AC/DC's 'Black Ice' Dominates Euro Albums Chart
October 30, 2008
- Global
| Rock and Pop
By Paul Sexton, London
AC/DC soars triumphantly on European Top 100 Albums, racing 67-1 with "Black Ice" (Columbia/Sony Music). Pink's "So What" (LaFace/Sony Music) starts a second week atop Eurochart Hot 100 Singles.
"Black Ice" claims 29 No.1 spots worldwide, according to Columbia, from an initial global shipment of five million copies. In Europe, they include winning starts in the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Sweden and Ireland. The album also holds at No. 1 in Finland.
"Black Ice" sells 110,00 copies out of the box in the United Kingdom, a dramatic 777% increase on the initial 14,000 units of its 2000 predecessor "Stiff Upper Lip."
Ged Doherty, chairman & CEO of Sony BMG Music Entertainment U.K., says the achievement "confirms AC/DC as the biggest rock band in the world," praising an "exemplary" campaign. The label also says AC/DC has worldwide catalog sales of five million albums this year, including 800,000 in the last eight weeks. The group's new tour, which continues in Rosemont, IL tonight (Oct. 30), will reach Europe next February.
Metallica's run at the pan-European No. 1 with "Death Magnetic" (Vertigo/Universal) thus ends, as did that of the band's previous album "St. Anger," after six weeks. "Magnetic" is down to No. 2, despite climbs of 12-8 in France and 4-2 in Switzerland.
Amy Macdonald's 45th week on Top 100 Albums with "This Is The Life" (Vertigo/Universal) is a memorable one, as the debut set hits the top three for the first time with a 7-3 climb. It's up 8-5 in Switzerland and 8-6 in France.
Oasis falls another place on the composite chart with "Dig Out Your Soul" (Big Brother), down 3-4 after descending 2-4 in Ireland, 2-7 in the United Kingdom and 3-9 in Italy. Coldplay hangs in at No. 5 overall with "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" (Parlophone/EMI).
There's a No. 6 Europe-wide debut for Kaiser Chiefs' third album "Off With Their Heads" (B-Unique/Polydor/Universal). The AC/DC album prevents it from a No. 1 debut in its home market, but "Heads" sells 46,000 there in runners-up spot. That compares to initial sales of 151,000 for the band's sophomore set "Yours Truly Angry Mob" last year.
Kings of Leon's "Only By The Night" (Hand Me Down/Sony Music) slips 6-7 on the composite list, and Keane's "Perfect Symmetry" falls six spots from its No. 2 debut. "Night" falls 1-2 in Ireland but rests at No. 3 in the United Kingdom, where "Symmetry" drops 1-6.
The other newcomer in the pan-European top ten is Annett Louisan's fourth album "Teilzeithippie" (105), at No. 9. It's the German singer's second time in the pan-European top ten, after "Das Optimale Leben" arrived at No. 10 last year. The new release enters at No. 2 in Germany and No. 11 in Switzerland. Duffy's "Rockferry" (A&M/Universal), now in its 34th week on Top 100 Albums, dips 9-10, although it's up 6-5 in Denmark.
Pink's single is off the top after three weeks in the United Kingdom, where to last weekend it had sales of 185,000 units. It's also down 1-2 in Germany, but hangs tough at No. 1 in Austria and Switzerland and climbs 2-1 in Ireland. Its strongest Eurochart challengers are Rihanna's "Disturbia" (SRP/Def Jam/Universal), up 6-2, and Macdonald's "This Is The Life," 7-3, the latter aided by a No. 2 bow in France.
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