Albums
Take That progress back to the top of album charts
Sunday June 19, 2011
By Alan Jones
Their sell-out UK tour in full swing, Take That surge back to the top of the album chart this week, following the timely release of an expanded version of their latest album Progress.
With 95% of its sales last week coming from the new edition, the album rockets 11-1, on sales of 77,720 copies. The original album – which sees Robbie Williams back in the fold for the first time since 1995 – exploded onto the chart at number one last November with first week sales of 518,601, the highest tally of any album in the 21st century.
It spent six weeks at the summit, eventually retreating as far as number 32 but climbed back as high as number nine after being discounted to as little as £4, ahead of the new edition, which adds a second CD with eight new tracks, and goes by the title of Progressed. Prior to its expansion, Progress had sold 2,069,367, and was the 28th biggest seller of the 21st century.
The Arctic Monkeys’ first album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I Am Not spent four weeks at number one; 2007 follow-up Favourite Worst Nightmare topped the list for three weeks; and 2009’s Humbug endured for just a fortnight, so it is with a certain sense of inevitability that I report that their fourth album, Suck It And See slips to number four (34,910 sales) after just one week at the summit.
Showing a great deal more tenacity, Adele’s 21 holds at number two, with sales jumping 30.20% to 58,515. It is the fifth week the album has spent at number two – the remainder of its 21 weeks on the chart have been at number one.
So Beautiful Or So What debuts at number six (21,993 sales) to become Paul Simon’s ninth Top 10 solo album – a tally that includes two compilations. It’s Simon’s debut for the Hear Music label, and takes the Starbucks Coffee imprint’s tally of Top 40 albums to seven – all by veterans. In addition to 69 year old Simon, they have also scored Top 40 successes with a stellar selection of artists, all well over 50 years old: Paul McCartney Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Carole King. Paul McCartney’s successes for Hear Music, in association with MPL and Concord, include the number 17 reissue of Band On The Run, as the initial release in the Paul McCartney Archive Collection last Autumn. The second and third releases in the series, McCartney and McCartney II, fare less well this week. McCartney (a number two album in 1970) debuts at number 88 (2,295 sales), while McCartney II (number one, 1980) debuts at number 108 (1,895 sales).
Meanwhile, 65 year old Neil Young racks up his 44th chart entry, debuting at number 38 (5,577 sales) with A Treasure. The latest in his Archive Performance Series, it consists of live recordings made in 1984/5, backed by The International Harvesters.
Only nine months after their debut set Black Country reached number 13, selling upwards of 32,000 copies, Anglo/American supergroup Black Country Communion return, debuting at number 23 (9,245 sales) with 2. The group comprises UK members Glenn Hughes and Jason Bonham, and US members Derek Sherinian and Joe Bonamassa. While Black Country Communion’s overall work rate is impressive, Bonamassa’s is exceptional – his latest solo album, Dust Bowl, only dropped 11 weeks ago, peaking at number 12, and selling 31,000 copies.
With six solo number one albums to his credit, and one as a member of D12, Eminem falls short of the top slot with Hell – The Sequel, his collaboration with Royce Da 5’9”. Marketed as an EP, even though it has nine songs and 37 minutes of music in its shortest form, it debuts at number seven (21,237 sales). The pair first worked together in 1997, before either had achieved success.
Frankie Laine racked up 27 hit singles in the UK between 1952 and 1961 but didn’t make his album chart debut until six weeks after his singles chart career finished, reaching number seven with 1961 set Hell Bent For Leather!, a collection of country standards. He subsequently reached number seven with The Very Best Of in 1977, and scores his third chart album 50 years to the week after his first, debuting at number 16 (11,178 sales) with Hits this week. Laine died in 2007 at the age of 93.
After nine weeks at number one, Now! 78 dips to number three on the compilation chart, swapping places with The Old Grey Whistle Test 40th Anniversary album. Now! 78 has sold 563,509 copies in 10 weeks – 7.23% more than same stage sales of 2010 equivalent, Now! 75.
Boosted by Father’s Day gift-buying. Overall album sales are up 15.76% week-on-week at 2,168,473 - 3.54% above same week 2010 sales of 2,094,371. It’s their highest level for 13 weeks, and beaten by only two of 23 previous 2011 weeks.
1 Take That 77,720
2 Adele [21] 58,515 (2,546,564)
4 Arctic Monkeys 34,910 (117,334)
6 Paul Simon 21,993
7 Bad Meets Evil 21,237
16 Frankie Laine 11,178
23 Black Country Communion 9,245
38 Neil Young 5,577
Singles
Example surge earns second week at number one
Sunday June 19, 2011
By Alan Jones
Relegated to third place on initial midweek sales flashes, Example’s Changed The Way You Kissed Me fought back to secure a second week as number one single, on sales of 75,252 copies.
It overturned an early lead by Bounce, the initial single from Calvin Harris’ upcoming third album. Featuring a guest vocal from Kelis, Bounce sold 66,920 copies to debut at number two. It’s Harris’ sixth Top 10 hit and Kelis’ 10th.
20-year-old singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran completes a competitive top three, debuting in silver medal position with The A Team (57,607 sales), his first hit single.
Selling 620,192 copies - twice as many as any of his other singles – Tinchy Stryder’s biggest hit is Number One, which topped the chart for three weeks in 2009, and featured N-Dubz as guests. N-Dubz’s Dappy also guests on Stryder’s latest hit, Spaceship, which debuts at number five (44,390 sales). It’s the introductory single from Stryder’s upcoming fourth album, Lights, Camera, Action, and has already charted higher than any of the five lifted from his 2010 album, Third Strike, from which the first, In My System, was the most successful, reaching number 10.
After debuting at number six last week, Coldplay’s Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall dives to number 22 (13,152 sales). The band’s 11th Top 10 single, it beats a hastier retreat than any of the others, surpassing even the 10-25 dive of The Scientist in 2002.
Adele’s 21 album spawns its third Top 40 hit this week, as Set Fire To The Rain jumps 46-25 (12,349 sales) exceeding the number 44 peak it scaled six weeks ago. Its predecessors are still in the chart too: first single Rolling In The Deep falls 37-41 (8,179 sales) on its 22nd appearance, while follow-up Someone Like You falls 24-27 (11,601 sales) on its 21st appearance. The latter song is probably less than a month away from its millionth sale, with a to date tally of 975,242, while Rolling In The Deep has sold 634,253 copies.
The second series of Glee drew to a close last week, and with it Glee Cast’s chart activities will also go on hiatus. They are going out with a bang, however, charting three more singles inside the Top 75, to bring their career haul to 93. Their new hits: Light Up The World (number 48, 6,265 sales), Pretending (number 63, 4,365 sales) and For Good (number 65, 4,260 sales). Only three Glee Cast songs have made the Top 10, 29 have made the Top 40, and 186 have made the Top 200. Overall sales of 3,319,811 include a top tally of 480,148 for their number two hit Don’t Stop Believin’. More interestingly, although 27 Glee Cast songs have charted higher than Defying Gravity (number 38) it is their seventh biggest seller (58,296 sales).
Overall singles sales are down 2.51% week-on-week to 3,087,957, 18.85% above same week 2010 sales of 2,598,177.
1 Example 75,252 (190,298)
2 Calvin Harris feat. Kelis 66,920
3 Ed Sheeran 57,607
5 Tinchy Stryder/Dappy 44,390
22 Coldplay 13,152 (50,339)
25 Adele [SFTTR] 12,349
27 Adele [SLY] 11,601 (975,242)
41 Adele [RITD] 8,179 (634,253)