Arctic Monkeys head for more chart glory

LONDON (Reuters) - Whatever you say it is, their second album's not a flop.

Indie rockers the Arctic Monkeys are heading for number one in the charts when the rankings are revealed on Sunday with their second album, "Favourite Worst Nightmare".

The young band from Sheffield is expected to sell between 225,000 and 250,000 copies in the first week alone of the critically acclaimed followup to last year's "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not."

Their first LP holds the record for the fastest-selling British debut album ever, clocking up sales of 364,000 in the first week.

According to music retailer HMV, the Arctic Monkeys could have 18 singles in the top 200 on Sunday, after a rule change that means Internet downloads are now eligible and physical forms of tracks are no longer necessary.

"You'd probably have to go back to the heyday of the Beatles in the early-mid Sixties to find anything that could come close to matching this record," said HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo.

The retailer said that all 12 tracks from "Favourite Worst Nightmare" look headed for the top 200, plus several singles from their first album.

"This not only underlines the growing iconic status of the Arctic Monkeys as the UK's leading rock act, but visibly demonstrates how the recent changes to the rules governing chart eligibility have impacted on the make-up of the charts," Castaldo said.

"Looking slightly further ahead, it also adds more fuel to the suggestion that the Beatles will dominate the top 40 once their songs are made individually available for download."