Dana Edelson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty ImagesLadies and gentlemen, folk rock is in—big time.
Mumford & Sons' sophomore album, Babel, has skyrocketed to the top of the Billboard charts, selling a whopping 600,000 units in its first week.
Not only is that by far the biggest bow of the year, but it even surpassed the first-week sales notched by the likes of Justin Bieber and Madonna, whose records Believe and MDNA sold 374,000 and 359,000 copies respectively.
Per Billboard, the British band beat out the likes of other rock acts including Green Day and No Doubt as it was undoubtedly helped by four singles in the top 10 of the Alternative airplay chart. Its single "I Will Wait" is also currently No. 1 on the Rock songs chart this week.
Then there's Mumford & Sons' popularity on Spotify, where the new set was streamed more than 8 million times, according to USA Today. Babel's digital sales were also through the roof, selling more than 400,000 downloads, the second-largest amount ever for a digital release behind Lady Gaga's Born This Way, which tallied 662,000.
Babel is the biggest rock album since AC/DC's Black Ice reigned in the top spot in November 2008 and the leading indie debut of 2012, coming as it did on Sony's Red Distribution label.
It's worth noting that Adele's 21 holds the record for the biggest weekly tally for 2012, as the album racked up 374,000 copies this past June.
Mumford & Sons' debut album, Sigh No More, has yet to leave the charts since dropping in 2010 and has since sold 2.5 million copies.