After the underwhelming reception that greeted her last album, Joanne, in 2016, it is fair to say that Lady Gaga is a star reborn, with the ongoing success of her Motion Picture Cast Recording to A Star Is Born, with cinematic co-star Bradley Cooper, proving to be a big and growing success.
While the film itself is proving to be a box office champion worldwide, the soundtrack album continues at No.1 in Canada, Ireland and the USA, jumps 2-1 in Switzerland and 3-1 in The Czech Republic, New Zealand and Slovakia. It also returns to pole position in The UK (2-1), while climbing 4-2 in Austria and Spain, 7-3 in Argentina and 43-35 in Finland. Debuting at No.3 in Croatia and No.7 in France, it completes its impressive portfolio by holding steady in Norway (2-2), Australia (3-3) and Italy (4-4) and falling in The Netherlands (3-4), Germany (5-9), Flanders (8-10), Wallonia (6-11) and South Korea (24-37).
The latest hot new soundtrack is Bohemian Rhapsody. The Freddie Mercury biopic of the same name has had a mixed reaction but the soundtrack – featuring Queen hits, previously unreleased Live Aid performances and other rare tracks – makes a good start, opening at No.5 in The UK, No.6 in Ireland and New Zealand, No.7 in Argentina, No.11 in Italy, No.16 in Wallonia, No.20 in Flanders, No.24 in Germany and Japan and No.25 in The Netherlands.
Former lead singer of The Verve, Richard Ashcroft released his sixth solo album, Natural Rebel last week, and it debuts at No.4 in The UK, No.18 in Ireland, No.42 in Italy, No.78 in Flanders, No.82 in Germany and No.105 in Wallonia.
Chicago hard rock band Disturbed’s seventh album, Evolution, opens at No.2 in Germany and New Zealand, No.7 in Norway and The UK, No.9 in Sweden, No.13 in Flanders, No.28 in The Netherlands, No.30 in Italy, No.41 in Wallonia and No.51 in Ireland.
London singer/songwriter Jess Glynne’s second album Always In Between made a big impression last week, debuting at No.1 in The UK, No.4 in Ireland, No.16 in New Zealand, No.31 in Italy, No.33 in Germany, No.34 in Flanders, No.40 in The Netherlands and No.182 in Wallonia. Although it is now in retreat in all of the above, it secures a second round of debuts, opening at No.18 in Australia, No.22 in Hungary, No.32 in Switzerland, No.40 in Spain, No.51 in Canada, No.58 in Austria, No.59 in Czech Republic, No.80 in Slovakia, No.109 in USA and No.141 in France.
There are also more limited second week supplements to the previously reported chart exploits of Elvis Costello & The Imposters’ Look Now which debuts at No.17 in Spain, No.21 in Austria, No.40 in Greece, No.46 in USA and No.180 in France; Eric Clapton’s Happy Xmas, which adds The Czech Republic (No.23), Spain (No.34), Switzerland (No.73), Slovakia (No.94) and The USA (No.168) to its slate; and US-based, UK-born R&B singer Ella Mai, whose eponymous full-length album debut is newly-aloft in The USA (No.5), Canada (No.16) and Australia (No.19).
The new ‘complete edition’ of Dua Lipa’s hugely successful eponymous debut triggers rises of 34-3 in Ireland, 56-9 in The UK, 35-12 in Flanders, 45-16 in The Netherlands and re-entries at No.22 in New Zealand, No.36 in Italy, No.47 in Sweden, No.63 in Wallonia and No.88 in Germany for the album.
Finally, Eminem’s Kamikaze relinquishes control of the chart in Norway (1-3) and New Zealand (1-4) after seven weeks at the summit, while 21 Pilots’ Trench is similarly bereft of top billings as it falls 1-2 in The Czech Republic and 1-9 in Australia.
