Elton John’s ‘Madman Across the Water’ Back In Charts After 50 year Gap

Elton John’s 50th-anniversary reissue of Madman Across the Water makes a splash on Billboard’s album charts (dated June 25), as the set debuts in the top 10 on both Top Album Sales and Vinyl Albums. The set also arrives on Top Rock Albums and Catalog Albums, and it charts on the Billboard 200 for the first time in nearly 50 years.

Madman Across the Water was first released in 1972 and peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 in February of that year. The set contained the hit singles “Levon” and “Tiny Dancer.”

Also in the top 10 on Top Album Sales: new releases from BTS, Motionless In White and Carrie Underwood debut, while Seatbelts’ Cowboy Bebop soundtrack hits the top 10 for the first time after a vinyl reissue.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units.

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Madman Across the Water was reissued on June 10 in five new configurations – a deluxe digital album, a two-CD set, a four LP vinyl box set, a super deluxe three-CD/one-blu-ray box set and a single-LP colored vinyl pressing. All but the latter includes an array of bonus tracks. All versions of the album, old and new, are combined for tracking and charting purposes.

On the 31-year-old Top Album Sales chart, Madman debuts at No. 8 with 7,000 copies sold in the U.S. in the week ending June 16, according to Luminate. Of that sum, vinyl sales comprise 3,000 – enabling its debut at No. 9 on the Vinyl Albums chart. The latter list ranks the week’s top-selling vinyl albums.

Madman also debuts at Top Rock Albums (No. 16), Catalog Albums (No. 43) and re-enters the Billboard 200 (No. 115) with 9,000 equivalent album units earned. Madman was last on the Billboard 200 dated Nov. 11, 1972. (Top Rock Albums and Catalog Albums rank the week’s most popular rock releases, and catalog [older] albums of the week, respectively, by units.)

At No. 1 on Top Album Sales, BTS’ Proof scores the year’s second-largest sales week, arriving with 266,000 copies sold. Harry Styles’ former No. 1 Harry’s House is a non-mover at No. 2 with 26,000 sold (down 22%).

Rock band Motionless In White sees its new studio album Scoring the End of the World debut at No. 3 – the band’s highest-charting set yet on Top Album Sales. The effort launches with the group’s second-largest sales week ever: 23,000 sold. At No. 4, Carrie Underwood’s latest studio release, Denim & Rhinestones, starts with 22,000 sold.

SEVENTEEN’s 4th Album: Face the Sun falls from No. 1 to No. 5 in its second week with 17,000 sold (down 59%). TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s chart-topping Minisode 2: Thursday’s Child is steady at No. 6 with 13,000 (up 17%) and Olivia Rodrigo’s former leader Sour dips 5-7 with 10,000 (down 29%).

Seatbelts’ soundtrack to Cowboy Bebop hits the top 10 for the first time as the set re-enters the chart at No. 9 with 7,000 sold (up 10,694%). The album had previously topped out at No. 25 on the Feb. 6, 2021-dated list. The soundtrack surges back onto the chart following a double-LP colored vinyl reissue. Effectively all of the album’s sales for the week were from vinyl formats, and the set re-enters the Vinyl Albums chart at new high of No. 3.

Closing out the top 10 on Top Album Sales is Post Malone’s Twelve Carat Toothache, which falls 3-10 in its second week with nearly 7,000 sold (down 69%).

In the week ending June 16, there were 1.961 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 16% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.589 million (up 21.3%) and digital albums comprised 372,000 (down 2.4%).

There were 909,000 CD albums sold in the week ending June 16 (up 41.3% week-over-week) and 670,000 vinyl albums sold (up 2%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 15.501 million (down 10.9% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 17.638 million (down 0.2%).

Overall year-to-date album sales total 42.989 million (down 9% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 33.372 million (down 5.3%) and digital album sales total 9.617 million (down 19.7%).