The fourth album in the last five years to claim the chart throne following a Friday release - emulating Eminem's Encore and Curtain Call: The Hits and Metallica's Death Magnetic - 21st Century Breakdown sold 79,770 copies by week's end.

However, it was the subject of significant distribution leakage, and actually racked up 19,293 of those sales prior to official release, between Monday and Thursday. Green Day's last album, American Idiot, sold 89,385 copies to debut at number one in ...