Sydney five-piece indie rock band Sticky Fingers see their third studio album “Westway (The Glitter & The Slums)” debut at the top of the ARIA Albums Chart this week, their first such feat.
“Westway (The Glitter & The Slums)” is the 784th No.1 Album in Australia (1965 to 2016) and the 635th for ARIA (1983 to 2016), plus the 430th to debut at No.1 and the 35th chart-topping album of 2016 (this time last year we were at 26 #1’s), plus the first for the band’s record label ‘SureShaker Music’. Of the three studio albums for the band to chart, this becomes their second Top 10 hit, as their last set “Land of Pleasure” debuted and peaked at No.3 in August of 2014, whilst their first entry was “Caress Your Soul” which made it to No.39 in March of 2013.
Understandably this is the first time that the word ‘Westway’ has appeared in a No.1 title, and for that matter this is also the first for ‘Slum(s)’ too, but the second for some ‘Glitter’, as the first Simple Minds collection “Glittering Prize 1982-1992” (6th Dec, 1992, 1 week) was the other No.1 album to feature that word (Wombats made it to No.2 with “Glitterbug in 2015, and Mariah Carey’s soundtrack to her first film ‘Glitter’ (2013) peaked at No.13). The new No.1 album becomes the 207th by an Australian Act to hit the top here and the 17th for 2016 (still a record), plus the 355th for a Group (local or overseas) and the tenth by an Australian Group for 2016 (also still a record for this decade). The band Sticky Fingers become the 103rd Australian Act to hit the top here and also the 59th Australian Group to have a No.1 album too.
New at No.2 for the second time is American indie folk act Bon Iver, also with their third studio album, entitled “22, A Million”, which debuts in the same position (#2) that their Grammy Award winning second self-titled album achieved back July of 2011, whilst their first set “For Emma, Forever Ago” peaked at No.32 for two weeks in February 2009.
With the AFL (football) and NRL (rugby) Grand Finals both played last weekend on Saturday and Sunday respectively, the biggest music sales winner from the pre-game, mid-game and finale performances is Keith Urban who teamed with Jessica Mauboy to perform his current chart entry “The Fighter” (back up to No.31 this week), and this has also helped boost his May No.1 album “Ripcord” back up eleven places to land at No.3 this week, and with his tour here starting in early December, expect this album to hang around the higher end of the chart for some time to come.
On hold at No.4 this week, spending its ninth week within the Top 4, is the “Suicide Squad – The Album” soundtrack, followed at No.5 by last weeks second highest entry, the compilation “Chapter & Verse” for Bruce Springsteen, down three spots this week, and last weeks No.1 entry for Passenger and “Young as the Morning, Old as the Sea” tumbles five places to land at No.6 this week.
Two more Top 10 entries are next, with Swedish progressive metal band Opeth taking their twelfth studio album entitled “Sorceress” straight into the charts at No.7, becoming the bands sixth chart entry here and now equal highest charting and second Top 10 set, as their ninth album “Watershed” debuted and peaked at No.7 back in June of 2008, and the bands last entry was with their eleventh set “Pale Communion” (HP-17, Sept 2014). Right after them at No.8 is US singer BANKS with her second studio album “The Altar”, which becomes her first Top 10 entry here, beating the No.17 peak that her debut set “Goddess” achieved back in September of 2014. The remainder of the Top 10 is made up of the “Trio Collection” for Dolly, Linda & Emmylou down two places to No.9 and the final Top 3 entrant from last week and this weeks new US No.1 Album “Illuminate” for Shawn Mendes falls seven places to No.10.
UP: AFL Grand Final performers Vance Joy see their album “Dream Your Life Away” leap back up twenty four places to No.17 this week, “1989” by Taylor Swift is back up eleven to No.26 and “Purpose” by Justin Bieber rebounds thirty-six places to land at No.27 after he announced the Australian leg of his current overseas tour this past week, and lastly “Title” for Meghan Trainor jumps back up twenty-seven spots to No.37.
DOWN: Five albums leave the Top 10 this week and first up is “Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway” (HP-1×1, WI10-5) for Barbra Streisand, which is down seven to No.12 and for the first time ever the third Adele album “25” (HP-1×8, WI10-45) is out of the Top 10 and drops five to No.15, after which “Skeleton Tree” for Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds (HP-1×1, WI10-3) gets chopped down eight places and land at No.16 this week. “Backbone” by Anthony Callea (HP-1×1, WI10-2) tumbles twelve spots to No.18 and finally “Dream Lover – The Bobby Darin Musical” Cast Recording (HP-9, WI10-1) is down thirteen to No.22 after a single week within the Top 10. “Bridget Jones’s Baby” soundtrack drops seven to No.19 and down eight to No.24 are twenty one pilots’ “Blurryface”, and after rebounding last both “x” for Ed Sheeran (17 to 28) and “Wings of the Wild” for Delta Goodrem (18 to 31) fall back this week. Falling twenty to No.33 are Airbourne and their fourth set “Breakin’ Outta Hell”, whilst also falling this week are Beyonce (22 to 35), Tash Sultana (11 to 36), Jason Aldean (19 to 38), Crowded House (26 to 39), Safia (23 to 42), The Wiggles Best of (29 to 45), Dolly Parton (30 to 49) and “50 Best Songs” from Play School (32 to 50), whilst falling into the lower fifty this week are Coldplay (38 to 52), Usher (24 to 55), The Beatles Live set (31 to 56), Drake (34 to 57), The Amity Affliction (35 to 58), A Day to Remember (33 to 60), Frank Ocean (46 to 62), Queen GH (39 to 63), Meghan Trainor’s second album (44 to 66), Hilltop Hoods (50 to 72), Every Time I Die (25 to 79), My Chemical Romance (15 to 81), Marina Prior & Mark Vincent (45 to 85) and Harts (36 to 91), whilst the only album leaving the Top 100 from last weeks fifty is the Meat Loaf set “Braver Than We Are” (#40).
The 36th studio album for Irish music legend Van Morrison debuts just outside of the Top 10 this week at No.11 entitled “Keep Me Singing”, one place lower than 2015’s “Duets” album. A few places lower at No.13 is local country duo The Sunny Cowgirls with their seventh studio album “Here We Go”, which becomes their highest charting album ever, and their fourth Top 50 and seventh Top 100 entry.
The self-titled tenth album for Yellowcard is new at No.14 this week, and it becomes the groups seventh Top 100 and sixth Top 50 entry, plus also their second highest charting album, as their fifth (and breakout) album “Lights and Sounds” debuted and peaked at No.6 in February 2006. The final Top 20 entry this week is new at No.20, the seventh studio album for singer and songwriter Regina Spektor entitled “Remember us to Life”, which becomes her fourth chart entry here and third Top 20 peaking set too.
Solange (Knowles) sees her third studio album entitled “A Seat at the Table” become her first Australian Albums Chart entry at No.21 this week, and few places lower at No.23 is “Head Carrier” for The Pixies, the bands sixth studio album and second after their comeback, and by debuting at No.23 it becomes their second highest charting set, as their 2014 returning album “Indie Cindy” debuted and peaked at No.21 in May of that year, and this becomes the groups sixth chart entry too (four studio and two best of).
Craig David’s sixth studio album “Following My Intuition” is the new (and his second) UK No.1 album this week, whilst here it comes in at No.29 and becomes his fifth Top 50 entry and sixth Top 100 entry, and this is the first new album for the artist in six years since his last “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” (HP-24, May 2010) set. Around Craig are two religious based albums debuting, first of which is local Australian church group Planetshakers with their 31st album “Overflow” coming in at No.25 and then Bethel Church group members Melissa Helser and Jonathan David see their fourth duo album “Beautiful Surrender” come in at No.32.
Local female country singer Amber Lawrence sees her fifth studio album debut in the same territory as her two previous entries, coming in at No.44 is “Happy Ever After”, whilst she has also charted with “3” (LP#3, HP-41, Jan 2012) and “Superheroes” (LP#4, HP-43, Sept 2014). A few places lower at No.46 is the seventh studio album and first chart entry here for Dutch symphonic metal act Epica and their set is called “The Holographic Principle”, and finally new at No.48 is the fourth album for US hip hop act Danny Brown entitled “Atrocity Exhibition”, and this is his second entry here after 2013’s “Old” (HP-63), so this now becomes his highest charting album here.
Lower 50: The Weeknd returns (again, he was back in two weeks ago) with “Beauty Behind the Madness” at No.53, ahead of his new album coming out in at few weeks, “Get Weird” for Little Mix is back up thirty-three spots to No.64, “Currents” for Tame Impala climbs sixteen to No.65, and there are four more re-entries this week, “Rumours” for Fleetwood Mac (#83), NRL Grand Final performer Keith Urban with his collection “The Story So Far” (#89), Florence + the Machine and “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful” (#94) and AFL Grand Final act The Living End are back in at No.95 with their recent studio album “Shift” at No.95.
There are two new entries in the lower fifty this week, first of which is five-piece Melbourne based metalcore act Void of Vision with their debut album “Children of Chrome”, helped into the chart also by the bands recent national tour (more shows in November to come), and then new at No.61 is the Eric Clapton set “Live in San Diego” with guest artists JJ Cale, the pair’s third albums chart collaboration (in a way) after “The Road to Escondido” (HP-43, Feb 2007) and then Eric’s tribute album “The Breeze – An Appreciation of JJ Cale” (HP-17, August 2014).
Compiled by Gavin Ryan for Australian-Charts.com
