MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
At the top of the charts this week is a band that has waited a long time for its first No. 1 album. Stephen Thompson of NPR Music explains.
STEPHEN THOMPSON, BYLINE: This week's Billboard pop charts reflect the seven days just before Halloween, so a few spooky perennials haunt the latest charts. Scan the new Hot 100, and you'll find Michael Jackson's "Thriller," Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me," and a signature song from "The Nightmare Before Christmas," "This Is Halloween."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THIS IS HALLOWEEN")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, singing) This is Halloween. This is Halloween. Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween.
THOMPSON: The week's biggest surprise is a milestone performance for a long-running band that knows its way around the darkness. For the first time in a career spanning 25 years, the Gothic pop punk band My Chemical Romance has the No. 1 album in the country.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WELCOME TO THE BLACK PARADE")
MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE: (Singing) Because one day, I'll leave you a phantom to lead you in the summer to join the black parade.
THOMPSON: "The Black Parade" came out in 2006, when it debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard albums chart. The record remained My Chemical Romance's highest-charting album in the 20 years following its original release. And in honor of "The Black Parade's" 20th anniversary, the band has gone all out to commemorate the album.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WELCOME TO THE BLACK PARADE")
MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE: (Singing) Your memory will carry on, will carry on.
THOMPSON: My Chemical Romance has been playing songs from "The Black Parade" on tour for months now, and it's just released a deluxe edition of the album with bonus tracks. That reissue includes many different versions on vinyl and CD, which has helped give "The Black Parade" a huge sales boost. "The Black Parade" has now set a new Billboard chart record. The 20-year gap between its debut and its first week at No. 1 has been the longest in chart history. Stephen Thompson, NPR Music.
(SOUNDBITE OF MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE SONG, "WELCOME TO THE BLACK PARADE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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