Nine Inch Nails’ soundtrack to TRON: Ares debuts atop four Billboard album charts (dated Oct. 4), and logs the band its first top 10 on the overall Billboard 200 in more than a decade. The set launches at No. 1 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Alternative Albums, Top Dance Albums and Vinyl Albums, while also bowing at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. On the latter list, the project marks Nine Inch Nails’ seventh top 10, and first top 10 since 2013’s Hesitation Marks debuted and peaked at No. 3.
TRON: Ares is the companion album to the film of the same name, which is due in theaters on Oct. 10. It’s the third in the Tron film series, following Tron: Legacy (2010) and Tron (1982). TRON: Ares is the second Tron soundtrack to reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200, after Daft Punk’s TRON: Legacy peaked at No. 4 in January 2011.
In the tracking week ending Sept. 25 (as reflected on the Oct. 4-dated charts), TRON: Ares earned 45,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States, according to Luminate. Of that sum, traditional album sales comprised 39,000, marking Nine Inch Nails’ biggest sales week since 2013. Of the latter sum, vinyl sales represented 23,000, logging the act its best week ever on vinyl.
The TRON: Ares album was preceded by the single “As Alive as You Need Me to Be,” which has reached the top 10 on both the Alternative Airplay and Mainstream Rock Airplay charts. On the former chart, the track is the band’s highest charting song since “Survivalism” hit No. 1 in April 2007.
