The sixteenth studio album for Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds entitled “Skeleton Tree” debuts in the No.1 spot on the ARIA Albums Chart this week, making it back-to-back No.1 studio albums for the Australian group.
“Skeleton Tree” becomes the 781st No.1 Album in Australia (1965 to 2016) and the 632nd for ARIA (1983 to 2016), plus the 427th to debut in the No.1 position and the 32nd chart-topping album for 2016 (this time last year we were on 23). It’s also the second for Nick Cave’s own record label ‘Bad Seeds Inc’, as the bands fifteenth studio set “Push the Sky” also debuted at No.1 back on the 25th of February, 2013, giving Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds their second No.1 here (it also debuted at No.2 in the UK this week) and now two weeks at the top for this decade, alongside eleven other acts including Madonna, 5SOS, RuFuS, Sia, Flume, Barbra Streisand and the Temper Trap.
This is only the second time that a ‘Tree’ has been planted in a No.1 album title, the other was the Enya collection “Memory of Trees – Greatest Hits” (17th Dec 1995 for four weeks), and the very first ‘Skeleton’ to make its presence in a chart-topping album title. The album becomes the 205th by an Australian act to hit the top and the 15th for 2016 (the previous best for this decade prior to 2016 was in 2013 when thirteen albums made it to No.1 for local acts), and also the new No.1 album becomes the 354th by a group (local or overseas) to hit the top (the ninth by a local group this year too). The album has also debuted at No.1 in New Zealand and Norway so far.
There are seven debuts within the Top 10 this week, and the top two are by local acts, with the three piece act from Canberra in Safia seeing their debut album “Internal” debut at No.2 this week, with three of their five Top 100 entries appearing on the album in “Embracing Me”, Make Them Wheels Roll” and “Over You”.
The three ladies that are Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris made their first collaborative album entitled “Trio” (HP-12) back in 1987, and then they followed it up in 1999 with “Trio II” (HP-66), and now a collection of their tracks entitled “My Dear Companion: Selections from the Trio Collection” (there is also a complete collection too) debuts at No.3, becoming the trio’s first Top 10 entry as a threesome, plus it also becomes the first ever Top 10 berth for Emmylou Harris (her previous best solo effort was her eighth album “Evangeline” which made it to No.40 in late May of 1981), and with the recent Top 10 entry for the latest Dolly Parton album “Pure & Simple” (HP-9, early Sept) this now becomes her third Top 10 album in Australia (all of which have occurred this decade), and finally it also becomes the fourth Top 10 album here for Linda Ronstadt, and her first since 1980’s “Mad Love” (HP-6, peaked mid-March).
There are three albums which survive another week within the Top 10, first up is the soundtrack for “Suicide Squad” which is down one place to No.4, the recent third No.1 album in Australia for Barbra Streisand in “Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway” drops four this week to No.6 and holding on for a 43rd week within the ten is “25” by Adele which falls back down five places this week to No.9.
In between those three stayers, there are four more debuts; firstly US country singer Jason Aldean is new at No.5 with his seventh studio album entitled “They Don’t Know”, which becomes his first ever Top 10 album here in Australia and also his third to chart after “Old Boots, New Dirt” (LP#6, HP-13, early March 2015) and “Night Train” (LP#5, HP-97, also early March 2015). Bastille debuted their second album “Wild World” at the top in the UK this week, and here it comes in at No.7, becoming also their second Top 10 album here, but now highest charting of the two, as their debut set “Bad Blood” climbed to No.10 in late August of 2013.
New at No.8 are The Beatles with the re-release of their 1977 live album “Live at the Hollywood Bowl”, which originally peaked at No.12 for two weeks back in early June of that year, and now that it finally cracks the Top 10 it becomes the bands 28th Top 10 album here since 1965, the re-issue coinciding with the release of the Ron Howard-directed documentary about the band’s touring years entitled “Eight Days a Week”. And finally new at No.10 is the seventeenth album for US act Devin Townsend Project entitled “Transcendence”, which becomes his third album to chart here and now his first to not only crack the Top 50 but also the Top 10.
UP: Troy Cassar-Daley is back up one spot to No.11 with “Things I Carry Around” and the second of only three climbing albums within the Top 50 this week is the Play School album “50 Best Songs”, which is up two places to No.28, and the third and final climbing album is the debut set for Halsey and “Badlands”, which is back up three to No.47.
DOWN: Last weeks No.1 debut of “Bad Vibrations” (HP-1×1, WI10-1) for A Day to Remember tumbles eleven spots this week to No.12, and another former No.1 set in the Human Nature album “Gimme Some Lovin’: Jukebox Vol.II” (HP-1×2, WI10-7) leaves the Top 10 for the first time and is down seven to No.14. The third and final former chart-topping set to leave the ten this week is the Frank Ocean album “Blonde” (HP-1×1, WI10-3) which is down thirteen spots to No.21. The further four albums leaving the Top 10 this week are “His Favourite Collection” (HP-9, WI10-1, 9 to 24) for John Williamson, “Animal” (HP-5, WI10-1, 5 to 30) for Big Scary, “This Sporting Life” (HP-6×2, WI10-3, 6 to 31) for Roy & HG and finally the Travis Scott set “Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight” (HP-10, WI10-1) which falls twenty-seven places from 10 to No.37 this week. Further big falling albums are “Lemonade” for Beyonce (11 to 17), The Amity Affliction (17 to 26), Florida Georgia Line (20 to 29), Bernard Fanning (14 to 32), both Red Hot Chili Peppers albums in “The Getaway” (19 to 33) and their “Greatest Hits” set (44 to 62), Drake (25 to 34), Coldplay (22 to 35), Guns N’ Roses GH’s (27 to 42), Delta Goodrem (24 to 43), Meghan Trainor’s first album (32 to 44) and after three weeks on the chart the new Britney Spears is down twenty-nine this week to land at No.50. Falling into the lower fifty this week are The Avalanches (31 to 53), Glass Animals (23 to 56), Ol’55 (34 to 57), Flume (39 to 59), Blink-182 (43 to 61), Radiohead (47 to 63), Drapht (26 to 65), Justin Bieber (48 to 68), Angel Olsen (29 to 88), Jimmy Barnes (41 to 92) and James Vincent McMorrow (28 to 98), whilst leaving the Top 100 from last weeks fifty are Jamie T (#35) and Felix Riebl (#49).
Jack White is new at No.13 this week with his collection “Acoustic Recordings 1998-2016”, followed at No.16 by the tenth studio album for Wilco entitled “Schmilco”, which becomes the band’s second Top 20 appearance, but first as a solo act, as they teamed with Billy Bragg for the set “Mermaid Avenue” which climbed to No.12 in late April of 1999. The second EP for local EDM act What So Not (now just producer Chris Emerson aka Emoh Instead) entitled “Divide & Conquer” is new at No.19, with the eight tracks featuring guest vocalists such as Kimbra, GTA and George Maple.
The third album for US act GroupLove debuts at No.20 entitled “Big Mess”, becoming the band’s third album to peak within this chart region, as previously they have entered with “Never Trust a Happy Song” (LP#1, HP-21, Sept 2011) and then “Spreading Rumours” (LP#2, HP-18, Sept 2013). New at No.22 is the second compilation from US act All Time Low entitled “Straight to DVD II: Past, Present, and Future Hearts”, but first to chart here, and overall it becomes their sixth album to enter our charts (album five was re-packaged and charted twice).
US metalcore act Of Mice & Men see their fourth album “Cool World” debut at No.27 this week, and it becomes their second albums chart entry after their third set “Restoring Force” debuted and peaked at No.9 in early February of 2014. The debut album for local Melbourne act Northeast Party House entitled “Dare” comes in at No.38 and the final Top 50 entry this week is also by a local act, the duo known as The Hard Aches debut at No.48 with their first chart entry “I Freak Out”, the pair will be touring Australia from late September.
Lower 50: A new deluxe edition of the Northlane album “Node” was issued last week, and the set re-enters the Top 100 this week at No.58, Hillsong United are back up six places to No.60 with “Of Dirt and Grace”, the Fleetwood Mac “Greatest Hits” set leaps back up twenty-five places to No.64, “That’s the Spirit” by Bring Me the Horizon flies back up eighteen spots to No.66, Vance Joy have been climbing back up the past few weeks with their debut set “Dream Your Life Away”, this week its back up seven to No.67, “Bloom” for RuFuS is up ten places to No.76, and Nine Track Mind for Charlie Puth jumps up fifteen spots to No.81. Further returning albums this week are the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ soundtrack (#79), “The Positions” for Gang of Youths (#91), recent ARIA Hall of Fame inductees for 2016 were announced as Crowded House this year, and this has helped their collection “The Very Very Best of” to return at No.96, whilst the final return at #100 is “The Wild Swan” by Foy Vance.
Two albums debut in the lower fifty this week, one at the top and one nearer the bottom. But first at No.51 is the fifth studio album for UK female rapper M.I.A. entitled A.I.M., which becomes her fourth albums chart entry here (the first didn’t make it), and her second to miss the Top 50, whilst new at No.93 is the first new studio album from Mi-Sex since 1983’s “Where Do They Go?” (HP-80, peaked late November 1983) and the bands fifth overall, this time with new lead singer Steve Balbi (formerly from Noiseworks).
Gavin Ryan reports with tahnks to Australian-Charts.com
Follow Noise11.com on Facebook and Twitter
——————————————————————————————————————————————
Never miss a story! Get your free Noise11.com daily music news email alert. Subscribe to the Noise11 Music Newsletter here
Listen to the Noise11 Music News channel now at iHeartRadio
