Black Sabbath Emerges From the Dark and Scores First No. 1 Album

On stage at Schleyerhalle, in Germany. "Reunion Tour"

Veteran heavy-metal band Black Sabbath landed its first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 album chart this past Wednesday, more than four decades after the rockers debuted their first album in the United States, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

"13," the 19th studio album from Black Sabbath, sold 155,000 copies in its first week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan, knocking last week's No. 1 album by Queens of the Stone Age off the top spot on the weekly U.S. album chart.


They have achieved the landmark by returning to their roots, reports KTVQ.com.

It's the band's first album for more than three decades featuring vocalist Ozzy Osbourne along with fellow original band members guitarist Tony Iommi and bass player Geezer Butler. They credit producer Rick Rubin with helping them overcome their initial apprehension. 

"He was really good for us", says Butler "and suggested we go back to the old spirit of how we used to do things like live in the studio, a jam, live in the studio kind of feel. And that gave us the direction to go in." "We tried it in 2001" adds Osbourne "and I think unconsciously we knew this was our last chance. If we had failed on this attempt people would have said 'ah it's never gonna happen.' I think it must be over 30 or 40 years since I listened to the first album because you know you move on and you challenge yourself. As I was saying earlier on, it's like asking the Beatles to go back to 'Please Please Me' and they would have gone 'what?'"