The fifth studio album for Drake titled “Scorpion” beats four other strong new entries to take out the top spot on the ARIA Albums Chart this week.
“Scorpion” becomes the 829th No.1 Album in Australia (1965 to 2018) and the 680th for ARIA (1983 to 2018) plus the 472nd to debut at No.1 and now the seventh for the Republic Record Label, plus also the rapper’s second No.1 album locally after “Views” spent a week at the top on the 9th of May in 2016. This is the fifteenth chart-topping album for 2018 and thirteenth for the year to spend a single at the top (so far). Drake’s new album has also taken out first week honors at No.1 in England, New Zealand, Norway, The Netherlands and Ireland (so far). As this album is a double set, with 22 of the 25 tracks charting on the singles chart, it’s the first time since “The Very Best” for INXS (7 wks from 17th of Feb, 2014) that a double album has gone to No.1 (that wasn’t a soundtrack), and the last studio double album at No.1 was “Stadium Arcadium” for the Red Hot Chili Peppers in May of 2006 (3 wks).
Drake has now had two No.1’s this decade with a tally (so far) of two weeks, joining other acts for this decade with two-by-two as Kylie Minogue, Parkway Drive, The Arctic Monkeys and Kanye West (all during 2018) and also Katy Perry, Madonna, Sia, Ariana Grande, Flume, Nick Cave, Lorde and The Weeknd. This is the first time that the word ‘Scorpion’ has appeared in a No.1 album title, with the two previous albums with that title charting being for Eve in October 2001 (HP-92) and ‘The Scorpion King’ soundtrack (HP-85, April 2002). The new No.1 album also becomes the 31st by a Canadian artist to hit the top here (solo, duo or group) and is the 232nd chart-topping album by a solo Male Artist (local or overseas). Of the six Canadian Solo Male Artists to have made it to No.1 in Australia Drake is now equal with both Bryan Adams and The Weeknd at two #1’s apiece, while ahead of him are Justin Bieber (3 #1’s) and Michael Buble (5 #1 albums), while Shawn Mendes scored his first a month ago.
The fourth studio album for Florence + the Machine entitled “High as Hope” comes in at No.2 this week becoming the groups fourth Top 3 album as their last two releases both went to No.1 and their debut set “Lungs” peaked at No.3 in August of 2010 (released July 2009), followed at No.3 by the third Top 3 album for local rock-pop act The Rubens entitled “Lo La Ru” after their 2015 second album “Hoops” made it to No.2 and their debut self-titled set debuted and peaked at No.3 in September of 2012. Last years Gorillaz album “Humanz” debuted and peaked at No.4, now this years sixth album “The Now Now” also lands at No.4 becoming the groups fourth Top 4 album in Australia, they once scored a No.1 album in March of 2010 with “Plastic Beach”.
There are only four albums left from last weeks Top 10 still within the ten, as “The Greatest Showman” soundtrack drops down to its lowest position so far of No.5 and also down to it’s lowest spot is the 70 week running Top 10 (69 weeks within the Top 5 too) Ed Sheeran third album “÷ (Divide)” is down a single spot to No.6. Post Malone scores a tenth week within the Top 10 with his “Beerbongs & Bentleys” set, down four to No.8 and the XXXTentacion second album “?” falls back down seven places to No.9 (and holds at No.1 in Canada for a third broken week at the top).
In 1988 the debut album for Guns N’ Roses entitled “Appetite for Destruction” climbed to No.7 in October of that year (it debuted in mid-August) and now a thirtieth anniversary edition titled ‘Locked N’ Loaded’ has returned the set back to it’s former peak of No.7 this week, while the sixth and final entry to the Top 10 this week is new at No.10, “Gravity” for Bullet for My Valentine, the sixth studio album for the Welsh heavy metal act and now their fifth chart and Top 10 entry, as their second album onwards has hit the Top 5 until this new set.
UP:
* Pink started her national tour here this past week and her two album entries both climb up in her latest studio album “Beautiful Trauma” (16 to 14) and her “Greatest Hits.. So Far!!!” set (36 to 17).
* With the movie ‘Mamma Mia!: Here We Go Again’ due on July 20th, and Cher doing appearances to promote the upcoming film, the music the film is based on by ABBA helps their “ABBA Gold & More” collection to return at No.30 this week.
* Also returning this week is the Ocean Alley set “Chiaroscuro” at No.34 and “The Singles” set for Phil Collins at No.54, while further down there is also “Camila” for Camila Cabello (#69), the ‘Frozen’ soundtrack (#74), “Flicker” for Niall Horan (#94), “Rumours” by Fleetwood Mac (#99) and the recent Eminem set “Revival” (#100).
* The return of Guns N’ Roses debut set also helps their “Greatest Hits” set to rise eighteen places to No.35, with further collections rising for The Wiggles (41 to 36), INXS (44 to 39), Cold Chisel (71 to 60), Crowded House (73 to 62), Neil Diamond’s “All Time Greatest Hits” (returns at No.86) and Fleetwood Mac (Very Best of 97 to 91).
* Kendrick Lamar is up one spot to No.41 with his “Damn” set which should rise next week with his national tour starting on July 10th, while his “Black Panther” soundtrack is one place higher at No.40.
* Maroon 5 are back-to-back with themselves this week also, as their last studio album “Red Pill Blues” jumps up twenty places to No.50 and their “Singles Collection” is up five to land at No.51.
* The older Shawn Mendes album “illuminate” rises back up seven spots to No.55.
* Anne-Marie’s debut set “Speak Your Mind” is back up thirteen spots to No.56.
* Carole King’s set “Tapestry” (#1 in the US & Canada this time in 1971) jumps back up twenty places to No.66 as her stage musical comes to an end in Melbourne.
* With the new Drake entry his two older entries climb back up in “Views” (92 to 71) and “More Life” (89 to 82).
DOWN:
* Six albums leave the Top 10 this week with last weeks No.1 debut for Panic! At the Disco and “Pray for the Wicked” (HP-1×1, WI10-1, this weeks US #1 LP) falling ten spots to No.11, the self-titled third set for Shawn Mendes (HP-1×1, WI10-5) falls five to No.12, 5 Seconds of Summer’s “Youngblood” (HP-1×1, WI10-2) falls seven to No.13 (and will rise back up when they tour here in August), “Everything is Love” (HP-6, WI10-2) for The Carters tumbles eighteen spots to No.26 and there are massive falls for “Stay” by Luca Brasi (HP-10, WI10-1), down seventy-four to No.84 and there’s an eighty place plummet for “Bad Witch” (HP-9, WI10-1) for Nine Inch Nails from No.9 to No.89 this week.
* Kanye West and his “ye” set is down nine places to No.21 and his ‘Kids See Ghosts’ project drops twenty two places to land at No.48.
* Calum Scott drops down eight places to No.22 with his debut set “Only Human”.
* Falling collections this week are by Eminem (18 to 33), Queen (GH 35 to 45; Platinum Collection 59 to 68) and The Beatles (28 to 67).
* The soundtrack for ‘Black Panther” drops eleven spots to No.40, while the ’13 Reasons Why: Season 2’ set falls twelve to No.43, also down are ‘Bridget Jones’ Baby’ (65 to 79) and ‘Deadpool 2’ (64 to 80).
* Parkway Drive slump nine spots to No.52 with their set “Reverence”.
* Gang of Youths fall ten places to No.59 with “Go Farther in Lightness”.
* “KOD” for J. Cole drops eleven spots to No.61.
* Sheppard debuted at No.1 four weeks ago, now their set “Watching the Sky” slumps twenty-four places this week to No.63.
* With a new Hillsong album entering this week their set “There is More” is down thirteen to No.65.
* Charlie Puth falls seventeen places to No.77 with his most recent album “Voicenotes”.
* The Presets tumble forty-four spots to No.78 with their “Hi Viz” set.
* Two of last weeks Top 20 debuts both fall down into the 80-90 section of the chart, “Sugar Mountain” by Jack River plummets seventy spots to No.81 and the debut album for Bebe Rexha and “Expectations” falls sixty-six spots to land at No.85.
* Bon Jovi’s “This House is Not for Sale” drops down thirty-seven spots to land at No.88.
* The self-titled album for US country duo Dan + Shay falls eighty places to No.95.
* BTS score their seventh (and probably last) week within the Top 100 with “Love Yourself: Tears”, which falls fourteen spots to No.96.
* The Christina Aguilera set “Liberation” is the only album leaving the Top 100 from last weeks Top 50, out from No.40.
FURTHER NEW ENTRIES:
* #15 (LP#3) – III by Hillsong Young & Free is the Hillsong Church’s younger group with this being their third studio album and fourth entry overall (3 studios and one live set) and this becomes their first album NOT to debut within the Top 10, as their first two albums did so in “We Are Young & Free” (HP-6, Oct 2013) and “Youth Revival” (HP-3, March 2016).
* #29 (Rmx#1) – The Reworks by Pendulum is a thirteen track remix set of their songs from their first three albums plus a new track, featuring remixes by Knife Party, Skrillex, Devin Townsend, Moby and Icarus and is their first new entry since 2010’s “Immersion” (HP-3, late May).
* #58 (Collection#7) – So Much More by Judith Durham is a collection of previously unreleased material and songs that Judith has recorded during her sixty years career from The Seekers to solo material which she gathered together to celebrate her 75th birthday on July 3rd, the album produced also by Mark Holden too.
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Gavin Ryan reports with thanks to Australian-Charts.com
