Between The Bullets

Milestones: You'd think a band that already has 14 platinum or multi-platinum albums and another 10 gold albums in its trophy case wouldn't have to wait 24 years to score its highest-ever Billboard 200 rank. Yet that's the case for the men of Kiss, owners of this issue's Hot Shot Debut.

The quartet checks in at No. 3 with first-week sales of 109,500 copies. In doing so, the band's new, "Psycho Circus" eclipses the No. 4 peak seen by 1977's "Love Gun," the only other album in the band's career to reach the top five.

Chart Beat

KISS ON THE LIST: Putting makeup back on turned out to be a good way to complete its first quarter-century on the Billboard album chart. It was 24 1/2 years ago that Kiss first appeared on the chart with a self-titled album that peaked at No. 87. Three years later, "Love Gun" shot past the band's previous efforts and peaked at No. 4, remaining the highest-ranked Kiss album until this issue. "Psycho Circus" (Mercury) is the Hot Shot Debut on The Billboard 200, opening at No. 3.