New albums from Future, James Blake, Dodie, Papa Roach and rising US singer/songwriter Maggie Rogers should get charts moving a little a week hence but with this year’s releases thus far being less than stellar, many of 2018’s top titles have regained the initiative and are trending towards the top of admittedly tepid charts, with film fare to the fore.
Now into their second quarters, the soundtrack albums to A Star Is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody are still doing very well, while The Greatest Showman continues to impress well into its second year.
Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born continues atop the chart in Canada, Denmark, New Zealand and Switzerland, while jumping 5-1 in Croatia. It also continues to command Top 10 berths in Australia (2-2), Ireland (2-2), Norway (2-2), The Netherlands (4-4), The UK (3-4), The Czech Republic (8-5), Portugal (4-5), Slovakia (3-5), Austria (2-5), Flanders (11-6), The USA (10-7) and Finland (9-7).
Queen’s soundtrack companion to the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody remains at No.1 in Argentina, Australia and The Czech Republic, while revisiting its peak (No.3) in The UK, and taking Top 10 places in New Zealand (2-2), Ireland (4-3), Japan (2-3), Italy (7-4), Spain (6-4), The Netherlands (5-5), Switzerland (3-5), Wallonia (10-6), Slovakia (6-7) and Croatia (11-10). It is not in the Top 10 but it is on the rise in Austria (15-11), Canada (15-11), Poland (14-12), South Africa (18-14), France (20-18), Denmark (25-23), Germany (32-31) and Norway (37-36). It does, however, make a sudden 15-76 slump in The USA, although its appeal there is relatively undiminished – its decline and a 137-10 leap in the same country for The Platinum Collection: Greatest Hits I, II & III are due to the fact that streaming points for tracks they share in common are awarded to the album which sells most copies. With The Platinum Collection passing Bohemian Rhapsody on that metric this week, it was given the streaming points, hence the apparently random movements made by the two albums. Bohemian Rhapsody’s popularity has also awoken interest in Queen’s catalogue in many other countries, particularly Australia (where Queen have three of the top four albums) and Poland, where The Platinum Collection jumps 7-1 this week.
Although in less lofty orbit everywhere else, the Motion Picture Cast Recording of The Greatest Showman dominates in The British Isles, spending its 19th week at No.1 in Ireland and its 27th week at No.1 in The UK.
Ed Sheeran’s ÷ is nearly two years old but, having climbed for six weeks in a row, it returns to the Top 10 in The UK (13-10) after an 18 week absence. It is also in the Top 10 in New Zealand (3-3), Flanders (5-4), The Czech Republic (7-6), Ireland (6-6), Denmark (4-6), The Netherlands (7-7), Australia (7-8) and Austria (7-10).
