BABYMETAL reach 50-year high on U.S. Billboard chart

[yuiyoshida]

TOKYO —

“Metal Resistance”, an album by BABYMETAL, a Japanese teenage girl trio, reached 39th spot on its debut on the U.S. Billboard top 200 albums list, becoming the first album by Japanese artists to break into the chart’s top 40 in more than 50 years.

The group, formed in 2010 as a “fusion of heavy metal and Japanese idols,” has the highest-ranked album by a Japanese artist on the chart since “Sukiyaki and Other Japanese Hits” by the late singer Kyu Sakamoto, which reached 14th in 1963.

Following the release of the Billboard 200 chart dated April 23, SU-METAL, 18, the band’s oldest member, said in a statement, “We will use this achievement to boost our confidence so we can continue trying many things only we can try.”

In Britain, “Metal Resistance” hit 15th on the April 8 chart compiled and released by Official UK Charts Co., showing the trio’s expanding popularity overseas. The group has been touring in North America and Europe since 2014.

On Billboard’s jazz albums chart, “Spark” by Japanese jazz pianist Hiromi Uehara topped the chart dated April 23.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/entertainment/view/babymetal-reach-50-year-high-on-u-s-chart

[rpannier]

2. They are talented

I'm glad they got rid of the air band
30 years ago they'd have had trouble in the metal scene
But times have changed

One thing that hasn't changed... the darkness
The use of icons, the giant statue of Mary, the crosses... I can see the fundies clutching more than pearls in this