No.1 on iTunes in 50 territories a week ago, Justin Timberlake's fifth solo studio album, Man Of The Woods, now tops the list in none of them... However, at the end of its first week on sale it has made some impact on official chart tabulations, debuting at No.1 in Flanders, The Netherlands and Germany, No.2 in The UK, No.3 in Ireland and New Zealand, No.6 in Sweden and Wallonia, No.8 in Italy and No.32 in Japan. Fuelled by his half time performance at the 52nd Superbowl, Man Of The Woods is also a shoo-in to debut atop the chart in The USA and Canada, and will doubtless add a shoal of further single digit starts a week hence.
Meanwhile, rap trio Migos' third album, Culture II - which made a similarly big first impression on iTunes the week before Timberlake's album dropped - continues to impress. The album - which opened at No.2 in The Netherlands, No.4 in The UK, No.5 in New Zealand, No.8 in Flanders, No.11 in Sweden, No.14 in Germany, No.15 in Italy and No.18 in Wallonia last week - now debuts at No.1 in The USA and Canada, No.3 in Denmark, No.4 in Norway, No.5 in Slovakia and Switzerland, No.6 in France, No.9 in Finland, No.14 in Austria, No.15 in Ireland, No.16 in The Czech Republic and No.28 in Australia.
EDM/trance trio Above & Beyond - comprising Brits Tony McGuinness (48) and Jono Grant (38) and 40-year-old Paavo Siljamaki from Finland - made a fairly quiet start here with their sixth album, Common Ground, which debuted at No.51 after selling a little over 2,500 copies last week. In America, however, it storms to No.3, with first week sales of around 64,000 copies, the vast majority of which were 'purchased' as part of a concert ticket/album redemption bundle, which has become very commonplace in America but which has no chart legitimacy elsewhere. Common Ground also debuts at No.51 in The Czech Republic, No.55 in Australia, No.61 in Canada, No.67 in Slovakia, No.111 in Flanders and No.190 in The Netherlands.
Yorkshire heavy metal veterans Saxon score their highest charting album in the UK for 33 years with Thunderbolt - their 22nd studio set - debuting at No.29. It performs even more impressively in Germany, where it becomes their 23rd chart album, and the first to make the Top 10, debuting at No.5. It also debuts at No.13 in Sweden, No.48 in Wallonia, No.53 in Flanders and Italy and No.172 in The Netherlands.
Of similar vintage, but very different musically, Scots legends Simple Minds blow away the cobwebs with their 18th studio album Walk Between Worlds opening at No.4 in the UK to become their highest charting album since 1995. And it is their highest charting album since 2005 in Germany, where it debuts at No.7. It also shows up in the charts in Flanders (No.4), Wallonia (No.12), Italy (No.14), Ireland (No.22), The Netherlands (No.23) and Sweden (No.41).
Finally, the Motion Picture Cast Recording of The Greatest Showman remains a major chart force. No.1 in Australia and The UK for the fifth time, and in Ireland for the third time, it jumps 3-1 to start its reign in New Zealand, and is in the Top 10 in The USA (2-2), Finland (5-3), Norway (2-3), Canada (6-5), The Netherlands (9-9) and Flanders (5-9) while making strong advances to new peaks in Spain (27-11), France (103-18) and South Korea (112-62).
