Mötley Crüe hits the chart

Literature rarely provides fodder for chart-topping pop music, but leave it to Mötley Crüe to be the exception to yet another rule. The notorious metal band's latest album, “Saints of Los Angeles,” drew its inspiration from "The Dirt," the bestselling memoir recounting the band members' escapades with sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. "Saints" is the highest-debuting album on this week's national sales chart, posting first-week sales of 99,000 copies.

It's the quartet's first album of new material in nearly a decade with the original lineup: Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil and Mick Mars. Not that the celebrated infighting has vanished. Sixx recently told an interviewer that the album's song "White Trash Circus" is "about being on the road and not being able to stand each other."

They have been able to coexist peacefully enough to make release-week promotional appearances on CBS' "The Late Show With David Letterman" and Fox News' "On the Record With Greta Van Susteren." Its Crüe Fest tour of North America brings the group back to the Southland for an Aug. 2 show at the Glen Helen Pavilion in Devore.

"Saints of Los Angeles" entered the chart at No. 4, behind a top three that remained unchanged from last week. Coldplay's “Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends” hangs in at No. 1, with second-week sales of 249,000 copies, bringing its two-week total just shy of 1 million. Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter III” stayed at No. 2, adding an additional 209,000 copies to its tally, while Disney's "Camp Rock" soundtrack once again is No. 3, after selling 169,000 copies.

randy.lewis@latimes.com