Amnesiac enters the US chart at number two behind Staind

Amnesiac has entered the American album chart at number two, on 231,469 copies in its first week by SoundScan's count. That is nearly 25,000 more than Kid A sold in its first week last October, when it went in at number one, and Variety calls it the strongest opening week Radiohead have ever had. Staind's Break the Cycle held on to the top spot for a third week, about 13,000 copies ahead. Rolling Stone points out that this is only the third time this year that rock bands have held the top two places.

In Britain, where Parlophone released the album the day before Capitol did in America, Amnesiac went straight in at number one on Sunday and pushed Shaggy's Hotshot down to number two. It is Radiohead's second number one album in eight months, after Kid A; OK Computer got there in 1997.

The Los Angeles Times says the business had been watching the American figure to see how the band would fare after the change of direction on Kid A, which has sold about 820,000 copies in America against 1.4 million for OK Computer. The paper reads the opening as a sign that the core audience has gone along with them.

The US top ten, Amnesiac's first week (SoundScan)