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Jan 26

Charts – 24 January 2020

Posted on Sunday, January 26, 2020 by Paul in Music

It’s our first major unannounced album release of the year, giving us an unexpected new number one.

1. Eminem featuring Juice WRLD – “Godzilla”
12. Eminem featuring Ed Sheeran – “Those Kinda Nights”
17. Eminem – “Darkness”

Eminem’s first chart appearance was nearly 20 years ago, in April 1999, with”My Name Is”. This week he releases his eleventh album, “Music to be Murdered By”, which enters the album chart at number 1. It’s his tenth consecutive number one album (his 1999 debut only got to number 10), and the reviews have been positive. It’s a throwback to a previous era of rap – “Godzilla” ends with an insanely high speed verse which is undeniably impressive, but is also in some ways the equivalent of a prog rocker showing his superiority over the next generation by doing a five minute guitar solo.

The single from this album is supposed to be “Darkness”, which is about the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, from the perspective of the shooter, and tries to draw a parallel between the sense of anticipation of the shooter and the performer. It’s based in part on Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence”. It’s… a bit of a downer, which might be why it lands at number 17, and the public instead focus on the two tracks with the most notable guest stars. There’s an Ed Sheeran track at number 12, and “Godzilla”, which features the late Juice WRLD – getting a posthumous first number one.

“Godzilla” is Eminem’s tenth number one – the others are “The Real Slim Shady” (2000), “Stan” (2000), “Without Me” (2002), “Lose Yourself” (2002), “Just Lose It” (2004), “Like Toy Soldiers” (2005), “Smack That” (2006, a guest appearance on an Akon track), “The Monster” (2013) and “River” (2017). So he’s not getting to number one as consistently as he did in the past, but he’s still adding to the total. Marginally, mind you – “Godzilla” leads “The Box” by Roddy Ricch, which climbs 5-2 this week, by the equivalent of just 93 sales.

“Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd climbs 8-4. By a strange coincidence…

9. DigDat featuring Aitch – “Ei8ht Mile”

What a week to release a track named after an Eminem album. Aitch gets his fourth top 10 hit since last June; DigDat gets his first, after scoring three top 20 hits over the last couple of years. The biggest was “New Dior”, just before Christmas, but that had D-Block Europe on it. This is the title track of DigDat’s first album, which enters at number 12 this week.

“You Should Be Sad” by Halsey climbs 37-26, as the parent album “Manic” enters at number 6. (It’s a week of unusual overlap between the singles and albums chart.) This is her third album, and the highest placing – the others reached 9 and 12, so for a pop singer, Halsey’s unusually consistent on the album chart.

33. The Jonas Brothers – “What A Man Gotta Do”

When their comeback single “Sucker” reached number 4 last spring, it looked like the Jonas Brothers might be set to cross over to a wider audience. But the follow-ups didn’t do much – “Cool” was the highest placing, and it only got to number 39. This is the first single from their new album, and a number 33 debut isn’t spectacular. But this is 2020, and records can climb.

35. The 1975 – “Me & You Together Song”

Finally, a real piece of throwback indie jangle from the 1975, the guitar band who can still get their records into the singles chart. This is not a genre I was betting on getting a revival.

Over on the album chart, we’ve already mentioned Eminem at number one.

2. The Courteeners – “More. Again. Forever.”

One of those bands I completely forget about until the week they release an album, but they’ve been around since 2008 and this is their seventh straight top 10 album. (Actually, they’ve all placed at six or above.)

4. Bombay Bicycle Club – “Everything Else Has Gone Wrong”

Another set of hardy album chart perennials. It’s been six years since the last Bombay Bicycle Club record, but this still becomes their fourth consecutive top ten album.

8. Mac Miller – “Circles”

The still really doesn’t convey how mad this video is. Miller made the UK album chart for the first time with 2018’s “Swimming”. He died that year; this posthumous album, completed after his death, is his first appearance in the top 10.

11. Louise – “Heavy Love”

Yes, a comeback solo album from Louise Redknapp, once of Eternal, who had a successful solo career in the late 90s. She hasn’t had a studio album out since 2000; her last release was a single in 2003 (which made the top 5).

The Digdat album is at 12, but we’ve had that.

23. Mura Masa – “R.Y.C.”

The follow-up to producer Mura Masa’s self-titled debut from 2017, which got to number 23. The single reminds me a bit of the Streets.

24. Gabrielle Aplin – “Dear Happy”

You may remember her version of “The Power of Love”, which was a number 1 in 2012 after appearing in a John Lewis advert. This is her third charting album, but the previous two reached 2 and 14, so the trend isn’t great.

36. Magnum – “The Serpent Rings”

Finally, veteran 80s rock band Magnum, who are still around, and occasionally place an album at the bottom end of the chart (though mostly outside). 2018’s “Lost on the Road to Eternity” got to 15, but it looks like that was an outlier.

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