The key to a number one album, you ask? A publicity campaign, $3.99 sales on Amazon.com, rave reviews, and a headlining spot at Lollapalooza just about does it.

Yep, as Billboard confirms, Arcade Fire’s third studio album, The Suburbs, has taken the number one spot on the Billboard 200, moving some 156,000 copies during its first week. The Canadian outfit narrowly beat Eminem’s Recovery, which sold 152,000.

The Suburbs marks Arcade Fire’s first number one album to date. For reference, the band’s previous best was 2007′s Neon Bible, which clocked in at #2 after selling some 92,000 copies.

The album also scored the #1 spots on both Billboard’s UK and Digital Sales chart and was the top selling album on iTunes.

Now, that deserves a beer.