With no new major albums competing for the No.1 spot in Australia this week, the Disney soundtrack for ‘Encanto’ rises three places to spend it’s first week at the Album’s summit locally.
The ‘Encanto’ soundtrack (Disney) became the 939th No.1 Album in Australia (1965 to 2022), the 790th for ARIA (1983 to 2022), the seventh No.1 for 2022 and the fourth for the Disney (or even Walt Disney) record label, with the album also remaining at the top in The U.S.A. (8th week) and Canada (6th week).
This is now the second animated feature film soundtrack for Disney to hit No.1 in Australia, with the first being the ‘Frozen’ soundtrack spending two weeks at No.1 on May 5th and 12th, 2014, while the Walt Disney record label saw No.1’s for Michael Crawford (2 weeks from May 7th, 2001) and the soundtrack for ‘High School Musical (1)’ for three weeks from July 31st, 2006. The last soundtrack or even animated soundtrack to hit No.1 in Australia was only thirteen months ago when the ‘Bluey’ TV soundtrack spent a single week at the top (Feb. 1st, 2021), making ‘Encanto’ the second soundtrack to hit No.1 this decade, with the last animated-feature film score hitting No.1 here being for ‘Trolls’ (3 broken weeks from Jan. 9th, 2017). The ‘Encanto’ set is the fifty-fifth soundtrack to hit No.1 in Australia (1965 to 2022), and is also the overall sixth by an animated film, after the three previous mentioned (Bluey, Frozen, Trolls), there was also ‘Shrek 2’ (1 week on July 26th, 2004) and the first was ‘South Park: Chef Aid’ (1 week on Dec. 14th, 1998).
Returning to No.1 in New Zealand for an twelfth overall week at the top there is the debut album for Olivia Rodigo and “SOUR”, which here is back up three places to land at No.2, having last been this high back in October of 2021 when it spent it’s eight and final week at the top in Australia. This is followed by the highest new entry for this week, the six track mini-LP for local singer Missy Higgins called “Total Control”, which enters at No.3, becoming her seventh Top 10 entry, with her last being her best of set “The Special Ones” (HP-7, Dec. 2018). The set’s title track is a cover of The Motels breakout single, which hit No.7 for two weeks in late May of 1980.
The second and final Australian act within the Top 10 this week is last week’s No.1 album for Gang of Youths and “angel in realtime”, which drops down three places this week to No.4, which is then followed by eight rebounding albums, starting with a four place rise to No.5 for Doja Cat’s “Planet Her”, and then The Weeknd halves his position from last week by rising six spots to No.6 with his collection “The Highlights”.
Ed Sheeran’s “= (Equals)” album and Adele’s “30” both move back up three spots apiece to No.7 and No.8 respectively, while Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia” rebounds five places to land at No.9 and also score a 60th overall week within the Top 10 (it could rise again next week after her new duet with Megan Thee Stallion called “Sweetest Pie” came out on Friday). Thanks to a one-off Foo Fighters concert last weekend in Geelong, Victoria, their “Greatest Hits” set leaps back up twenty-two places to land at No.10, while the album is logging it’s 400th week within the Top 100 (it started charting in November of 2009), with the album last within the Top 10 at No.5 on February 5th in 2018 when they were also on national tour, while the band will be back for larger tour at the end of this year.
UP:
With only two new albums debuting within the Top 50 this week, it means a heap of older titles move back up the charts, starting with the one-week-shy-of-one-year entry for Justin Bieber and “Justice” climbing five to No.11, while Taylor Swift’s redone “Red” is up three to No.12 thanks to it also being the No.4 vinyl set this week. Best of’s for Eminem and Maroon 5 both rise four to No.14 and No.16 respectively, and Harry Styles’ second set “Fine Line” rebounds nine chart-rungs to No.19 after seeing it’s lowest position ever last week.
Billie Eilish is back-to-back with herself again this week, only slightly changed, as her first set “When We All Fall Asleep…” rises three to No.21, leapfrogging over her second set “Happier Than Ever”, which is up one place to No.22. Taylor Swift also has the No.10 selling vinyl album this week in “folklore”, which rises six spots to No.24, while her third and final climb occurs for “Lover”, up three to No.32.
Luke Combs’ second set “What You See is What You Get” moves back up five to No.26, while his first album “This One’s for You” is up two spots to No.31 and spending it’s accumulated fourth year on the chart (208 weeks). The soundtrack for the TV series ‘Euphoria’ remains at it’s peak of No.29 for a third straight week, followed by a four place rise to No.30 for Elton John’s “Diamonds” collection.
Nirvana’s “Nevermind” album surges back up thirty-seven places to No.33 this week, thanks to two factors, it’s the No.13 selling vinyl album this week, plus the album’s second last track “Something in the Way” is used in the recently released DC film ‘The Batman’ at the start and end credits of the film.
Arctic Monkeys’ “AM” album jumps up twenty-five places to No.37 (#6 vinyl), followed by a nine place rise to No.38 for Green Day’s “Greatest Hits: God’s Favourite Band”, with the two final Top 50 rising albums climbing three places each being “25” for Adele (42 to No.39) and “Dangerous: The Double Album” for Morgan Wallen (49 to No.46).
DOWN:
Three of the five Top 10 dropouts this week land within the Top 50, with Midnight Oil and “Resist” (HP-1×1, WI10-2) down seven spots to No.15, and then two of last week’s Top 10 entries tumble down in “23 (mixtape)” for Central Cee (6 to No.44) and “4” for Slash (2 to No.50), while falling into the lower fifty are “Love Sux” (LW-3) by Avril Lavigne and “The Tipping Point” (LW-7) by Tears for Fears.
After The Oils’ drop, the next album moving downwards is the first of two slips for Taylor Swift, with “1989” dipping two places to No.28 and her “Reputation” also declines two spots, to No.41. With a vast majority of albums rising this week, the only other noteworthy drops occur for Lewis Capaldi (40 to No.43) and Dr. Dre’s “2001” (44 to No.48), while last week’s No.17 entry for Casey Barnes has fallen into the lower fifty.
FURTHER NEW ENTRY:
* #25 (LP#10) – War to End All Wars by Sabaton (Nuclear Blast) is the tenth studio album and now third Australian chart entry for the Swedish power-metal act, who previously charted with “The Great War” (LP#9, HP-7, late July, 2019 and this new albums companion piece) and “The Last Stand” (LP#8, HP-29, late August, 2016).
*ARIA Chart info is based on sales for the week from the 4th to the 10th of March, 2022.
Written, Compiled and Researched by Gavin Ryan.
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Gavin Ryan reports with thanks to Australian-Charts.com
