Warner Bros. keeps a lock on the top two European Top 100 Albums titles.
The composite survey continues to be led by Linkin Park’s “Minutes To Midnight” (Machine Shop/Warner Bros.), with the former chart-topper Michael Bublé’s “Call Me Irresponsible” (Reprise) at No. 2 again.
Meanwhile, Beyoncé & Shakira’s “Beautiful Liar” (World Music/Columbia) starts a fifth week at No. 1 on Eurochart Hot 100 Singles.
The Linkin Park album holds at No. 1 in Germany, Austria, Italy, Norway, Ireland and Hungary, and at No. 2 in Spain, Denmark and the Belgian region of Flanders. “Midnight” also holds at No. 3 in Portugal and climbs 17-2 in Poland, but falls from the summit in the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Switzerland and Finland. The single “What I’ve Done” climbs 9-8 in Germany and moves back 14-12 on the Eurochart.
The Bublé album’s chief gains of the week are in Spain, where it’s up 16-8, and Portugal, 11-9, while it edges back 5-4 in the United Kingdom. “Irresponsible” tops the Dutch chart for a fourth week and holds at No. 2 in Italy and No. 3 in Austria. The single “Everything” is a now a top ten hit in Italy, moving 14-6.
Maroon 5’s sophomore set “It Won’t Be Soon Before Long” (Octone/A&M/Interscope) is the big arrival on Top 100 Albums, starting at No. 4. It goes straight to the top of the U.K. chart on sales of 73,000 and opens at No. 3 in Ireland, No. 4 in Italy and Sweden and No. 6 in Spain. The single “Makes Me Wonder” dips 4-6 on the Eurochart but spends a second week at No. 2 in the United Kingdom. The band’s 2002 debut “Songs About Jane” did not figure on European Top 100 Albums until April 2004, eventually climbing to No. 2 in August of that year behind Anastacia’s self-titled Epic release.
Ozzy Osbourne also has a top ten European album debut this week as “Black Rain” (Epic) goes in at No. 8 overall, fuelled by a similar debut in his native United Kingdom with sales of 14,000. The veteran rocker is also new at No. 2 in Norway and Finland and No. 9 in Germany.
Celine Dion’s new French language album “D’Elles” (Columbia) opens at No. 11 on Top 100 Albums after debuting at No. 1 in France and No. 3 in Switzerland, and climbing 13-1 in Wallony. The single “Et S’Il N’En Restait Qu’Une,” which debuted at No. 1 in France last month, holds at No. 4 in that Belgian region. The album was released in selected European territories May 21, and Dion is also working on a new English language set for release in the autumn.
The Beyoncé/Shakira duet loses its last individual European No. 1 berth, in Greece, but holds at No. 2 in Switzerland, No. 3 in the United Kingdom and Italy, and climbs 4-3 in Flanders and 6-5 in Austria. Its chief competition for the Eurochart No. 1 comes from a single in its 16th week on the survey, Nelly Furtado’s “Say It Right” (Mosley/Geffen), which climbs back 5-2 after the boost of a No. 1 debut in France.
The U.K.’s No. 1 single of the last two weeks, “Umbrella” (Def Jam/Universal) by Rihanna featuring Jay-Z, is up 7-5 overall. British sales in that fortnight total 72,000, and the track now arrives at No. 1 in Denmark, No. 2 in Norway and climbs 8-1 in Ireland and 30-5 in Sweden.
