The top two titles on Billboard’s European Top 100 Albums chart are unchanged, with “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends” (Parlophone/EMI) at No.1 for Coldplay for a fifth week. Its predecessor at the top, Duffy’s “Rockferry” (A&M/Universal), holds at No. 2, also for the fifth week in a row.
“Vida” still holds the chart reins in Holland, Ireland, Finland, Switzerland and Greece, and moves back 2-1 in Germany. But it’s down to No. 2 in the United Kingdom, France and the Belgian region of Wallony. Weekly U.K. sales of 34,000 to last weekend give the album a running total there of 742,000. The single “Viva La Vida” is up 13-8 in Italy.
The Duffy album is No. 1 for a second week in Sweden and up 11-4 in Spain, and rests at No. 2 in Finland and No. 4 in Holland. The single “Mercy” dips 4-6 on the Eurochart.
New at No. 3 on Top 100 Albums is Carla Bruni’s “Comme Si De Rien N’Etait” (Teorema/Naive). It climbs 3-1 in France, debuts at No. 3 in Switzerland and holds at No. 3 in Wallony, while widespread and unprecedented U.K. publicity for the Italian model turned singer — who is now France’s First Lady — helps the album to a No. 58 debut on sales of just under 3,000. Bruni’s last album “No Promises” debuted at No. 1 on the pan-European chart in January last year after debuting at No. 1 in Germany and No. 5 in Spain.
Madonna’s “Hard Candy” (Warner Bros.) spends a 12th consecutive week on the composite top five as it holds at No. 4 for a fifth week. It’s back in the Italian top five, 8-5, and the U.K. top ten, 14-10, after the single “Give It To Me” climbed 17-7 there. Last week was the track’s eighth on sale in that market, but first as a CD, helping weekly sales of 19,000. That performance and a No. 3 debut in Holland help “Give It To Me” rise 29-2 on the Eurochart.
Amy Winehouse slips 3-5 on the aggregate listing with “Back To Black” (Universal Island), which is down 7-12 in the United Kingdom. It holds at No. 3 in Spain, No. 5 in Holland and No. 10 in Italy. Just below it at No. 6 on Top 100 Albums is a new entry for Swedish DJ turned artist Jonas Altberg, under his recording name of Basshunter. “Now You’re Gone – The Album” (Hard2Beat) opens at No. 1 in the United Kingdom on sales of 36,000, its debut fuelled by the chart-topping performance of the title track there in the new year and a No. 2 showing last week for the follow-up “All I Ever Wanted.” That song arrives at No. 3 in Norway, while “Gone” is up 11-8 on the French singles chart.
Amy Macdonald’s “This Is The Life” (Mercury/Universal) dips 6-7 on Top 100 Albums, but climbs 3-2 in Holland and 12-9 in Germany, as the title track single stays at No. 1 in Wallony and neighboring Flanders. The album is back up 24-20 in the United Kingdom, where this weekend it will celebrate its first birthday on the chart.
Macdonald’s fellow Scottish singer-songwriter and Mercury labelmate Sharleen Spiteri, lead singer of durable pop-rock band Texas, takes her solo bow at No. 8 on the pan-European chart with “Melody.” It’s new at No. 3 in the United Kingdom after selling 29,000 units. First single “All The Times I Cried” slips 26-27 there.
“Plan A!” (Sony BMG) by Polish-German pop-rock vocalist Thomas Godoj, which debuted at No. 5 overall last week, falls to No. 9, after falling back behind Coldplay to No. 2 in Germany. The Cistercian Monks of Roscrea’s “Chant – Music For Paradise” (UCJ/Universal) is down 7-10 on Top 100 Albums, 3-4 in Austria, 5-6 in Germany and 30-37 in the United Kingdom.
Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long” (Topdog/Atlantic/Warner Music) starts a second week atop the Eurochart, as it moves 6-3 in the United Kingdom on sales of 31,000. It also climbs 5-2 in Ireland and holds at No. 1 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
