Charts analysis: U2 land first No.1 album in 14 years

U2 return to the top of the album chart this week for the first time in more than 14 years with Songs Of Surrender. Comprising stripped-back re-recordings of 40 songs from the group’s back catalogue, it delivers their 11th No.1 on consumption of 20,569 units (11,042 CDs, 6,000 vinyl albums, 1,008 cassettes, 1,407 digital downloads and 1,112 sales-equivalent streams). Average age 62, the Irish band’s span of No.1 albums expands to a little over 40 years – their first No.1, War, dethroned Michael Jackson’s Thriller in March 1983. U2’s overall tally of No.1 albums is exceeded among groups only by The Beatles, who have 15, and equalled by The Rolling Stones, who have also had No.1s with 11 different albums, although two of them returned to No.1 in expanded editions giving them, on some counts, 13. The release of Songs Of Surrender has also re-awakened interest in the original versions of many of the songs thereon, hence the 138-38 leap (2,358 sales) of their 2006 No.4 compilation U218 Singles, which thus achieves its highest chart position since 2009. Although two of their members were born in the UK, U2 are rightly regarded as being an Irish band, in which category their tally of UK no.1 albums puts them well ahead of nearest challengers Westlife, The Script and Boyzone, who have had eight, six and five No.1 albums, respectively. Brighton indie quartet Black Honey’s third album, A Fistful Of Peaches, is their second Top 10 entry, and highest-charting release to date, debuting at No.6 (5,619 sales). Their eponymous 2018 debut peaked at No.33, while follow-up, Written & Directed, reached No.7 two years ago this week. Although no UK dates have yet been announced, the start of Taylor Swift’s sprawling US leg of her new The Eras Tour last Friday (March 17) and the release of a quartet of previously unreleased tracks resulted in increased consumption of her catalogue here, with most recent album Midnights bouncing 8-4, with consumption up 31.05% week-on-week at 6,703 units. Also on the rise are 1989 (26-18, 3,876 sales, 24.62% increase), Lover (39-23, 3,468 sales, 52.71% increase), Folklore (38-26, 3,326 sales, 44.51% increase), Reputation (51-33, 2,736 sales, 33.18% increase), Evermore (121-57, 1,987 sales, 46.44% increase), and Red (Taylor’s Version) (127-66, 1,888 sales, 42.19% increase), giving Swift a total of seven albums in the Top 75. The rest of the Top 10: The Highlights (2-2, 8,916 sales) by The Weeknd, Endless Summer Vacation (1-3, 7,855 sales) by Miley Cyrus, Trustfall (4-5, 5,958 sales) by Pink, 50 Years: Don’t Stop (9-7, 5,429 sales) by Fleetwood Mac, Curtain Call: The Hits (6-8, 5,281 sales) by Eminem, Diamonds (10-9, 4,996 sales) by Elton John and Harry’s House (5-10, 4,959 sales) by Harry Styles. Ending an introductory run of 14 weeks in the Top 10, SOS slides 7-11 (4,893 sales) for SZA, while Sleaford Mods’ UK Grim dives 3-122 (1,380 sales) after just one week in the top tier. Its line-up unchanged since it was first settled in 2003 when its members were variously aged between 13 and 15, Maryland band All Time Low celebrates its 20th birthday with ninth studio album, Tell Me I’m Alive. Debuting at No.12 (4,637 sales), it is All Time Low’s seventh Top 75 album in total, and sixth Top 20 entry. Their sixth album, Future Hearts, reached No.1 in 2015 on first week sales of 19,463, the best for the band. However, their third album, 2009’s Nothing Personal, is their biggest-seller with to-date consumption of 134,110 units, despite peaking at No.104. It did, however, spawn the band’s only Top 75 singles chart entry, Lost In Stereo, which reached No.63, and has thus far achieved consumption of 139,922. Their biggest track, though, is Dear Maria, Count Me In. Originally included on their second album, 2007’s So Wrong, It’s Right, it has never charted but has racked up to-date consumption of 518,587 units, a tally which increases by around 2,000 units a week, even at this stage. Also new to the Top 75: Sundowners (No.46, 2,152 sales), the seventh album and sixth chart entry for hard rock quartet The Answer, from Northern Ireland; and The Complete Singles (No.74, 1,762 sales), the eighth chart album (third compilation) by The Inspiral Carpets. It is 20 years since the formation of Scottish rock band Frightened Rabbit, and 10 years since their only Top 10 album, Pedestrian Verse, which reached No.9 in 2013. Disbanding following the death of primary songwriter and lead singer Scott Hutchinson in 2018, they return to the chart for the first time since with special 10th anniversary editions of Pedestrian Verse making it a re-entry this week at No.59 (1,970 sales). It returns to its peak of No.2 in Scotland. Default champion The Greatest Showman spends its 39th week at No.1 on the compilation chart on consumption of 2,371 units (89 CDs, 40 vinyl albums, 55 digital downloads and 2,187 sales-equivalent streams) . Overall album sales are up 0.99% week-on-week at 2,176,070, 8.56% above same week 2022 sales of 2,004,560. Physical product accounts for 266,143 sales, 12.23% of the total. PHOTO: Olaf Heine

Charts analysis: Miley Cyrus matches Olivia Rodrigo, Ed Sheeran & Harry Styles with 9 weeks at No.1

Buoyed by the release of parent album Endless Summer Vacation, which debuts at No.1 this week, Flowers tops the singles chart for the ninth week in a row for Miley Cyrus. It is the fourth single to spend its first nine weeks in the chart at No.1 in the 2020s, following Drivers License by Olivia Rodrigo, Bad Habits by Ed Sheeran and As It Was by Harry Styles. Flowers’ consumption climbs 5.83% week-on-week to 56,815 units (3,013 digital downloads, 53,802 sales-equivalent streams), as it reverses two weeks of decline, thus avoiding ACR for at least three more weeks. Two more songs from Endless Summer Vacation enter the Top 75 – River (No.16, 16,561 sales) and Jaded (No.27, 10,348 sales). They raise Cyrus’ tally of hits to 26. A further six songs from Endless Summer Vacation are ‘starred-out’ of the Top 75, under the primary artist rule which only allows three to be allocated chart placings. Flowers’ runner-up for the fourth straight week, Boy’s A Liar by PinkPantheress is still set to fall into ACR next week, with its consumption off for a third week in a row, and by 5.13% to 49,704 units in the current frame. The highest of this week’s nine Top 75 debuts is Miracle, opening at No.3 (35,483 sales) for Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding. With a sound reminiscent of Robert Miles’ 1990s ‘dream house’, it certainly packs a punch, and delivers both artists with their highest-charting hit since 2019. It is their third, and highest-charting, Top 10 collaboration, following I Need Your Love (No.4, 2013) and Outside (No.6, 2014), which have to-date consumption of 898,825 units and 1,163,483 units, respectively. Miracle is Harris’ 29th Top 10 hit and 46th Top 75 hit in the week he celebrates 16 years as a chart artist, Goulding’s 12th Top 10 and 31st Top 75 hit. It is No.1 on digital downloads, which account for 3,225 of its sales. Six weeks after debuting at No.65, Croydon-based rapper Strandz’s first hit, Us Against The World, is now his first Top 10 entry, climbing 12-10 (21,394 sales). With ACR ending the Top 10 careers of Kill Bill (4-14, 17,152 sales) by SZA and Sure Thing (5-17, 15,302 sales) by Miguel, the ensuing vacuum allows Ceilings (7-6, 27,756 sales) by Lizzie McAlpine and People (8-7, 25,812 sales) by Libianca to advance to new peaks. A new version of People, performed as a duet with Irish singer Cian Ducrot, has just been released, and should add further impetus for the track next week. The rest of the Top 10: Die For You (3-4, 35,350 sales) by The Weeknd, Calm Down (6-5, 28,926 sales) by Rema, As It Was (9-8, 22,324 sales) by Harry Styles and Players (10-9, 21,623 sales) by Coi Leray. Rapper Digga D set up his own Black Money record label last year. The first two singles on it underachieved, with Stay Inside reaching No.88 and Chief Rhys Freestyle failing to make the Top 100. He’s back on track with new single Energy, which debuts at No.19 (14,897 sales), becoming his seventh Top 20 and 20th Top 75 entry. The UK’s 2023 Eurovision entry, I Wrote A Song by Mae Muller, was launched with a barrage of publicity eight days ago. Riding a wave of enthusiasm after the success of the 2022 entry Space Man by Sam Ryder – which reached No.2 in the contest and subsequently in the UK chart – I Wrote A Song opens its chart campaign at No.30 (10,151 sales), two places above the peak of Muller’s only previous hit. Finishing 76th last week, 77th on two recent occasions and 78th on two more, it is fair to say that People Pleaser has been flirting with becoming Cat Burns’ second chart hit for weeks. Well, now she has two hits – but it’s not People Pleaser that gets her there. No.76 again (5,449 sales) it remains within 10 places of the Top 75 for the eighth week in a row, while her Home For My Heart collaboration with ArrDee is an instant success, debuting at No.35 (9,442 sales). It is 20-year-old Brighton rapper ArrDee’s ninth hit. Also new to the chart: Mother (No.42, 8,394 sales), the 11th hit for Meghan Trainor; 1 On 1 (No.48, 7,776 sales), the 43rd hit in total and third of 2023 for D-Block Europe; Trance (96-60, 6,716 sales), the 11th hit for Metro Boomin, featuring rappers Travis Scott and Young Thug, for whom it is their 35th and 20th hits, respectively; Last Night (92-72, 5,759 sales), the first hit single for American country singer Morgan Wallen, which is currently No.1 on the US Hot 100; and Motto (No.73, 5,610 sales), the fourth hit for US rapper NF. Making steady progress since it was first released, Rush continues to climb for Ayra Starr, improving 28-24 (11,046 sales). There are also new peaks for: Red Ruby Da Sleeze (30-28, 10,317 sales) by Nicki Minaj, Whistle (34-31, 10,106 sales) by Jax Jones & Calum Scott, React (54-40, 8,564 sales) by Switch Disco & Ella Henderson, Here (50-46, 7,972 sales) by Tom Grennan and Can’t Tame Her (59-55, 7,177 sales) by Zara Larsson. Helped by its use on Love Island, React is Switch Disco’s first Top 40 hit by Henderson’s 10th. Overall singles consumption is up 0.71% week-on-week to 26,013,465 units – 7.61% above same week 2022 consumption of 24,173,143 units. Paid-for sales are down 2.49% week-on-week at 288,490 – 11.81% below same week 2022 sales of 327,113.

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