“We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank” gracefully floated to the very top of the Billboard 200, crowning Modest Mouse with their best success so far.

Modest Mouse claimed its first No. 1 U.S. album on the Billboard 200 as “We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank” debuted on top. The Epic set sold 129,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, more than double the group's previous best sales week.

Modest Mouse's last album, 2004's “Good News for People Who Love Bad News,” debuted at No. 19 with 68,000. The new album was originally expected in stores last December, but its spring debut seems to have been auspicious.

The bubbly Joss Stone must be happy to have her third album, “Introducing Joss Stone” (Virgin), enter at No. 2 with 118,000 sold copies. This is the highest chart debut ever by a U.K. female artist in the Nielsen SoundScan-era, which first started tracking albums in '92.

Last year's “American Idol” third-place finisher Elliott Yamin's self-titled Hickory Records debut sold 90,000 copies to debut at No. 3. Yamin becomes the fifth finalist from last year's edition of the show to reach the Billboard 200, joining Taylor Hicks, Katharine McPhee, Kellie Pickler and this week's No. 4 artist, Chris Daughtry.

R&B singer Marques Houston's Universal Motown set “Veteran” debuts at No. 5 while Akon's “Konvicted” (SRC/Universal) slipped from that spot to No. 6. Lloyd's “Street Love"(The Inc.) has meanwhile fallen from No. 2 to No. 7.

After bowing at the top last week, Musiq Soulchild's “Luvanmusiq” (Atlantic) plunged to No. 8. Rich Boy's self-titled Zone 4/Interscope debut slipped from No. 3 to No 9. Rounding out the top 10 was Amy Winehouse's “Back to Black” (Universal) which fell from No. 7 to No. 10.

Album sales overall were up two-and-a-half percent from the week previous, but still down over 18 percent from the same week in 2006.

Long story short, the Top 10 albums were as follows:

1. We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, Modest Mouse

2. Introducing Joss Stone, Joss Stone

3. Elliott Yamin, Elliott Yamin

4. Daughtry, Daughtry

5. Veteran, Marques Houston

6. Konvicted, Akon

7. Street Love, Lloyd

8. Luvanmusiq, Musiq Soulchild

9. Rich Boy, Rich Boy

10. Back to Black, Amy Winehouse