“÷ (Divide)” by Ed Sheeran delivers an eighth consecutive week at No.1 on the ARIA Albums Chart this week, becoming Ed’s equal longest run at the top, as his second album “x (Multiply)” spent eight broken weeks (from six runs) at the top previously.
The last album to spend eight weeks in a row at the top was Adele’s “21” set during it’s third of five runs at the top from its sixteenth to twenty-third weeks in the No.1 spot from the 5th of September to the 24th of October in 2011. The second “21” run was for eleven weeks from mid-June to late August, whilst the longest continual run at the top during this decade is the thirteen week run for the Pink best of “Greatest Hits… So Far” (from 22-Oct, 2010). Ed Sheeran now moves up the list for “Accumulated Weeks at No.1: Albums 1965-2017′ from equal 35th to now equal 32nd, as he has now racked up seventeen overall weeks at No.1, placing him alongside Bon Jovi (10 #1’s), The Seekers (one #1) and John Lennon and Kings of Leon (also 3 #1’s).
The first of three new entries to the Top 10 this week is lead by the debut EP for local singer Amy Shark entitled “Night Thinker”, coming in at No.2, the six track set featuring her two current charting singles in “Adore” (HP-3, TW-27) and “Weekends” (HP/TW-53). This is followed at No.3 by the soundtrack to the second film “Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol.2”, entering four places higher than the original did in mid-August of 2014, and that first volume is up ten places to No.15 this week, having originally peaked at No.2 in its third week on the charts. This new edition features seventies track from ELO, Sweet, Fleetwood Mac, Glen Campbell’s “Southern Nights” (#1 in the US this week in 1977), George Harrison, Cheap Trick and Cat Stevens amongst its 14 tracks.
Two of last weeks debut’s remain within the Top 10 this week, with “A Tribute to Mario Lanza” for Mark Vincent down one spot to No.3, and last week’s highest entry in “DAMN.” for Kendrick Lamar down three places to No.5, and spending its third week inside the ten is the Tina Arena “Greatest Hits & Interpretations” set, which is down three also, to No.7.
The third Top 10 debut this week comes in at No.6, the second album and third entry for Adelaide rapper AllDay entitled “Speeding”, becoming his second Top 10 album, as his first album “Startup Cult” debuted and peaked at No.3 in mid-July of 2014, whilst his debut EP “Loners are Cool” made it to No.18 in mid-April of 2013. Two older albums remaining within the Top 10 this week are “25” by Adele, down two to No.8, and Ed Sheeran’s “x (Positive)” set is down one to No.10, whilst returning to the Top 10 after three weeks outside of it, is recent visitor to our shores and Logie Awards performer James Blunt and his latest set “The Afterlove” (HP-7), which rebounds nineteen places to jump back into the Top 10 at No.9.
UP:
* With a new track charting this week in “Murder to the Mind” (new #59), the Tash Sultana EP “Notion” blasts back up forty places to No.13.
* With ANZAC day occurring during the last chart week (April 25th), the compilation album called “Remembrance” is up six places to a new peak of No.14.
* The new ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ album helps the first volume back up ten places to No.15.
* The 1977 set for Fleetwood Mac in “Rumours” jumps back up thirty-one spots to No.35.
* Aled Jones’ recent entry “One Voice” returns to the Top 100 at its former peak of No.38.
* After returning last week to the Top 100 at No.48, the former No.43 album “The Essential” for Bruce Springsteen is up seven spots this week to a new peak of No.41.
* The new Top 10 singles chart entry for Shawn Mendes from his album “Illuminate” helps it to climb up five spots to No.47.
* Michael Kiwanuka returned at No.62 last week with his “Love & Hate” (HP-35) album, which this week climbs ten spots to land at No.52.
* Back up nineteen spots to No.54 is “Dangerous Woman” for Ariana Grande.
* After flattening somewhat last week, a burst back up the charts this week for Beyonce and her “Lemonade” set, from 93 to No.61.
* After their recent tour here, the Zac Brown Band sees their “Greatest Hits So Far” set rise four spots to land at a new peak of No.63.
* Neil Diamond’s “All Time Greatest Hits” set is back up sixteen spots to No.71.
* The second of nine returns this week is for Train and “A Girl, A Bottle, A Boat” at No.72, followed by A.B.Original and “Reclaim Australia” (#77), Dune Rats’ “The Kids Will Know it’s Bullshit” (#82), “My Dear Companion” for Emmylou, Dolly & Linda (#83), “Mesmer” by Northlane (#85), and the down at the tail end of the Top 100 are “Spirit of the ANZACS” for Lee Kernaghan (#98), the “Frozen” Soundtrack (#99) and The Avalanches with “Wildflower” (#100).
* The Play School album “50 Best Songs” is back up eighteen to No.86, whilst further best of’s to rise are by Queen (65 to 53), Elton John (90 to 80) and The Doors (91 to 81).
DOWN:
* Leaving the Top 10 for the first time during 2017 is the Soundtrack for “Trolls” (HP-1×3, WI10-19) which is down four to No.11, followed by another animated cast album for “Moana” (HP-2, WI10-14), which drops two to No.12, both stayed within the ten after their recent DVD and Blu-Ray releases. The two other ten-dropouts are by The Chainsmokers and “Memories… Do Not Open” (HP-4, WI10-2) down eleven to No.19 and last week’s debut by John Mayer and “The Search for Everything” (HP-5, WI10-1) which tumbles twenty-four places to No.29.
* Further falling soundtracks this week are for “Beauty and the Beast” (11 to 16), “Sing” (14 to 18), last week’s entrant “The Fate of the Furious” (FF8) (13 to 30), “Big Little Lies” (43 to 60), “La La Land” (79 to 90), and “Suicide Squad” (60 to 95).
* Down eight to No.25 are The Smith Street Band and “More Scared of You Than You Are of Me”.
* Falling ten to No.28 is the Lee Kernaghan “25th Anniversary Album”.
* After all, Bruno Mars albums climbing the past couple of weeks, this week they all fall, with his latest set “24K Magic” down ten to No.31, whilst falling heavily are “Doo-Wops & Holligans (32 to 91) and “Unorthodox Jukebox” (29 to 94).
* Best of sets to fall this week are for INXS (26 to 33), Fleetwood Mac (27 to 34), Roy Orbison (31 to 36), The Wiggles (38 to 42), Van Morrison (35 to 43), Crowded House (72 to 79) and Notorious B.I.G. (81 to 89).
* Kendrick Lamar had four albums within the Top 100 last week, which is now down to three, and his older sets drop back this week with “To Pimp a Butterfly” down fifteen to No.45 and down a little is “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City” (55 to 59), whilst “untitled unmastered” drops out from No.84.
* After working its way back up to No.16 last week, the “1989” set for Taylor Swift drops back down thirty-two places this week to No.48, whilst the same almost occurs for Justin Bieber and his “Purpose”, which declines thirty-one chart rungs to No.55.
* The Ten Tenors set “Wish You Were Here” is down fifteen to No.49 and Mastodon with their “Emperor of Sand” falls seventeen places to No.50.
* Three weeks ago the Pentatonix EP “PTX Vol.4-The Classics” debuted at No.10, now this week it falls twenty places to No.56.
* The Drake playlist album “More Life” is down eighteen to No.58.
* Father John Misty and his set “Pure Comedy” is down twenty-two spots to No.64.
* Even though she performed at The Logie Awards last Sunday night, this week the Jessica Mauboy album “The Secret Daughter” falls back down twenty-one places to No.66.
* Down sixteen places to No.73 is the Busby Marou set “Postcards from the Shell House”.
* After returning last week at a new peak of No.68 after their tour here, this week the Billy Bragg and Joe Henry album “Shine a Light: Field Recordings from the Great American Railroad” is down ten places to No.78.
* Kasey Chambers flew back up into the Top 50 last week with her “Dragonfly” album, and now this week its plummets back down forty-six spots to land at No.93.
* Leaving the Top 100 from last weeks fifty are albums by Spit Syndicate (#19), Rhiannon Giddens (#49) and The Lumineers (#50).
NEW ENTRIES:
* #20 (LP#8) – 8 by Incubus is the eighth studio album by the US rock band, and their first since their July 2011 seventh set “If Not Now, When?” (HP-10), and overall this becomes the band’s seventh entry (six studios and one best of), with six of those seven albums reaching the Top 20 (“Make Yourself”, LP#3, their first entry, climbed to No.24).
* #22 (LP#11) – Love and War by Brad Paisley is his first album in almost three years, and becomes his seventh chart entry here in Australia and fourth Top 30 album.
* #23 (LP#2) – Gutful by Bad//Dreems is the second album and entry for the Adelaide band, with the new set landing ten places higher than their first entry “Dogs at Bay” (HP-33, Sept 2015).
* #24 (L#7) – Live in The Netherlands by Xavier Rudd is his seventh live album and second to chart here in Australia, as his third live set “Good Spirit” debuted and peaked at No.29 in April of 2005, and overall this becomes Xavier’s ninth chart entry (seven studios and two live), all of which have reached the Top 30 or higher.
* #26 (LP#3) – You Are We by While She Sleeps is the English metalcore’s first entry to the ARIA Albums Chart, and their third studio set.
* #46 (LP#5) – Tears on the Dancefloor by Steps is the reformed bands fifth studio album and first in five years, and their first to chart for this century in Australia, as the band’s first two albums are their only previous entries in “Step One” (HP-5, peaked Oct 1998) and “Steptacular” (HP-25, Nov 1999).
* #84 (GH#14) – The Very Best of by Linda Ronstadt becomes the fourth compilation of Linda’s hits to chart in Australia, this new set is already Gold (●) in sales, with her previous entries being in 1977 (HP-22), Volume 2 in 1980 (HP-53) and an overall “Greatest Hits” set in 1981 (HP-41).
* #97 (LP#10) – Be Myself by Sheryl Crow is her tenth studio album and her ninth chart entry (eight studios and one best of), and all but one of her five entries for this century have only hit the Top 90 and stayed for a single week or two, so maybe this one will climb next week.
Gavin Ryan reports with thanks to Australian-Charts.com
