After a single away from the #1 spot, returning this week to the top of the ARIA Albums Chart is Ed Sheeran’s “÷ (Divide)” album.
“÷ (Divide)” is now spending its ninth week at No.1 in Australia, making it Ed’s longest running No.1 album here, beating the eight weeks that “x (Multiply)” achieved between late June 2014 and late June of 2015 (six runs at the top). Ed has now amassed eighteen weeks overall at No.1 here with his three chart-topping albums, and he moves up the list of ‘Accumulated Weeks at No.1: Albums, 1965-2017′ from equal 32nd to now equal 28th alongside Bryan Adams, Herb Alpert and Slade (with 2 #1’s) and Boz Scaggs (one #1 album).
After two weeks at No.3, the “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2” album climbs a single place to a new peak of No.2, becoming the fifth soundtrack this year to either hit No.1 or No.2, and it also peaks at the same place that the film franchise’s first album achieved back in August of 2014, whilst back up two places to No.3 this week is the Kendrick Lamar album “Damn.”, with this week’s albums chart now including Streaming information for the first time, this set is No.2 on that chart this week. Last weeks No.1 debut for Bliss N’ Eso with “Off the Grid” is down three places to No.4 and thanks to Mothers Day (here) this weekend (14th May), the Mark Vincent album “A Tribute to Mario Lanza” is back up two places to No.5.
Bruno Mars recently announced a tour of Australia (for March of 2018) and that helps his album “24K Magic” to climb again this week, up four to No.6, whilst back up two places to No.7 is Adele and her “25” set, which is the only new album certification this week, now 10x▲Platinum. The highest new entry (and only one within the Top 10) is the third greatest hits set for local act Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds entitled “Lovely Creatures – The Best of”, it debuts at No.8 this week becoming the band’s eleventh Top 10 album and their second collection to crack the Top 10, as “The Best of” debuted and peaked at No.2 in late May of 1998, and then their next collection “B-Sides and Rarities” went to No.36 in early April of 2005. This is followed by another best of set, this one by Tina Arena and her “Greatest Hits & Interpretations” is back up two places to No.9 and spending its fourth week inside the Top 10, and also returning for its 98th week within the ten is Ed Sheeran’s “x (Multiply)”, up two places also giving Ed the bookends of the Top 10 this week.
UP:
* The Ten Tenors climb three places to a new peak of No.26 with “Wish You Were Here”.
* After debuting last week at No.31, the Bee Gees climb a spot to a new peak of No.30 with “Timeless: The All-Time Greatest”, plus their collection “Mythology” (HP-3) returns at No.76.
* Drake blasts back into the Top 100 at No.32 with his “More Life” album, which is No.3 on the LP streaming chart this week, whilst his “Views” set returns at No.71 (#12 streamed).
* After returning last week at No.48, the second Milky Chance album “Blossom” is back up six places this week to No.42.
* The Weeknd and his “Starboy” set rise back up thirty-one places to No.44.
* Green Day kicked off their national tour this past week, and their latest album “Revolution Radio” is up one to No.46, while their previous album “American Idiot” is back in at No.83.
* Justin Bieber flies back into the Top 100 at No.48 with his “Purpose” album (#9 streamed).
* Bruno’s tour announcement also drags up his older albums “Doo-Wops and Hooligans” (63 to 51) and “Unorthodox Jukebox” (74 to 58).
* Also returning this week are the soundtracks for the “Suicide Squad” (#56), “La La Land” (#62) and “Fifty Shades Darker” (#92), the last two recently released on DVD and Blu-Ray here.
* Jumping up twenty-one spots to No.66 are Vance Joy and “Dream Your Life Away”.
* Right behind them and up nineteen are Queen and their “Greatest Hits” to No.67.
* Also back into the Top 100 are Kendrick Lamar’s “Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City” (#69), “Vessel” / “Blurryface” by twenty one pilots (#75), “This is Acting” by Sia (#79), “The Eminem Show” (#80), “Singles Collection” for Maroon 5 (#91), “A Head Full of Stars” by Coldplay (#94), and their “4CD Catalogue Set” (#96), “Everyone We Know” by The Thundamentals (#97), “The Best of – All for You” by Cold Chisel (#98), “Badlands” for Halsey (#99) and Architects with “All Our Gods Have Abandoned us” (#100).
* Jumping up fifteen spots to No.84 are The Rolling Stones with “Blue & Lonesome”.
* And rising ten spots to No.88 is “The Essential” for Michael Jackson.
DOWN:
* Three albums leave the Top 10 this week, two of which leave after debuting within the ten last week, first is “Humanz” (HP-4, WI10-1) for Gorillaz, which drops seven places to No.11 and also down twelve to No.18 is the Adam Harvey and Beccy Cole “The Great Country Songbook Vol.2” (HP-6, WI10-1), whilst after returning to the Top 10 for the first time since January 2015 last week the “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.1” (HP-2, WI10-10) is back down four to No.12.
* After falling out of the Top 10 last week, this week Amy Shark leaves the Top 20, as her EP “Night Thinker” is down ten places to No.24.
* The Chainsmokers drop five to No.27 with their debut album “Memories… Do Not Open” (ST#4).
* After a BG’s resurgence last week, the Keith Urban album marks its post one year mark (53 wks) by dropping to its lowest position so far, down eight to No.28.
* Rag’N’Bone Man falls twelve places to No.31 with his debut album “Human”.
* James Blunt’s visit here is almost three weeks ago, and this week his album “The Afterlove” halves itself by dropping seventeen places to No.34.
* Dropping soundtracks this week are “Sing” (21 to 36), “Beauty & the Beast” (24 to 39) and “The Fate of the Furious” (41 to 61).
* Tash Sultana sees her EP “Notion” fall down eleven spots to No.38.
* Lee Kernaghan’s “25th Anniversary Album” falls seventeen places to No.43.
* After peaking at No.35 last week, the Kaleo album drops back down ten places to No.45.
* The Smith Street Band are down sixteen places to No.49 with “More Scared of You…”.
* Down nineteen spots to No.53 is the INXS “Very Best of” collection, whilst further dropping compilations include The Wiggles (44 to 57), Fleetwood Mac (40 to 68; VBof) and (70 to 89, GH), Roy Orbison (46 to 73) and Play School (64 to 93).
* With Eurovision on this week (as I’m writing), the compilation “Eurovision Song Contest 2017: Kyiv” falls twenty-two places to No.59, but should rebound next week, whilst the “Remembrance” compilation plummets forty-two spots to land at No.65.
* John Mayer is down seventeen places to No.60 with “The Search for Everything”.
* The Taylor Swift album “1989” drops down twenty-three spots to No.78.
* With his new album entering this week, the re-entry last week for Chris Stapleton and his first set “Traveller” is back down thirty-four places to No.86.
* The debut last week for CDB and “Tailored for Now – Eleven R&B Super Jams” is this week’s biggest drop, down fifty-nine places to land at No.87.
* With a new Skin Companion track entering for Flume, his “Skin” set drops twenty-eight places to No.95.
* The biggest drop from the Top 100 for last week is the second album for Lea Michele entitled “Places” (#25), whilst also leaving the hundred from last weeks fifty were Tim Rogers (#30), New Found Glory (#36), Willie Nelson (#38), Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” (#42), Airling (#45) and Bethel Music (#50).
NEW ENTRIES:
* #15 (LP#4) – in•ter a•li•a by At the Drive-in becomes the Texas post-hardcore acts third albums chart entry here, and their first since their best of set “This Station is Non-Operational” (HP-34, late May 2005), whilst they also charted here with their third studio album “Relationship of Command” (HP-25, peaked early Feb 2001), plus this becomes their highest charted album here.
* #20 (LP#2) – From a Room: Volume 1 by Chris Stapleton is the US country and bluegrass singers second album on the chart this week, as his debut set “Traveller” (HP-47) returned to the chart last week at No.52 and is down to No.86 this week, plus this becomes his highest charted and first Top 20 album in Australia too.
* #21 (LP#6) – For Crying Out Loud by Kasabian is the new No.1 album in the UK (knocking off Ed Sheeran over there after nine weeks), and becomes the fifth Top 100 entry for the band (four Top 50 and one lower fifty entry), and their first new material in three years.
* #22 (LP#2) – Afterglow by Asgeir is the follow-up to his debut set “In the Silence” which climbed to No.8 in early April of 2014 peaking at No.8.
* #23 (LP#3) – This Old Dog by Mac DeMarco becomes the third albums chart entry for this Canadian singer-songwriter after “Another One” (MiniLP#1, HP-24, August 2015) and his first entry “Salad Days” (LP#3, HP-91, April 2014).
* #25 (LP#3) – Everybody by Logic becomes the US rappers third albums chart entry here after “Under Pressure” (LP#1, HP-79, late Oct 2014), “The Incredible True Story” (LP#2, HP-43, peaked late Nov 2015), and he also landed his first lead singles chart entry this week at No.95.
* #29 (LP#11) – Pollinator by Blondie is released just after the band toured the country in mid-April alongside Cyndi Lauper, and becomes the 70’s pop-punk bands tenth studio album to chart here (#9 in 2011 didn’t chart here), and becomes their highest charted studio album since just before their initial split in 1982, when “The Hunter” peaked at No.15 for two weeks in mid-July, 1982.
* #33 (LP#7) – The Weather by Pond is the local pop-psych bands fourth albums chart entry and now their second highest charted, as their last set from February 2015 in “Man it Feels Like Space Again” debuted and peaked at No.15.
* #35 (LP#4) – Graveyard Shift by Motionless in White is the US metal bands first new album in just under three years, and becomes their second to chart here, as their last set “Reincarnate” debuted and peaked at No.19 in late September of 2014.
* #37 (LP#13) – Turn Up the Quiet by Diana Krall becomes her ninth entry and ninth Top 50 album in Australia, and features covers of classic 50’s and 60’s songs like “Sway”, “I’ll See You in My Dreams” and “L-O-V-E”.
* #54 (LP#1) – There’s Really a Wolf by Russ is the debut album for this US hip-hop artist who was born Russ Vitale in New Jersey.
* #64 (LP#4) – Slowdive by Slowdive is the fourth studio album and first entry here for the English five-piece band who released their first three albums in the 1990’s (first was 1991), and this is the reformed band’s first album of new material since 1995.
* #81 (LP#1) – American Teen by Khalid is the debut album for this El Paso, Texas native who at 19 also scored his first singles chart entry this week too as a guest on the Logic track at No.95.
* #85 (LP#2) – Mirrorland by Strangers is the Australia bands second album and entry, as their debut set “Persona Non-Grata” made it to No.67 for a week on the chart back in October of 2012.
Gavin Ryan reports with thanks to Australian-Charts.com
