Babel (600K).

One Direction is the first act to land two #1 albums in 2012. (Another teen fave, Justin Bieber, was the only act to achieve the feat in 2011.) One Direction may well wind up with two of the 10 best-selling albums of 2012. (Up All Night currently ranks #3 for the year-to-date). This would mark the first time that a non-country artist has had two of the year's top 10 albums in the Nielsen SoundScan era. Garth Brooks had three of the top 10 albums of 1992. Taylor Swift had two of the top 10 albums of 2008.

Take Me Home sold 242K digital copies, which puts it at #1 on Top Digital Albums. Up All Night sold 91K digital copies in its first week.

"Live While We're Young," the album's first single, reached #3 on the Hot 100. Several more songs from the album, notably "Little Things," "She's Not Afraid," "Nobody Compares," "Kiss You" and "Still The One," are vying to debut this week. "Little Things" enters the Official U.K. singles chart at #1. It's the quintet's second #1 in its home country. "What Makes You Beautiful" topped the U.K. chart in September 2011.

Take Me Home also enters The Official U.K. album chart at #1. It's the first album by a boy band to top the charts in both the U.S. and the U.K. since New Kids' Step By Step in 1990. (The Fine Print: I'm not counting Wham!'s Make It Big. Can a duo be a boy band?)

I have more good news for One Direction fans. Up All Night—The Live Tour logs its 22nd week at #1 on Top Music Videos. That's the longest run at #1 by a boy band since this chart originated (as Top Music Videocassettes) in March 1985. New Kids' Hangin' Tough (1989-90) and Backstreet Boys' Homecoming—Live In Orlando (1999) both logged 20 weeks at #1.

One Direction and Taylor Swift don't surprise me.

Aguilera has fallen.

Lotus was predicted to debut at #4...

It debuted even lower

I hope Carrie has a boost this week with the Black Friday sales.

Snatch those sales, Taylor!