Take That's record album sales

Take That's new album Progress has achieved the biggest opening week sales of any album for 13 years with almost 520,000 sales.

The Official Charts Company said the newly reformed quintet sold more albums than the rest of the album charts top ten put together.

A spokesman said the last album to exceed sales of 500,000 copies was Oasis's Be Here Now, which sold 663,000 in its first chart week in 1997. Official Charts Company managing director Martin Talbot said: "Since their reunion as a four-piece four years ago, Take That have firmly established themselves as the UK's favourite band.

"Following the return of Robbie Williams to their ranks, that record has been further cemented - and they are now well on course to rule Christmas 2010, just as they dominated Christmas 2006 and 2008."

It is the band's first album since reuniting with Robbie Williams. Take That's 2006 reunion album, Beautiful World, sold 2.5 million copies in
the UK and clung to the number one spot for eight weeks. In 2008, The Circus sold one million copies in just 18 days. To date it is nearing sales of 2.2 million. Progress, the band's sixth studio album, is the first to feature the full line up of Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Howard Donald, Jason Orange and Robbie Williams since 1995's Somebody Else. The 10-song album was produced by Stuart Price and is a mix of pop, rock and ballads.

Earlier this month, the band sold 1.34 million tickets for their upcoming tour. The first million sold in just eight hours. It was one of five new albums to enter the top ten this week. Rihanna's Loud came in second spot, Andre Rieu's Moonlight Serenade entered the charts in
fourth position, Greatest Hit's So Far by Pink was fifth and Bruce Springsteen's The Promise was seventh.

Buy the brand new Take That album, 'Progress', here