Charts – 17 June 2012
With the Jubilee receding from view, Gary Barlow’s “Sing” drops back to number 3. No surprise there. The album is still holding up remarkably well, with a third week at number 1, but it’s surely got to peter out sooner rather than later.
There are a couple of very unlikely new entries on this week’s chart, but first, one that’s entirely predictable…
1. Cheryl – “Call My Name”
Yes, officially it’s now just “Cheryl”. For the benefit of readers overseas, this is Cheryl Cole, who you may remember from when she wasn’t on X-Factor in the USA. Cole is her married name, but her marriage to footballer Ashley Cole broke down some time ago. (“How do you think I feel when you call my name?” Well, if the tabloids are anything to go by, I’d guess at “relieved”.) Her maiden name of Tweedy has evidently been deemed insufficiently glamorous for the demands of the celebutainment industry.
The X-Axis – 17 June 2012
This week: three more crossover issues, Brian Wood takes over X-Men, and X-Force mercifully continues to do its own thing.
AvX: Versus #3 – Two more fighty scenes from the tie-in book that does what it says on the tin. The question with a book like this is, since there’s essentially no plot and no character, does it either have spectacular art, or come up with some inventive way of doing the scene? Since this issue has art by Ed McGuinness and Terry Dodson, if you’re feeling charitable, you might well judge that the visuals just about carry it. Plainly, there’s not a great deal more to it than that.
Both of this issue’s stories are expanded from the Avengers/X-Men fight on the moon in Avengers vs X-Men #5. Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness are reunited to do Colossus versus the Thing, which is actually not bad for what it is – namely, a fight scene with above average art and a bit of effort put into adding a bit of imagination into the moves. What’s odd about it is that Loeb spends the entire story trying his damnedest to sell the current Colossus-as-Juggernaut plot, and the tragedy of Colossus’ condition. In a book that prides itself on its aggressive disdain for any sort of actual content, this seems very out of place. It’s like Loeb didn’t get the memo. Even so, the story is none the worse for trying to make some sort of point, even if it’s one that Uncanny X-Men has already been making on a regular basis.
No Way Out 2012
Another pay per view this weekend, and there’s a bit of filler going on here. Injuries and suspensions have led to a bit of reshuffling of this card, and there’s also a main event match that looks sure to under deliver.
No Way Out is a name that hasn’t been used since 2009, but it’s basically just one of the generic B-list pay per views that has no particular gimmick. There was some talk at one point that this was going to be a cage match show, which would have fitted with the name. But it turns out there’s just one cage match. In practice, it’s simply a generic PPV. (In Germany, by the way, it’s called No Escape. That’s because they already used the name No Way Out in February when the Germans flatly refused to promote a show called Elimination Chamber.)
So… the card.
Housekeeping
For those of you avidly hitting refresh, we’ll be recording the podcast tomorrow evening. at the start of the week and it’ll probably be up on Tuesday. (Busy weekend…)
(Edited for… well, accuracy.)
Charts – 10 June 2012
It’s Jubilee time, everyone! Actually, as I write this, the British media have already moved on to the Olympic torch. But this week’s chart shows the fall-out of the big Jubilee concert outside Buckingham Palace, which got a lot of TV time, and was one of the major events booked for the weekend. The other stand-out was a big flotilla of boats along the Thames, an event which forced the elderly monarch and her husband to stand in the freezing rain without shelter for some two hours. And then the next day they made her watch JLS. I suspect she’s had more enjoyable weekends.
But major TV broadcasts of pop music shift records to people who don’t normally pay much attention, and that’s what we see this week, in a chart which combines some Jubilee-related hits and resurgences, a couple of other unexpected appearances, and regular releases from people who evidently figured it was going to be a quiet week.
1. Gary Barlow & The Commonwealth Band – “Sing”
Jumping from 11 to 1, this is the specially composed song by Gary Barlow and Andrew Lloyd-Webber featuring musicians from around the Commonwealth, though it mainly sounds like Gary Barlow and Andrew Lloyd-Webber. Some listings have the Military Wives Choir down as featured artists, though the official chart website would apparently beg to differ. If you count them, it’s their second number one following the Christmas single “Wherever You Are”.
The X-Axis – 10 June 2012
Let’s get straight to it, shall we?
Age of Apocalypse #4 – We’re four issues into this series, and it’s not really working for me. There are some interesting ideas floating around in here, but it’s missing something.
This issue, the human resistance (“the X-Terminated”) continue their efforts to stop the Dark Beast from reviving a whole load of dead mutants using the Life Seed. To help out, Goodnight tracks down their world’s version of Bruce Banner to get the Hulk on their side – at least as a distraction. The basic idea, I guess, is to play up the lead characters’ “end justifies the means” attitude, which is consistent with their roots as fanatical villains in the mainstream universe, and to present it as something which, in the context of the Age of Apocalypse world, nonetheless counts as a note of optimism.
Charts – 3 June 2012
As predicted, fun. only managed a single week at the top – though coming after a lengthy climb, and with the single still hanging around the top 3 in the midweeks, they’ve still had an impressive run. For a while, it looked as though the Eurovision winner was going to do it, but as is often the case, sales tailed off in the second half of the week as the contest receded into the dim and distant memory of 72 hours ago. Instead…
1. Rudimental (feat. John Newman) – “Feel The Love”
The X-Axis – 3 June 2012
It’s a podcast weekend, so check just one post down for our reviews of Grim Leaper, Ravagers and Mind MGMT. Meanwhile, after giving Astonishing X-Men a clear run last week, the X-books are back to their usual schedule this time round…
New Mutants #43 – The conclusion of the five-part “Exiled” crossover with Journey into Mystery. The New Mutants and Loki are trying to solve the problem of the Disir by marrying them (collectively) off to Sigurd in order to fulfil the conditions of Bor’s curse, but Bor’s medieval concept of wedlock turns out to be a bit much for the New Mutants. Cue plan B, which (this being a Loki story) involves seizing the opportunity to circumvent the problem in a more innovative way.
House to Astonish Episode 85
We’re back after our week away, looking at the coming out of Alan Scott, the wedding of Northstar, the crusade of One Million Moms, the Eagle Awards imbroglio, the ever-increasing character cast of Iron Man 3, the continuing success of the Avengers and where Marvel TV goes next. There are also reviews of Mind MGMT, Ravagers and Grim Leaper, and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe finds that cash rules everything around it. All this plus the best double glazing salesman, U-list villains and an enormous bunny rabbit.
The podcast is here, or here on Mixcloud, available via the Stitcher.com website or through their free iPhone or Android apps, or on the embedded player below.
Let us know what you think, in the comments, on Twitter, via email or on our Facebook fan page.
Charts – 27 May 2012
For the second week running, this was supposed to be a nice clear run at the top for the new single from a major pop group. And once again, it hasn’t quite happened.
1. fun featuring Janelle Monae – “We Are Young”
This has been out for weeks, originally entering at 7 and moving 3-3-3-5-2-1 to get to the top. It’s an unexpected result because it was 10,000 copies behind in the midweeks, but boy bands do have a tendency to flare out after their initial sales surge.
Fun probably won’t have a second week at the top – they’re already down to 3 on iTunes – but a single week is still fine as the climax of seven weeks’ climbing. The question is now is whether they go down as one-hit wonders – though the follow-up single “Some Nights” has already charted in a couple of territories, so their chances are reasonable.
Notable climbers this week: “Remedy” by Professor Green from 27 to 18, “Princess of China” by Coldplay & Rihanna from 30 to 20, and “Bangarang” by Skrillex from 32 to 24.
