Jennifer Lopez scores a double victory on the European charts, debuting at No. 1 on Top 100 Albums with “Rebirth” (Epic) and starting a third week atop Eurochart Hot 100 Singles with “Get Right.” Lopez is the first artist to top the surveys simultaneously for more than 18 months; Evanescence did so in August 2003 with the Wind-Up/Epic album “Fallen” and single “Bring Me to Life.”
“Rebirth” scores two territorial No. 1 debuts, in Holland and Switzerland, as well as openings at No. 2 in Spain, No. 3 in Germany and Austria, No. 5 in Austria and No. 7 in France. In the United Kingdom, “Rebirth” opens at No. 8 on sales of 40,000 units; that’s an improvement of 48% on the opening week of 2001’s “J.Lo” but down 13% from her last album, 2002’s “This Is Me … Then.”
The next-highest debut on Top 100 Albums is from Judas Priest, No. 4 with “Angel of Retribution” (Epic). Its predecessor, “Demolition” (Steamhammer), started at No. 54 in July 2001. “Retribution” enters at No. 5 in Germany and No. 6 in Spain, but more modestly at No. 39 in the band’s native United Kingdom. The band’s extensive European tour continues tonight (March 10) at the Grughalle in Essen, Germany. Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford was among the 500 representatives of the entertainment industry invited to meet Queen Elizabeth on March 1 in a Buckingham Palace reception.
Pop-operatic act G4, which came to prominence before Christmas on British talent series “The X Factor,” enters the European chart at No. 6 with its self-titled Sony Music set. “G4” starts at No. 1 in the United Kingdom, where it sells 244,000 copies in its first week. It’s ahead of another pop-opera group, Il Divo, whose eponymous Syco Music debut rises again 6-2. That set, which was previously No. 1 in Britain, has total sales there of 1.1 million units, according to the Official U.K. Charts Co.
German novelty act Schnappi, which recently topped the singles chart in that country, is now a hit album act. “Schnappi Und Seine Freunde” (Polydor) debuts at No. 10 on Top 100 Albums after starts of No. 1 in Austria and No. 2 in Germany. The single “Das Kleine Krokodil Schnappi” is still No. 1 in Austria and top-five in Germany, Switzerland, Holland and Denmark.
On the Eurochart, the highest debut is “Dakota” (V2) by Welsh rock trio Stereophonics, at No. 5. It becomes the band’s first No. 1 single in the United Kingdom, with sales of 40,000. “Dakota” is the lead track from Stereophonics’ fifth album “Language.Sex.Violence.Other?,” which will be released across Europe on Monday (March 14).
Longtime German chart act Nena enters the Eurochart at No. 6 with “Liebe Ist” (Warner Music), which is new at No. 1 in Germany and No. 3 in Austria.
