A Beastie big topper on the charts

The Beastie Boys’ first album in six years debuted at No. 1 on the national sales chart on Wednesday, the third time the adventurous hip-hop trio has entered the chart in the top spot.

The New Yorkers’ “To the 5 Boroughs” CD sold 360,000 copies in its first week in the stores, the sixth-highest first-week total this year but far behind the first-week total of the group’s last album.

The Beasties’ “Hello Nasty” sold 682,000 copies in its first week in the summer of 1998, while “Ill Communication” sold 220,000 in its first week in stores in the summer of 1994.

The highest first-week sales total so far this year was the 1.1 million registered by Usher’s “Confessions” in March, followed by the 1 million sales of Norah Jones’ “Feels Like Home” in February.

Last week’s bestseller, Velvet Revolver’s “Contraband,” tumbled to No. 3 after selling 123,000 copies in its second week in stores.

“Confessions” remained at No. 2 by selling 169,000 more copies, Nielsen SoundScan reports.

Four other new releases joined the Beasties in breaking into the Top 20 this week. They were by Celine Dion (No. 10), country singer Josh Gracin (No. 11), jam band Phish (No. 13) and R&B-pop; singer Christina Milian (No. 14).