As was widely expected, folk-turned-rock group Mumford & Sons have raced to the top of the American Billboard charts, selling nearly 150% more than its nearest rival in the process. Wilder Mind, their third album, sold 249,000 copies in its first week to claim the Number 1 spot, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The figure isn’t anywhere near as large as the first week sales for their last record Babel, which shifted a whopping 600,000 units back in 2012, and remains the biggest sales week for a guitar album this decade.

Mumford & SonsMumford & Sons top the Billboard Albums chart once more

Much has been made of the Mumfords’ change in sound on Wilder Mind, which has seen them drop the banjos, waistcoats, accordions and tweed in favour of a U2 stadium rock feel. This was never going to affect their popularity too much, but it remains to see whether the new album will have the longevity of its predecessors.

More: Mumford & Sons ban phones from Brighton gig

Josh Groban remains in second spot, a non-mover from last week with 101,000 copies sold of his new album of cover versions from musicals Stages. At Number 3 is another new entry, this time for the latest instalment of the long-running ‘Now That’s What I Call Music!’ series Now 54, which sold 71,000 copies. Impressively, every single edition of the series has made the US Top Ten since they began in 1998.

Veteran rapper Tech N9ne enters the Top Ten at Number 4 with his fifteenth album Special Effects (66,000 copies). Last week’s chart topper falls to Number 5 this time, which was the Zac Brown Band’s fourth effort Jekyll + Hyde. It sold 66,000 units as well.

Two soundtracks follow in the chart, with Fifty Shades of Grey at Number 6 (53,000 copies) as a non-mover, boosted by the home video release of the movie itself, and Furious 7 falling four places to Number 7 (46,000 units). Finishing off the Top Ten are three chart stalwarts of the last six months.

Sam Smith’s In The Lonely Hour at Number 8 (39,000) and Taylor Swift’s 1989 at Number 9 (36,000) both stay where they were from last week, while Ed Sheeran’s X climbs a place to Number 10 with 36,000 sales.

More: Mumford & Sons blast Jay-Z’s Tidal