LANA DEL REY STILL NO.1 ON TOP CONTEMPORARY ALBUMS!
As Chemtrails Over the Country Club achieves a ninth week at the top spot, Hayley Williams’s Petals for Armor returns to the Top Ten!
For a ninth non-consecutive week, Lana Del Rey’s Chemtrails Over the Country Club ranks as the most popular album on the Contemporary format.
The record sold 33,000 copies this week (down eight percent) and has now been certified 4 x Platinum for sales exceeding 1.2 million; Chemtrails is Del Rey’s third album to be certified at least 4 x Platinum!
- Norman Fucking Rockwell! – 12 x Platinum
- Lust for Life – 8 x Platinum
- Chemtrails Over the Country Club – 4 x Platinum
Taylor Swift’s folklore leaps 4-2 as it celebrates an entire year (fifty-two weeks) inside the Top Ten! The album debuted at No.1 in August 2020, selling 259,000 units in its opening week, and has yet to leave the top tier! It sold 32,000 units this week (up fourteen percent).
To date, folklore has shifted a staggering 3.63 million units, and spent sixteen weeks in the number one spot.
Two former chart-toppers from Swift follow in the Top Five: evermore springs 5-3 selling 29,000 copies (down four percent) while Fearless (Taylor’s Version) dives 2-5 moving 25,000 units (down twenty-six percent).
Between Swift’s hits: London Grammar fall from their No.3 high to No.4 with Californian Soil – on sales of 28,000 units (down ten percent).
A quartet of number-one albums ranks next inside the Top Ten, repeating their positions from the previous week: Olivia Rodrigo’s SOUR at No.6 (24,000 units – down seven percent); Miley Cyrus’s Plastic Hearts at No.7 (17,000 units – down even with last week); Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia: Moonlight Edition at No.8 (15,000 units – up seven percent); Birdy’s Young Heart at No.9 (13,000 units – down nineteen percent).
Rounding out the Top Ten, Hayley Williams’s No.3-peaking Petals for Armor bounces 11-10 (10,000 units – up eleven percent) in its sixty-third charting week!
Onto Next Week: Taylor Swift’s folklore could reclaim the No.1 spot following the anniversary of its release: it looks set to sell over 40,000 units this week.
Notable Moves on Top Contemporary Albums
No.13 – Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass / Lana Del Rey’s spoken-word poetry album has now spent a full year on L.dK Weekly, after peaking at No.3 last September. It is Del Rey’s fourth to spend at least a year on the chart; it follows Norman Fucking Rockwell! (ninety-nine weeks); Lust for Life (ninety-four weeks); and Born to Die: the Paradise Edition (sixty-four weeks).
TOP CONTEMPORARY ALBUMS
LANA DEL REY RULES CATALOGUE ALBUMS WITH NORMAN FUCKING ROCKWELL!
Del Rey becomes first artist to top both charts simultaneously.
Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! springs 2-1 (selling 25,000 copies this week – up eight percent) and notches an eighteenth week in pole position! NFR! has now spent a record-extending sixty-one weeks inside the Top Five and ninety-two weeks in the Top Ten!
As NFR! crowns the Catalogue Albums Chart, and Chemtrails comes out on top on Contemporary Albums, Lana Del Rey becomes the first artist to lead both charts at the same time!
Del Rey’s Born to Die: the Paradise Edition meanwhile divides 12-6 with 12,000 sold (up twenty percent).
Joni Mitchell’s Blue is pushed to No.2 after a record twenty weeks at No.1: the album sold 24,000 this week (down fourteen percent).
Three compilation cap the Top Five: Stevie Nicks’s Crystal Visions – the Very Best of Stevie Nicks at No.3 selling 17,000 copies (up thirteen percent); Kate Bush’s The Whole Story at No.4 moving 14,000 units (on par with last week); and Carole King’s A Beautiful Collection at No.5 with 12,000 sold (even with last week).
Outside the Top Five: Kelly Clarkson jumps 13-7 with Greatest Hits – Chapter One (11,000 units – up fifty-seven percent); Alanis Morissette’s The Collection slips 7-8 (10,000 units – on par with last week); Annie Lennox’s Diva sinks 8-9 (10,000 units – unchanged from last week); and Fleetwood Mac’s Greatest Hits ticks 11-10 (10,000 units – up eleven percent).
Onto Next Week: Stevie Nicks’s Bella Donna is set to re-enter the Top Five – 40 years after its original release in 1981. The iconic debut album is primed to sell upwards of 20,000 units.
Notable Moves on Top Catalogue Albums
No.24 – She’s so Unusual / Cyndi Lauper’s 1984 debut album spent a total of six weeks at No.1 on the discontinued Weekly Top 50 in 2019, and has since sold over 1.94 million units. This week, it notches its 100th appearance on L.dK Weekly, joining an exclusive group of albums to rack up triple-digit stays on the charts – overall, Unusual is the ninth longest-charting record in history!
No.25 – Heart’s 1986 self-titled album became their first chart-topper (and first Top Five hit) last March, and has sold 860,000 units to date. This week, as it re-enters at No.25, it becomes the band’s second to spend a full year on L.dK Weekly! Their 1987 smash Bad Animals peaked at only No.6, but has spent eighty-three weeks on the chart to date.
TOP CATALOGUE ALBUMS
Industry Sales
Contemporary Albums generated sales of 315,000 units this week (down 10.8%) while Catalogue Albums recorded sales of 278,000 units (up 2.2%). Contemporary accounted for 53.1% of all sales this week; versus 46.9% for Catalogue.
This week marks the lowest haul of the year on the Contemporary Format, dipping below the 353,000 sold last week.
Contemporary Albums generated sales of 353,000 units this week (down 5.2%) while Catalogue Albums recorded sales of 272,000 units (down 9.7%). Contemporary accounted for 56.5% of all sales this week; versus 43.5% for Catalogue.
This week marks the worst performance of the year on the Contemporary Format, dipping below the 372,000 sold in the dated 12 July.
Total industry sales stand at 625,000 units for the week, diving 10.2% from the previous week. Compared to the same week last year (when 879,000 albums were sold), consumption is down 28.9%!
625,000 is the lowest sales haul of 2021 to date, falling below the week dated 01 February when 671,000 albums were sold. Overall, it’s the lowest industry level since the week dated 19 October 2020 when just 598,000 albums were consumed.
Note
This chart reflects my own personal music consumption; 1 song = 1,000 units. Top Contemporary Albums measures the performance of albums released within the past 18 months; Top Catalogue Albums ranks the performance of albums released prior to the past 18 months.
L.dK Music 