Mumford & Sons are heading for their first No 1 in the UK with Babel set to head the artist albums chart with the first 100,000 weekly total in seven months.
The band's second Gentlemen Of The Road/Island set Babel had sold nearly 90,000 copies by the end of business on Tuesday, according to the Official Charts Company, outselling their nearest challenger Uno by Green Day by more than three copies to one. It puts it on course to top 100,000 first-week sales, becoming the first artist album to do so since Emeli Sande's Our Version Of Events in February.
Mumford's 2009 debut entered at 11 in October 2009 with 15,732 sales and, although it eventually sold 1.3 million copies domestically, never ever reached No 1 and instead peaked at 2. It moves 21-14 in the midweeks with its weekly sales having doubled.
The UK act's strong sales this week will deny Reprise/Warner Bros's Green Day a third UK chart-topper. Uno is the first of a trio of albums by the band being released in quick succession and follows up their 2009 No 1 album 21st Century Breakdown.
Three other newly-issued albums are also registering in the midweek Top 10, among them Britain's Got Talent 2012 runners-up Jonathan & Charlotte whose Syco debut Together is at 5. The Mau5trap/Parlophone-issued Album Title Goes Here by Deadmau5 is new at 6, while Columbia act Lucy Rose's first album Like I Used To Know is new at 10 in the week so far. The UK singer-songwriter has previously featured as a vocalist on Bombay Bicycle Club's albums.
Having debuted at No 1 on Sunday, The Killers' Vertigo/Mercury album Battle Born is now down to 4 as RCA act Pink's The Truth About Love drops 2-4. The Script's Epic/Phonogenic set #3 slides 3-7, while Virgin act Emeli Sande's Our Version Of Events falls 5-8. Also in decline is Coexist by Young Turks/XXL's The xx, falling 4-9.
Following a performance on Jonathan Ross's ITV1 show last Saturday, Atlantic/Fueled By Ramen's Fun climb 15-11 with the album Some Nights. Its sales are up 60% in the week so far, while the track of the same name progresses 14-6 on the midweek singles chart with sales up 34%.
Two acts whose last studio albums came out in 2001 will return to the chart this weekend. Interscope/Polydor's No Doubt finally follow up Rock Steady, which peaked at 43 in 2011, with Push And Shove. This is new at 13 in the week so far and looks likely to become their highest-peaking album since Tragic Kingdom reached 3 in 1995.
Meanwhile, Scottish band Deacon Blue's own first studio album since 2001, The Hipsters, is on course to place them the highest in the chart since the retrospective Our Town - The Greatest Hits reached No 1 in 1995. The Edsel-issued new album is new at 16 at this stage of the week.
Two veteran rock/metal acts will also score new entries on Sunday, led by the band Magnum whose Steamhammer/SPV-issued On The 13th Day appears at 20 in the current Sales Flashes. It could become their first Top 40 album since Sleepwalking reached No 27 in 1992. Joining them in the chart will be Iron Maiden founder Steve Harris whose EMI-issued solo set British Lion is at 23.
A Universal re-issue of The Sex Pistols' 1977 chart-topper Never Mind The Bollocks is at 29, while a new Capitol/EMI Beach Boys best of, Fifty Big Ones - Greatest Hits, is new at 36 in the week the veteran US band are playing live in the UK.
On singles PSY's Island-issued Gangnam Style could make history this weekend as the first Korean-language single to top the UK singles chart. It leads the midweek singles chart at present with a two-place climb and lead of around 5,000 sales over last week's No 1, Hall Of Fame by Epic/Phonogenic's The Script featuring will.i.am.
Atlantic act Flo Rida is in the ascendance with I Cry lifting 9-3, while Mercury's Taylor Swift climbs 6-4 with We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together despite its weekly sales being down 8%. Motown/Mercury act Ne-Yo's Let Me Love You (Until You Learn To Love) drops 4-5, while behind Fun at 7 is Ministry of Sound's Example dropping five places with Say Nothing. Syco signings Little Mix fall 7-8 with Wings and Xenomania/RCA's Amelia Lily is down 8-9 with You Bring Me Joy, while RCA act Pink's Blow Me (One Last Kiss) drops 5-10.
Ministry of Sound act DJ Fresh appears as a new entry at 11 with The Feeling featuring Ravaughn, while RCA signing Paloma Faith's Never Tear Us Apart is new at 13.
The latest series of The X Factor has its biggest impact on the singles market yet this week, including Atlantic act Jason Mraz's I Won't Give Up climbing 110-21 and Fray's RCA-handled 2005 hit How To Dave A Life up 71-22 in the midweeks after both featuring in the ITV1 programme.
The full midweek singles and abums charts are on musicweek.com.
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