Thursday October 31 2:07 PM EST
LOS ANGELES (Reuter) - Veteran rock band Van Halen, currently involved in a very public war of words with its two former vocalists, managed to top the U.S. album sales charts with a greatest hits package, the group's Warner Bros. Records label said Thursday.
"Best Of Volume 1" sold about 233,000 copies in the week ended October 27, which gave it a healthy lead over fellow newcomers in the second and third positions. The band's previous release, "Balance," also debuted at No. 1 when it came out in January 1995. Its first week sales were 295,000.
Van Halen split with vocalist Sammy Hagar in June after briefly reconciling with founding vocalist David Lee Roth in order to record two tracks for the new album.
One of them, "Me Wise Magic," is top of Billbord's mainstream rock tracks chart. The reunion turned sour several weeks ago, and all three sides are attacking each other in the news media.
Van Halen are finalizing plans to hire Gary Cherone, formerly of soft metal band Extreme, as new vocalist, a move that has underwhelmed its fans.
Opening in second was "Bow Down" (Lench Mob/Priority) from rap trio Westside Connection. The group consists of Ice Cube, Mack 10 and W.C. The song "Bow Down" has spent the past three weeks at the top of Billboard's rap singles chart. Its sales were about 145,000, the group's label said.
About 80 copies behind was the first new album in 10 years from Journey. "Trial By Fire" (Columbia) marks the reunion project for the critically maligned San Francisco Bay Area band, whose last album, "Raised On Radio", peaked at number four in 1986.
Last week's No. 1, Counting Crows' "Recovering the Satellites" (Geffen) fell to fifth, just behind Celine Dion's "Falling Into You" (Epic).
Other new entries this week included Mary-Chapin Carpenter's "A Place in the World" (Columbia) at 20, her first release since 1994's Grammy-winning "Stones in the Road." Phil Collins' "Dance into the Light" (Atlantic) opened at 23. It's his first album since 1993's commercially disappointing "Both Sides."
Reuters/Variety