ARIA Album Chart Report 19 May 2023

– (subtract) for Ed Sheeran remains at No.1 in Australia for a second week, becoming his longest running chart-topping album this decade.

The second week at No.1 for minus/negative/subtract (whatever you want to call it) is also matched in England, Ireland and New Zealand, plus it’s No.6 Vinyl here and the set debuted at No.2 in both The U.S.A. and Canada this past week, held off the top by the long running Morgan Wallen set. As Ed’s other album from this decade = (equals) only ever logged a single week at the top on November 8th 2021, this second week for his new set makes it his longest stay this decade, while overall he has now amassed 44 weeks at No.1 from his six albums, placing him now equal sixth on the listing for ‘Accumulated Weeks at No.1: Albums (1965 to 2023)’ alongside Pink (44 weeks from 7 #1’s), while if he holds for a few more weeks he will tie with Neil Diamond and his 46 overall weeks, after which is Adele (47 weeks).

While Ed Sheeran’s – (subtract) was the highest first week sales for this year last week (16k), it’s down to only just over 3k in sales this week, in fact there is just over 300 sales between the top two albums, as coming in a No.2 with their eighth studio album is local metalcore act The Amity Affliction and Not Without My Ghosts, which lands the No.1 Vinyl spot this week and give the band their eighth album entry, seventh Top 10 placement and sixth Top 2 album, with this new set matching the No.2 entry and peak of their Feb. 2020 set Everyone Loves You… Once You Leave Them.

No act has more than one album within the Top 10 this week, with former serial dualist Taylor Swift back up one spot to No.3 with her Midnights set (No.5 Vinyl), followed by a two place dip to No.4 for Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time, which contains this week’s six-week-running No.1 Single Last Night, after which is The Weeknd and his long-running singles collection The Highlights, back up one to No.5.

The two other Top 10 debuts this week are also from local acts, with Kate Ceberano entering at No.6 with her 18th album My Life is a Symphony (No.20 Vinyl), which contains symphonic renditions of ten of her tracks alongside the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, such as Pash, Time to Think, Brave and Louis’ Song, becoming her eighth Top 10 Album (1 soundtrack, 2 compilations, 5 studio sets), with her last album Sweet Inspiration hitting No.5 in February of 2021.

Midnight Oil enter at No.7 with Live at the Old Lion, Adelaide 1982, a live set from 41 years ago containing sixteen tracks recorded prior to their fourth studio album being issued 10 to 1 (out Dec. 1982), and this now becomes the bands 16th Top 10 Album locally (10 studio, 2 best of, 4 Live), with all four of their charted Live albums (of the five issued) now landing Top 10 berths and this set was originally issued digitally in December of 2022 but charts now due to a physical release.

Harry’s House for Harry Styles is up one spot to No.8 (No.9 Vinyl) and logging one-year in both the Top 100 and Top 10, while SZA and her SOS set dip two places to No.10, but that could change next week as the album has just been issued physically (CD, Vinyl) on Friday (May 19th), after 23 weeks of digital only sales. Leaping into the Top 10 this week is the third Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack from the recently issued feature film, jumping fourteen places to land at No.9, and continuing the series’ Top 10 entries, while now it just has to climb to No.2 like the first two did, with Vol.3 also jumping to No.3 on the Vinyl Sales Chart (LWV-9), while they also chart at No.10 (Vol.1) and No.13 (Vol.2) with the first two movies’ soundtracks on the vinyl listings.

TOP 20:
Three Top 20 Albums for Taylor Swift this week as she holds at No.11 with 1989 (No.19 Vinyl) and drops three places each with Lover (No.11 Vinyl) and Reputation (No.16 Vinyl). Of the four Top 10 dropouts this week, only one remains within the Top 50 as Luke Combs sees his latest album Gettin’ Old drop down two places to No.12 (HP-2, WI10-7), while he regains his No.7 peak with his Fast Car cover and debuts on a new Ed Sheeran duet Life Goes On (#31) which they sang together at the CMA’s last week.

Thanks to a tenth anniversary edition of the album being issued last week, the Daft Punk album Random Access Memories returns to the chart at No.14 and lands at No.2 on the Vinyl chart, with their last album seeing any chart action back on March 1st 2021 (#24) when they announced their split.

TOP 30:
Taylor’s only Top 30 entry is folklore, which is down a place to No.22, while the surge last week for Ed Sheeran’s ÷ (divide) set is over as the album falls back down seven places to No.24. The two country albums within this chart region are Luke Combs’ This One’s for You up to No.26 and Dangerous: The Double Album for Morgan Wallen, down five to No.30. Olivia Rodrigo and her SOUR set dip two places to No.28, with the album celebrating two years (104 weeks) of charting, while a new Perth only tour announcement for Coldplay sees their 196 week charting (and still not certified) Live in Buenos Aires rebound sixteen places to land at No.29, with the album only ever within the Top 30 once before, upon entry on Dec, 17th, 2018 (#18).

TOP 40:
Pink and her Trustfall set drop down eleven places to No.33 this week, while the first Lewis Capaldi album dips three to No.34, with his second set issued on Friday after four years (last week) of his first set charting, so it could rebound again next week alongside a strong debut from his second album. This just occurred for Ed Sheeran last week, as this week his third and final Top 50 entry = (equals) drops back down seventeen places to No.36, with Luke’s What You See Ain’t Always What You Get is down four to No.38 and Taylor’s Red (TsV) slipping three to No.40, while the Arctic Monkeys’ AM is back up five to No.37 (No.12 Vinyl, LW-23).

TOP 50:
The two collections within this chart region are for Foo Fighters (38 to No.42) and Eminem (CC2; 36 to No.43), with Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia falling out of the Top 40 for the first time ever in it’s 3+ years (164 weeks) of charting, down five spots to No.44, with big falls for both Speak Now by Taylor Swift (30 to No.48) and 72 Seasons by Metallica (32 to No.49). Three of last week’s Top 10 entries departed the chart this week, with Acres by Brad Cox falling ninety places (7 to No.97) and leaving the Top 100 are both Flowers by Pacific Avenue (#3) and ATUM by The Smashing Pumpkins (#5).

FURTHER NEW ENTRIES:
* #15 (V/A) – Eurovision Song Contest Liverpool 2023 – Various (Universal Denmark) was held last weekend, with Ukraine winning but unable to host, it went to second placed England to hold the even in Liverpool, where Sweden won the show at the Grand Final with former winner Loreen and Tattoo beating out Finland and Israel, while Australia placed ninth with Perth act Voyager and their song Promise. Last year’s edition of this compilation (Turin, Italy) made it to No.11, while the 2021 edition (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) made it to No.23.

* #20 (LP#6) – The Album – Jonas Brothers (Republic) is the sixth studio album for the three brothers, with lead single from the album being Waffle House, while this new album also helps their late February issued collection The Family Business to climb to a new peak of No.84 this week. This new entry becomes their first new album this decade, as they last charted in June of 2019 with Happiness Begins (HP-3), while overall this is their ninth Albums chart entry (made up of 2 soundtracks, 1 Live, 1 Best of and 5 studio albums).

* #25 (LP#1) – Religiously. The Album. – Bailey Zimmerman (Elektra/Warner Nashville) is the debut album for the American country singer who recently cracked the Top 50 with his track Rock and a Hard Place (HP-41, April 10th), with this set distinguished as ‘The Album’, which is different from his five track EP from March which was also called Religiously.

* #27 (EP#3) – Wake Up & it’s Over (EP) – Lovejoy (Anvil Cat/AWAL) is the first entry here for the British four-piece indie rock band from Brighton, with this now their fourth release and third EP, plus the new set becomes their first English and Irish Top 10 entry, landing at No.5 in the UK and No.10 in Ireland.

New Certification:

Growin’ Up by Luke Combs ●

HP = Highest Position
LW = Last Week
WI10 – Weeks in Top 10

*ARIA Chart info is based on sales for the week from the 12th to the 18th of May 2023

Written, Compiled and Researched by Gavin Ryan.

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