No.1 in Flanders, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and The UK last week, Ariana Grande’s fifth album, Thank U, Next remains at the summit in five of the six, while slipping to No.2 in Ireland, where local band Picture This’s second album Mdrn Lv emulates their eponymous 2017 debut by entering at No.1.
Thank U, Next also adds debuts at No.1 in Australia, Austria, Canada, The Czech Republic, Denmark and The USA, while opening at No.2 in Finland, Slovakia and Switzerland, No.3 in France, Poland and Spain and No.11 in Hungary.
It completes its portfolio by holding at No.2 in The Netherlands and falling 3-4 in Germany, 3-6 in Wallonia, 2-8 in Italy and 12-20 in Japan.
Avril Lavigne was just 17 years old when she emerged in 2002, with debut album Let Go spawning major hits Complicated, Sk8er Boi and I’m With You while racking up global sales of more than 20m.
Now twice that age, Lavigne’s sixth album, Head Above Water has arrived, more than five years after her eponymous fifth. Although her fanbase was sufficient to lift Head Above Water briefly to the top of the iTunes rankings in 22 countries within hours of release, it faded fast, and ends its first week with official chart debuts at No.3 in Germany, No.6 in Italy, No.7 in Japan, No.10 in The UK, No.12 in Flanders, No.18 in The Netherlands, No.21 in New Zealand and No.25 in Wallonia and Ireland.
With the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody the subject of Golden Globe and BAFTA awards, Oscar nominations and newly-released on DVD and Blu Ray for the home market, Queen’s soundtrack album of the same title continues to prosper. Also lifted by its belated release in selected territories on vinyl, the album spends its 18th week on release by advancing 11-3 (a new peak) in The USA, 7-4 in Switzerland, 5-4 in Wallonia, 23-7 in Austria, 31-10 in Hungary, 12-10 in Poland, 18-12 in South Africa, 24-14 in France and 34-17 in Denmark. It is static in Argentina (2-2), New Zealand (3-3), The UK (4-4), Slovakia (6-6), Spain (6-6) and Japan (8-8) but heads south in The Czech Republic (1-2), Australia (2-3), Canada (3-4), Ireland (4-5), The Netherlands (4-6), Greece (5-11), Italy (5-13), Flanders (8-15), Germany (8-21) and South Korea (33-86).
Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born soundtrack also has legs, although Ariana Grande’s new album swats it 1-2 in Australia, Canada and Denmark but ‘Star’ rises 2-1 in both Croatia and Poland. It is also ascendant in The USA (5-2), Norway (4-2), The UK (6-3), The Czech Republic (5-3), Austria (6-4), France (5-4), Argentina (6-5), Flanders (6-5), Germany (12-10), Wallonia (13-11), Finland (19-12) and Spain (22-16). Holding steady in New Zealand (2-2), Switzerland (3-3) and The Netherlands (8-8), it declines in Ireland (2-4), Slovakia (4-5), South Africa (9-10), Italy (13-14), Greece (11-22) and Hungary (17-26).
