U.K. modern rock band the Kaiser Chiefs debuted at No. 1 on the new British album chart Sunday (Apr. 6) with their fifth full-length, “Education, Education, Education & War” (Kaiser Chiefs/Fiction/Universal). Aloe Blacc’s “The Man” (Interscope/Universal), currently No. 8 on Billboard’s Hot 100, went straight to No. 1 in the U.K. to become his first solo chart-topper here.
Kaiser Chiefs’ new release has benefited from the current high media profile of frontman Ricky Wilson as a judge on the BBC talent series “The Voice.” “Education” has reversed the downward trend of the band’s recent output: after debuting with the 2005 album “Unemployment,” which reached No. 2, they topped the U.K. bestsellers in 2007 with “Yours Truly, Angry Mob.” The 2008 follow-up “Off With Their Heads” peaked at No. 2 and 2011’s “The Future Is Medieval” only reached No. 10.
The new album was in a close battle with last week’s No. 1, Sam Bailey’s “The Power Of Love” (Syco Music/Sony), moving ahead at the end of the chart week to finish some 2,000 sales ahead of the “X Factor” winner, according to the Official Charts Company. With Bailey down to No. 2, George Michael’s “Symphonica” (Virgin EMI/Universal) also fell a place to No. 3.