Eagles Wal-Mart-only album tops the charts

BENTONVILLE, Ark. Selling its first new album in 28 years exclusively through Wal-Mart Stores has proven successful for the Eagles, with the band capturing the top spot on the Billboard Top 200 chart, Billboard announced Tuesday.

In a separate announcement, Wal-Mart reported that the Eagles' "Long Road Out of Eden," released on Oct. 30 at Wal-Mart, Walmart.com, Sam's Clubs and Samsclub.com, has sold more than 700,000 units in its first week of release, representing the largest first week sales of any music product at Wal-Mart in the last two years.

Despite the success of the album, at first it was not eligible to appear on the Billboard chart, because it was only sold at Wal-Mart. However, thanks to a policy change announced by Billboard Tuesday, exclusive album titles that are only available through one retailer are now able to appear on The Billboard 200 and other charts, effective with this week's charts.