Taylor Swift scores her third No.1 album in Australia this week as her fifth studio set entitled “1989” debuts at the top of the ARIA Albums chart this week, the first of three debuts within the top three this week.
“1989” becomes the 719th No.1 album in Australia (1965 to 2014) and the 570th for ARIA (1983 to 2014), plus also the 368th album to debut at the top of the Australian albums chart. It’s Taylor’s third No.1 album after “Speak Now” spent a week at the top four years ago (8-Nov-2010) and “Red” started its three stay this week two years ago (29-Oct-2012), plus all three are the only No.1’s in Australia for the record label Big Machine. This is the first time that the year ‘1989’ has been in the title of a No.1 album and it becomes the 261st album by an American Artist to hit No.1, and the 107th for a female artist, the last being Barbra Streisand back at the end of September.
The tenth studio album for local vocal group Human Nature is their sixth album of covers entitled “Jukebox”, this time its songs of the late 1950’s and early sixties doo-wop period, and it debuts at No.2 this week, with their last album to enter this high being their seventh set “Get Ready” (26-Nov-2007) which also debuted at No.2, plus this becomes the bands ninth Top 10 album, and last years festive collection “The Christmas Album” (HP-4) returns at No.56 this week.
The debut album for local EDM act Flight Facilities enters at No.3 entitled “Down to Earth”, giving Australian acts two entries within the top three this week. Ed Sheeran drops back down two places to No.4 with his “x” album, which earns a new certification of 2x▲Platinum, and after debuting at No.1 last week, Slipknot drop back down to No.5 with “5: The Gray Chapter”.
Further former No.1 albums follow-on from there, with “Triple J’s Like a Version Volume 10” halving itself and dropping three places to No.6, whilst the ‘Frozen’ Soundtrack is down a place to No.7 and back up one to No.8 is Barbra Streisand with her “Partners” album. English singer/songwriter Ben Howard landed at No.1 in his home country this past week with his second album “I Forgot Where we Were”, which this week debuts at No.9 here, far surpassing the No.69 peak his debut album “Every Kingdom” achieved here in March 2013, and the final Top 10 placing goes to You+Me with “Rose Ave.”, which is down six spots to No.10 this week.
NEW PEAKS & MOVERS: Tony Bennett & Lady GaGa are back up nine places to No.16 with their “Cheek to Cheek” set, and leaping back into the Top 50 (up thirty-eight) at No.26 is Maroon 5 with their “V” album, whilst the new No.1 for Taylor Swift helps her last chart-topping set “Red” to zoom back up thirteen places this week to No.29. The Rolling Stones tour of Australia helps their collection “GRRR!” back up again this week, rising thirty-one spots to No.32 and another tourist in the form of Rodriguez sees his debut album from 1971 “Cold Fact” back up nine this week to No.35, whilst also returning to the Top 50 at No.45 is Pharrell with “G I R L” (69 to 45).
DOWN DOWN: Three of the four albums that leave the Top 10 all debuted within said ten last week, with “Melody Road” (8 to 13) for Neil Diamond, “Things I’ve Done” (5 to 15) for Karise Eden and “Heart Beats” (7 to 20) for Dami Im joined by Sam Smith with “In the Lonely Hour” (HP-2, WI10-16) down four to No.14 this week. Also dropping this week are C.W. Stoneking with “Gon Boogaloo” down twenty-one to No.38, the self-titled album for Angus & Julia Stone (39 to 47) and leaving from last weeks Top 50 are Leonard Cohen (38 to 52), Miley Cyrus (31 to 53), Ella Henderson (11 to 54), Taylor Henderson (41 to 57), Florida Georgia Line (20 to 58), Banks (32 to 67), Slash (46 to 71), The Game (27 to 79), Ricki-Lee (14 to 86), Planetshakers (30 to 90) and Husky (29 to 94), whilst leaving the Top 100 from last week fifty are Neil Diamond’s “Hot August Night” (#37) and The Church with “Further Deeper” (#50).
The sixth studio album for Britain’s Got Talent 2009 runner-up Susan Boyle is entitled “Hope” and it features covers of tracks by John Lennon, Pink Floyd and many standard hymns done in Susan’s usual style. The album enters at No.11 this week and her first four albums all cracked the Top 10 first week, whilst her 2013 festive album “Home for Christmas” climbed to No.13.
Aretha Franklin debuts at No.30 with her 39th studio album entitled “Sings the Great Diva Classics” an album of covers by such acts as Alicia Keys, Chaka Khan, Etta James, Gladys Knight, Barbra Streisand and The Supremes amongst its ten tracks. It’s her first studio album to chart here since 1989’s “Through the Storm” hit No.86 in July 1989, whilst her last appearance was in 2003 with the No.34 collection “Respect – The Very Best of”.
The debut album for US DJ and producer Dillon Francis is entitled “Money Sucks, Friends Rule” and it comes in at No.33 this week featuring acts such as DJ Snake, The Presets, Major Lazer and Martin Garrix amongst its many guests. One place lower at No.34 is the eighth studio album for US punk-rock band Rancid entitled “Honor is all we Know”, becoming their sixth album to chart here. Coming in at No.42 is the second album for Lanie Lane entitled “Night Shade”, her first album “To the Horses” debuted and peaked at No.12 in late October 2011, and the final Top 50 entry this week is T.I. at No.43 with “Paperwork”, his ninth studio album and third to chart here, his last being his seventh set “No Mercy” (Dec 2010) which reached No.69, whilst he first charted here with “Paper Trail” (HP-16, Oct 2008).
Lower 50: “The Story so Far” for Keith Urban is back up seven spots to No.51 and “Jersey Beat: The Music of” for Frankie Valli & Four Seasons is back up twenty spots to No.65, whilst the soundtrack for “Jersey Boys” is back in at No.78. Further returning albums this week are “Hungry Ghost” for Violent Soho (#55), “Greatest Hits” for The Foo Fighters (#64), “Essential Michael Jackson” (#81), “Stay Gold” for First Aid Kit (#88), ‘Very Best of’ collections for Slim Dusty (#91), Crowded House (#95) and Fleetwood Mac (#98) and Thundamentals album “So We Can Remember” (#99). The tour for Rodriguez also helps his two other charting albums climb this week, with his second album “Coming from Reality” back up ten to No.72 and the soundtrack to the documentary film “Searching for Sugar Man” up nine to No.75. “Curtain Calls: The Hits” for Eminem is up fourteen places to No.76 and the third album for Taylor Swift “Fearless” is back up ten spots to No.84.
The second festive theme album for Pentatonix entitled “That’s Christmas to Me” is new at No.60 this week, becoming their third chart entry, all of which have occurred this year, and the sixth studio album for English rock band Bush debuts at No.73 entitled “Man on the Run”. Their 2011 comeback album “The Sea of Memories” failed to make the Top 100 here, so we have to go back to this week thirteen years ago for their last entry, their fourth set “Golden State”, which spent a week within the Top 100 at No.78 (5-Nov-2001). The final lower entry is in at No.83, a new collection for Spandau Ballet entitled “”The Story” The Very Best of”, which is the bands third best of set to chart, with their first “The Singles Collection” hitting No.3 in February 1986, whilst their second (and last charted album here) was “The Best of Spandau Ballet” which climbed to No.41 in late January 1992.
Written, Compiled and Researched by Gavin Ryan.
