Old-style hard rockers AC/DC held off 11 newcomers to the Top Twenty on the Billboard 200 album chart this week (ending 11/15/2008), six of which landed in the Top Ten behind "Black Ice." Pink debuted at No. 2 with "Funhouse," but sales were nearly 100,000 less than those of the Aussie bad boys. Angus Young and company sold over 270,000 units this week, sending the band's first album in eight years into platinum status (it sold 784,000 its first week out) and a second week at No. 1.

"Black Ice" topped the charts in 29 countries its first week. It remained No. 1 in Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Argentina, Canada, Spain, and the United States. The band has shipped over 5.3 million copies of "Black Ice" worldwide.

What makes AC/DC's hold on the No. 1 spot even more amazing is that it is offered exclusively at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club (not counting AC/DC's own website, of course). You can hear the entire album for free at their website, ACDC.com, but you can't download it. In this day of the iPod, restricting the format to CD only should have put a dampener on the sales. But it has not.

According to the website, the AC/DC catalog has sold over 5.1 million copies thus far this year and has surpassed the Beatles catalog sales within the United States for 2008.

The first single off the album, "Rock And Roll Train" peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It currently rests at No. 24.

But as time has been kind to the memory of AC/DC and infused old and new fans alike with a fire of anticipation for their new album, it has not been as kind to other veteran rockers.

Alice Cooper's last four studio albums altogether have not sold as well as "Black Ice." Although his latest, July's "Along Came A Spider" peaked at No. 53 on the Billboard 200, 2005's "Dirty Diamonds" only rose to No. 169, 2003's "The Eyes of Alice Cooper" made it to No. 184, and 2001's "Dragontown" peaked at No. 197.

Whitesnake released their first studio album in ten years with "Good To Be Bad." The band that hit it big with "Still of the Night" in the 80's peaked at No. 65 and faded quickly. Their previous release, 1998's "Restless Heart," the first album from the band (but under the name David Coverdale and Whitesnake) in nine years, was only available in the United States as an import.

Judas Priest, reunited with ex-lead singer Rob Halford in 2003. Their album, "Angel of Retribution," peaked at No. 13 its second week in release. Judas Priest's latest album, "Nostradamus," peaked at No. 11 in July but was on and off the Billboard 200 in seven weeks.

Despite the relatively poor performances of their contemporaries, AC/DC has proven that their simple bad boy rock formula works for musical longevity. And for the first time in their history, AC/DC made the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

The band kicked off their "Black Ice World Tour" on October 28 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

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Sources:

ACDC.com

Billboard.com