AC/DC Debut At #1

Black Ice, AC/DC's first album in eight years, debuted at the top of the charts in Canada and 28 other countries this week.

The record sold about five million copies in its first week worldwide, about 118,800 of those in Canada. The follow-up to 2000's Stiff Upper Lip became the biggest first-week seller in Canada this year, surpassing Coldplay's Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends.

The impressive tally also gives Black Ice the largest first-week sales in Canada since 2003. South of the border, the album sold about 784,000 copies to have the second best first week of 2008 after Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III.

"It's overwhelming, and quite hard to take in," AC/DC singer Brian Johnson told the Associated Press. "Even an old dog like me has a few more surprises in life, I guess."

Black Ice isn't the only AC/DC album selling well in Canada. Back In Black, Live, The Razors Edge, Highway To Hell, High Voltage, Who Made Who, Let There Be Rock, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap and For Those About To Rock We Salute You also appear in the top 100 of this week's Nielsen SoundScan sales chart.

AC/DC's No Bull: The Directors Cut DVD has topped the Nielsen SoundScan music DVD chart since it was released on Sept. 9.

Black Ice's first single, "Rock N Roll Train," remains at the top of the Canadian rock radio chart for an eighth straight week.

If you want to get your ya-yas out to some AC/DC tracks and play a video game at the same time, you'll be able to do so with next month's release of AC/DC Live: Rock Band TrackPack, which will include recordings from the band's 1991 show at Donnington Castle.

AC/DC recently kicked off their world tour in support of Black Ice. You can see them at these Canadian stops:

Nov. 7 Toronto, ON @ Rogers Centre
Nov. 28 Vancouver, BC @ General Motors Place
Jan. 9 Toronto, ON @ Rogers Centre