Taylor Swift holds for a second week at No.1 on the ARIA Albums Chart with her ninth album “evermore”, with the set debuting at the top in both America and Canada this past week.
For most of the past decade, Taylor Swift has had an album near the top of the charts at the end of most years, but it’s the first time that she’s had the last No.1 album of the year. Previously she got close with “1989” which spent it’s fourth of nine weeks at the top on December 22nd, 2014 (2nd last week of that year). Previously she was a final-quarter-of-the-year leader with “Speak Now” (8th of Nov., 2010), “Red” (third and final week on 12th of Nov., 2012), the aforementioned “1989” in 2014, “Reputation” (second and final week on Nov. 27th, 2017) and then last years “Lover” (2nd of Sept., 2019).
Taylor also lifts her tally of weeks on the list for ‘Accumulated Weeks at No.1: Albums (1965-2020)’ to 22 weeks at No.1 in Australia, moving her from 24th to now 22nd on that list, ahead of other 22 week running acts like Shania Twain (3 #1’s) and Cat Stevens (2 #1’s). Also for this year Taylor has notched up six weeks at No.1, making her the act with the most weeks at the top of the Albums Chart for 2020, tied in second place are AC/DC and the two Various Artists compilations (four weeks apiece).
That AC/DC album “Power Up” rises one spot this week to land at No.2, followed by the only two seasonal sets within the Top 10 this week (8 in total within the Top 50), with last weeks No.2 set for Delta Goodrem and “Only Santa Knows” down one spot to No.3, followed by the 59th accumulated week within the Top 10 for Michael Buble’s “Christmas” album, which rises three spots to No.4, after which is the first of two new peaking albums within the Top 10 this week, “Believe” by Andrea Bocelli, moving up one spot to No.5.
The 18th solo album for Paul McCartney called “McCartney III” debuts at No.6 this week, and it concludes a trilogy of albums under the name “McCartney” that has taken 50 1/2 years to do. On June 22nd, 1970 Paul’s first solo album “McCartney” debuted on the AMR charts, peaking at No.3, while hitting No.1 on the Go-Set charts for a single stay in the first week of August, 1970. After his 1970’s solo, duo (with wife Linda) and new band (Wings) sojourn’s, he issued his second monikered album “McCartney II”, which also started charting in Australia in the first week of June 1980, peaking at No.6 on the 9th of June, 1980. Now forty years later his “McCartney III” set also makes it to No.6, while the album debuted at No.1 in his home country of England, his first #1 there since 1989’s “Flowers in the Dirt” (31 years ago), plus the distinction with these three albums is that Paul played all the instruments himself on the albums. Overall in Australia this is his 20th Top 10 album (post Beatles, and including Wings albums) and his second Top 10 entry here this century, as his last album “Egypt Station” debuted and peaked at No.4 in mid-September of 2018.
Eminem’s most recent studio album “Music to Be Murdered by” (1 week at #1 on Jan. 27th, 2020) returns to the Top 100 this week at No.7, thanks to an expanded edition of the album featuring a whole albums worth of b-sides and rough cuts from the albums recording sessions, giving the album its eight overall week within the Top 10. Another album which returns to the entire chart at No.9 is the most recent album for King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard called “K.G.”, which re-enters due to a physical release of the album and by returning so high it also lands it’s first week within the Top 10, having previously peaked at No.21 in late November, but sandwiched in-between those two returning albums is the latest Guy Sebastian set “T.R.U.T.H.”, on hold at No.8, while Taylor Swift bookends the Top 10 this week with her earlier 2020 set “folklore” down one spot to No.10.
UP:
Two Christmas albums rise this week, with current No.1 single holder Mariah Carey’s 1994 set “Merry Christmas” rising two places to No.11, the bonus-track edition of Robbie Williams’ “The Christmas Present” jumps up nine places to No.18.
Keith Urban’s “The Speed of Now, Part 1” rises again this week, up six spots to No.20, while the Sam Smith set “Love Goes” has a one place move to No.26. Queen have two albums within the Top 30 this week, with “Live Around the World” back up nine places to No.27 and their “Greatest Hits” set on hold at No.30.
The ARIA Album of the Year for 2020 was the Tame Impala set “The Slow Rush”, which returned to the charts a few weeks ago after it’s multiple ARIA Award wins, but this week it leaps up twenty-four places to land at No.29 thanks to a limited edition white vinyl release of the set last week. Rebounding thirteen places to No.35 is the Fleetwood Mac album “Rumours”, while their “Greatest Hits” package bullets up thirty-seven spots to land at No.50, with the INXS “Very Best of” album moving back up four places to No.40. The ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.1′ soundtrack returns to the Top 100 this week at No.44, while the recent No.5 live album for Nick Cave called “Idiot Prayer” rises back up this week six spots to No.48.
DOWN:
There are three albums leaving the Top 10 this week, two of last week’s new entries in the Cold Chisel live set “Live Tapes Vol.5” (HP5, WI10-1, 5 to No.31), The Avalanches with “We Will Always Love You” (HP-4, WI10-1, 4 to No.17) and lastly Miley Cyrus with “Plastic Hearts” (HP-3, WI10-3, 10 to No.12).
The Kid Laroi and “F*ck Love/Savage EP” drops four spots to No.15, while the latest Shawn Mendes album “Wonder” is down five to No.21, with Powderfinger’s “Unreleased (1998-2010)” and the Pop Smoke set “Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon” both falling eight spots each to No.25 and No.28 respectively.
Falling seasonal sets this week are by Andre Rieu (18 to No.19), Human Nature (24 to No.33), Dolly Parton (38 to No.41) and the John Farnham and Olivia Newton-John set “Friends of Christmas” (31 to No.46). Also declining are “Legends Never Die” for Juice WRLD (28 to No.36), “BE” for BTS (34 to No.39), the Arctic Monkeys live set (39 to No.43), Kylie Mongue with “Disco” (42 to No.45), Luke Combs’ “This One’s for You” (41 to No.47) and the big drops this week occur for Thelma Plum (#22) and Kid Cudi (#25) who both leave the Top 50 this week.
FURTHER NEW ENTRY:
* #49 (LP#4) – L.A.B. IV by L.A.B. (Loop Recordings Aor(ear)oa), is the fourth issued self-titled set for the New Zealand act, and this album is the new No.1 in their native New Zealand this week (plus their first chart-topper at home), They are a reggae band who also infuse their sound with electronic music, blues, rock and funk, and for the past three weeks (which also includes this current chart week) the album’s lead single “Why Oh Why” has been at No.1 in New Zealand (their second #1 there), and for Australia this is their first ever chart entry (singles or album charts).
Written, Compiled and Researched by Gavin Ryan.
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Gavin Ryan reports with thanks to Australian-Charts.com
