It’s been fifteen years between albums for Canadian country-pop singer Shania Twain, but her fifth album “Now” debuts at the top of the ARIA Albums Chart this week to become her third successive No.1 album in Australia.
“Now” is the 810th No.1 Album in Australia (1965 to 2017) and the 662nd for ARIA (1983 to 2017), plus the 455th to debut at No.1 and the 22nd for the Mercury (Nashville) record label, with their last #1 being Matt Corby’s “Telluric” back in March of 2016. Shania first hit No.1 in Australia with her third album “Come on Over” which racked up twenty weeks at No.1 during 1999 from the 8th of Feb through until the 13th of December during six runs at the top, the most being an eleven week stay between late July and early October of 1999, and she followed this up with her late November 2002 set entitled “Up” which lasted a single week at No.1.
So for the past 15 years Shania has been sitting in the mid-twenties on the list for ‘Accumulated Weeks at No.1: Albums’ at 21 weeks, now she adds an extra week and moves up to equal 22nd on that list alongside Cat Stevens (from two #1’s), and this becomes the fifth album to feature the word ‘Now’ in it’s title, the last being “What About Now” for Bon Jovi (18th March, 2013). This new No.1 album also becomes the 29th by a Canadian Artist to hit the top and the 121st by a Solo Female artist (local or overseas), with the last solo Canadian female act to hit the top being Avril Lavigne with “Goodbye Lullaby” on 14th of March in 2011.
The sixth studio album for Miley Cyrus debuts at No.2 this week entitled “Younger Now”, which becomes her fifth Top 10 album in Australia, with her last set “Bangerz” debuting at the top four years ago (mid-Oct, 2013). This new album has had three chart entries so far, with current entries being “Malibu” (TW-62, HP-3) and the albums title track “Younger Now” (TW-87, HP-49).
“÷ (Divide)” for Ed Sheeran is back up one spot to No.3 and last weeks top entry “Wonderful Wonderful” for The Killers is down three places to No.4, BUT their performance at the AFL Grand Final helps their collection “Direct Hits” (former peak #30) to zoom up fifty-two places to land its first ever week within the Top 10 at No.10. The Foo Fighters’ “Concrete & Gold” is down three places to No.5 and the NRL GF performer Macklemore sees his new album “Gemini” drop back three spots to No.6, and with a February 2018 national tour announced during his visit the set won’t fall far.
90’s singers Rick Price and Jack Jones (lead singer of ‘Southern Sons’) have teamed up for a covers album entitled “California Dreaming”, which debuts at No.7 this week becoming Rick’s second Top 10 album in Australia (his debut set “Heaven Knows” in late July of 1992 debuted at No.3) and his fifth Top 100 albums chart entry, with his last set being “Tennessee Sky” (HP-97, April 2015), and the first solo chart entry for Jack Jones too. This album contains covers of songs from The Mamas & the Papas, The Byrds, Roy Orbison, The Doors, Joni Mitchell, The Eagles, Neil Young, Jackson Brown, James Taylor and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
Demi Lovato sees sixth studio album debut at No.8 entitled “Tell Me You Love Me”, which becomes her second successive Top 10 album in Australia and fifth to chart, as her last album “Confident” debuted and peaked at No.3 in late October of 2015, with the albums lead single “Sorry Not Sorry” (HP-8, TW-13) becoming her first Top 10 single in Australia.
This past week the music industry lost Tom Petty, and his “Greatest Hits” (HP-16, peaked Jan 1994) returns at a new peak of No.9 this week for the sets first Top 10 berth, plus by returning within the Top 10 it also becomes his first ever TOP 10 placing in Australia, as NONE of his album ever hit the Top 10 since he first started charting in April of 1978. The highest he ever got was a No.13 peak for “Full Moon Fever” in late June of 1989, and a No.15 peak with his third album with The Heartbreakers entitled “Damn the Torpedoes” (peaked May 1980).
UP:
* After returning at No.16 last week the repacked collection for Midnight Oil in “Essential Oils” is up three places to No.13.
* Post Malone cracks the Top 20 for the first time with “Stoney”, up eight to No.17 thanks to a new single entering from the album in “I Fall Apart” (#56).
* Macklemore’s NRL GF performance also brings his biggest album “The Heist” (HP-2) back into the chart at No.21.
* Two older Eminem albums climb back up this week, with “Curtain Call: The Hits” up three to No.31 and the album “The Eminem Show” rising seven to No.58.
* The Shania Twain No.1 debut helps her “Greatest Hits” (HP-10) to return at No.53 this week too.
* Soundtracks rising come from “Sing” (88 to 70) and “Baby Driver” (80 to 74).
* The “Greatest Hits” for the Red Hot Chili Peppers is back up ten to No.73, the Roy Orbison “Ultimate Collection” is up twenty to No.89, and the Guns N’ Roses “GH” is back in at No.99.
* Returning at No.91 is the 1982 Michael Jackson album “Thriller”, and after falling out from #20 last week, Madonna’s “Rebel Heart Tour” is back in at No.96.
DOWN:
* Two of the six albums leaving the Top 10 this week are soundtracks, with ‘Moana’ (HP-2, WI10-22) down five to No.11 and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.II” (HP-2, WI10-13) down nine to No.19, plus also leaving are “Snow” (HP-2, WI10-2) for Angus & Julia Stone down seven to No.12, the Elvis Presley “50 Greatest Hits” (HP-7, WI10-1) drops down eight to No.15, leaving the Top 10 for the first time is the Paul Kelly “Life is Fine” (HP-1×1, WI10-7) down seven to No.16, and Anthony Callea’s “ARIA No.1 Hits in Symphony” (HP-1×1, WI10-3) plummets twenty-five spots to No.33.
* Kendick Lamar drops down seven places to No.20 with “DAMN.”.
* Jack Johnson is down twelve places to No.27 with “All the Light Above it Too”.
* Gang of Youths drop eleven to No.28 with their former No.1 “Go Father in Lightness”.
* The Foo Fighters “GH” is down fifteen to No.29, after his national tour the Elton John “Rocket Man: Definitive Hits” is back down eight to No.62, The Wiggles are down nine to No.69, Cold Chisel’s “All for You” is down eight to No.85 and Maroon 5 are down six to No.95.
* Imagine Dragons see a twelve place drop to No.36 with their “Evolve” album.
* Queens of the Stone Age plummet twenty-one spots to No.40 with their “Villains” set.
* Last weeks No.11 entry of “Roll with the Punches” for Van Morrison is down thirty-three to No.44 this week.
* The self-titled Harry Styles album leaves the Top 50 for the first time, down six to No.52.
* The National see their “Sleep Well Beast” album drop twenty-one spots to No.57.
* “Rainbow” for Kesha dims ten places to No.59 this week.
* Neil Finn plummets thirty-five places to No.63 with his “Out of Silence” album.
* There’s a twenty-six place drop to No.64 for The Script’s “Freedom Child” set.
* BTS halve their position from last week with their EP “Love Yourself” down thirty-three to No.66.
* Now that their tour is over, the London Grammar set “Truth is a Beautiful Thing” drops back down forty-five spots to No.67.
* Zara Larsson and her “So Good” set drop seventeen places to No.83.
* Rag’N’Bone Man sees his “Human” album fall a further fourteen places this week to No.86.
* Nickelback drop down eighteen places to No.92 with “Feed the Machine”.
* Albums leaving the Top 100 from last weeks Top 50 are by British India (#12), King Parrot (#21), Fanny Lumsden (#23), The Bronx (#26), Tina Arena (#37) and Fergie (#39).
FURTHER NEW ENTRIES:
* #14 (Comp) – Scream by Michael Jackson is a compilation of Michael’s scarier tracks like “Thriller”, “Ghosts”, “Blood on the Dance Floor”, plus songs he appeared on like his cousin Rockwell’s 1984 hit “Somebody’s Watching Me”, The Jacksons track “Torture” and the duet with his sister Janet in “Scream” amongst its fourteen tracks.
* #18 (LP#11) – Piano by Benny Andersson is the first album to chart for the former ABBA member since he released his first solo set in 1987, with this new album is helped into the charts by his recent interviews here.
* #24 (LP#1) – Sponge Cake by Winston Surfshirt is the debut album by the Sydney six-piece act.
* #26 (LP#7) – Victory Lap by Propagandhi is the first album to chart for the Canadian punk band.
* #34 (LP# ) – Sings the Great New American Songbook by Johnny Mathis sees the US crooner cover songs such as “You Raise Me Up”, “Hallelujah”, “Just the Way You Are”, “I Believe I Can Fly”, “Hello” and “Happy” by Pharrell. He last charted here in May 2006 with “The Very Best of” (HP-15).
* #45 (Liv#16) – Let’s Play Two by Pearl Jam is a seventeen track live album recorded at Wrigley Park in Los Angeles during the bands 2016 tour, and will also be released as a live concert too.
* #51 (GH#3) – Anthology: Through the Years by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers was originally issued in 2000 and makes its first chart appearance due to Tom’s passing this week.
* #54 (LP#2) – Visions of a Life by Wolf Alice is the second entry for the English alt-rock band from London, who saw their debut set “My Love is Cool” make it to No.41 in July of 2015.
* #61 (LP#13) – Inspirational by Celtic Thunder is a 21 track album of spiritual tracks including “Hallelujah”, “You Light Up My Life”, “Amazing Grace”, “You Raise Me Up”, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and “Crying in the Chapel”.
* #97 (LP#9) – The Desaturating Seven by Primus is the sixth albums chart entry for the US rock band (5 albums and 1 EP), and is the bands first entry this century, as they last charted in late October of 1999 with their sixt album “Antipop” (HP-33).
Gavin Ryan reports with thanks to Australian-Charts.com
