Bon Jovi's Lost Finds No. 1

These days, Bon Jovi's a little bit country, a little bit rock 'n' roll and the biggest band around.

After nearly a quarter-century together, the Garden State quintet landed its first chart-topping bow thanks with the country-infused Lost Highway. For the week ended Sunday, Lost Highway found its way to the top by selling 291,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan data released today.

While the band's Slippery When Wet and New Jersey topped the charts in 1987 and '88, respectively, Lost Highway is the first Bon Jovi album to open in the lead spot. The band narrowly missed the top with 2002's Bounce and 2005's Have a Nice Day, both of which opened at number two.

Sales of the new disc benefited from an MTV Unplugged special and a promotion in which concert tickets for the band's 10-night stand at New Jersey's new Rock arena were bundled with a digital-download of Lost Highway. The album also managed to overcome some negative PR after guitarist Richie Sambora entered an alcohol-detox program.

In addition to the U.S. chart success, Lost Highway also opened at number one in Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Austria, Thailand, Japan and on the European Top 100 chart. This marks the group's fourth career number one in Japan, breaking a record previously shared with the Beatles.

With all the hype over the new album, the Jersey boys' Have a Nice Day jumped back onto the Billboard 200 at 129. To date, Nice Day has sold nearly 1.5 million copies.

Meanwhile, the White Stripes debuted at a career-best number two, selling 223,000 copies of Icky Thump. No longer under contract with V2, the Detroit duo' signed a single-album pact with Warner to release Icky Thump.

Country star Brad Paisley landed the week's third big bow, with 5th Gear selling 197,000 copies at number three. Paisley, who fathered a son earlier this year with his wife, actress Kimberly Williams, opened at number two with his last proper studio album, 2005's Time Well Wasted.

With the three big bows, last week's top dog Toby Keith fell to four, selling 73,000 copies of Big Dog Daddy.

The remaining Top 10, all holdovers, included Paul McCartney's Memory Almost Full at five, Linkin Park's Minutes to Midnight at six, Amy Winehouse's Back to Black at seven, Maroon 5's It Won't Be Soon Before Long at eight (as the album crossed 1 million sales mark), Fabolous' From Nothin' to Somethin' at nine and T-Pain's Epiphany in the 10 spot.

Just missing the Top 10 were the Atlanta hip-hop trio Shop Boyz, who moved 52,000 copies of Rockstar Mentality at 11. The group, whose sound's been dubbed "hood rock," ignited a buzz with the rap hit "Party Like a Rockstar."

Lifehouse, best known for their 2001 hit "Hanging by a Moment," showed they remain popular six years later as Who We Are sold 49,000 to open at 14. St. Louis rapper Huey followed at 26, selling 29,000 copies of Notebook Paper, while R&B singer Chrisette Michele—who has lent vocals to tracks by Jay-Z, Nas and other rap superstars—took a bow at 29, selling more than 26,000 copies of her debut, I Am.

Mandy Moore, who once tried to compete with the Britneys and Christinas of the bubblegum pop world, didn't make much noise with her more adult sound. Wild Hope, the singer-actress' first new album in four years, sold 25,000 copies to open at 30.

Other noteworthy debuts included Straylight Run's The Needles the Space at 72, August Burns Red's Messengers at 81, Project 86's Rival Factions at 123 and the Polyphonic Spree's The Fragile Army at 124.

Lastly, Nashville's Jason Aldean celebrates a 100-week milestone with his self-titled debut, which has sold over 1 million copies and currently sits at 141. His follow-up album Relentless, released four weeks ago, occupies the number 31 slot, with 200,000 in total sales.

Overall, album sales fell 7 percent from the week previous and over 5 percent compared to the same period last year.

To recap, this week's Top 10 albums were:

1. Lost Highway, Bon Jovi
2. Icky Thump, The White Stripes
3. 5th Gear, Brad Paisley
4. Big Dog Daddy, Toby Keith
5. Memory Almost Full, Paul McCartney
6. Minutes to Midnight, Linkin Park
7. Back to Black, Amy Winehouse
8. It Won't Be Soon Before Long, Maroon 5
9. From Nothin' to Somethin', Fabolous
10. Epiphany, T-Pain