Megadeth’s Final Album Rocks Its Way To No. 1

Megadeth’s final album, a self-titled project, immediately soars to No. 1 on iTunes in America, beating new efforts from Poppy and Louis Tomlinson. Dave Mustaine of Megadeth performs at the Cow Palace on August 31, 2010 in South San Francisco, California. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)

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For the past several months, metal band Megadeth has been getting the world ready for its much-anticipated goodbye. The group announced that its new album, named after the troupe itself, will be its last. Expectations and emotions soared following the release of multiple singles and even a promotional cut or two.

Megadeth has finally arrived, and fans in the United States are giving the troupe a proper send-off, turning the full-length into an instant bestseller in the largest music economy in the world.

Megadeth Debuts at No. 1

Megadeth leads the iTunes Top Albums chart this Friday (January 23), at the beginning of a new tracking week. The set quickly shot to the top spot on the list of the bestselling albums and EPs on iTunes. While streaming has completely changed the music business, iTunes is still regarded as hugely important, as it is where most listeners go to purchase songs and albums in order to support the artists they love.

Megadeth Fends Off Competition from Louis Tomlinson and Poppy

Four brand new releases launch inside the top 10 on the iTunes Top Albums chart in America, and Megadeth faces tough competition, but the group is already running the show. Former One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson is blocked from the throne, as his latest album How Did I Get Here? stalls at No. 2 behind the metal favorites. Fellow hard rock star Poppy sits at No. 4 with Empty Hands, while Ari Lennox sees her set Vacancy settle at No. 5.

“Puppet Parade” Leads Singles from Megadeth

Before sharing its self-titled album in full, Megadeth dropped four songs, and they all appear on the iTunes Top Songs tally. The loftiest of the bunch, “Puppet Parade,” arrived only about a day before Megadeth became available. That tune slips several spaces, pushed downward by new releases from Harry Styles, Rob Zombie, and Def Leppard, among others. “Puppet Parade” currently appears at No. 16 on the iTunes Top Songs roster.

Previous releases “Let There Be Shred,” “I Don’t Care,” and “Tipping Point” jump more than 50 spaces, each climbing to Nos. 41, 44, and 48, respectively. In a matter of hours, Megadeth may claim at least four top 40 bestsellers on iTunes at the same time – an incredible showing for a rock band that has been working for decades.

Megadeth Follows Multiple Recent Top 10 Albums

Big things are expected from Megadeth after its first tracking period has finished, as the group’s last three releases have all cracked the top 10 on the Billboard 200, the main albums ranking in America. Dystopia and The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead! both peaked at No. 3 on the competitive list, launching in 2016 and 2022, respectively. Several years prior, Super Collider lifted to sixth place.

“Tipping Point” and Other Songs Became Sales Smashes

Of the four songs shared from Megadeth before fans all around the world got to hear the closing chapter in the band’s career, three sold enough copies in a tracking frame that they performed well not only on iTunes, but also on Billboard’s Hard Rock Digital Song Sales chart.

The group earned its inaugural leader back in October with “Tipping Point,” the first of two proper singles from the studio effort. Promotional cut “I Don’t Care” peaked at No. 5 on the same roster, which looks only at the top-selling hard rock cuts in the U.S. via storefronts such as iTunes.

Earlier this month, “Let There Be Shred,” which the group has selected as the second official single, opened at No. 8 on the Hard Rock Digital Song Sales roster. Like every other tune by Megadeth that has landed on the list, it only managed a single turn before slipping away.

“Puppet Parade” has not yet had a chance to appear on the list, as it was only released a day ago. Whether under 24 hours of tracking will be enough to turn it into a hard rock bestseller is yet to be seen, but it may have a shot at appearing on multiple genre-specific rosters more than a week from now, at the same time that Megadeth debuts.