Bob Seger, Hozier Top Rock Charts
Seger scores his first No. 1 on Top Rock Albums, while Hozier hits No. 1 on Hot Rock Songs. Plus, chart action for Milky Chance, the Black Keys and Fall Out Boy.
Bob Seger scores his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart (dating to the list’s inception in 2006) and his highest-ever debut on the Billboard 200 (No. 3) with Ride Out, his first studio album in eight years. The title starts with 59,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Notably, the Detroit rocker’s 17th studio album is his only one available for sale in the iTunes Store. In 2011, the longtime iTunes holdout released two live albums and two compilations (one of early works and another of greatest hits) as his first offerings on the digital retailer. Seger is still shunning streaming services, such as Spotify, where none of his current or back catalog is available. Non-traditional retailers, like amazon.com, account for 29 percent of Ride Out‘s first-week sales.
The new set (whose lead single, “You Take Me In,” bullets at No. 29 on Adult Contemporary) follows 2006’s Face the Promise, which bowed at No. 2 on Top Rock Albums and No. 4 on the Billboard 200. Seger has scored 10 top 10s and one No. 1 (1980’s Against the Wind) on the Billboard 200 dating to his arrival 45 years ago with Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man, credited to the Bob Seger System (No. 62 peak in February 1969).
‘CHURCH’ LEADER: Hozier crowns Hot Rock Songs with his breakout hit “Take Me to Church,” which ascends 3-1 in its 25th week.
The track wins awards as the top Airplay Gainer (10 million audience impressions, up 29 percent, according to Nielsen BDS) and Streaming Gainer (2.6 million U.S. streams, 25 percent, with Spotify accounting for 57 percent of all clicks). “Church” also jumps into the top 40 (49-33) on the Billboard Hot 100.
The Irish singer/songwriter’s self-titled full-length debut album launched at No. 1 on Top Rock Albums and No. 2 on the Billboard 200 last week.
CHANCE ENCOUNTER: German duo Milky Chance opens at No. 4 on Top Rock Albums and No. 17 on the Billboard 200 with its debut full-length, Sadnecessary (17,000). The new title follows the pair’s Stolen Dance EP, which dented Top Rock Albums at No. 42 in August.
The twosome’s introductory hit, “Stolen Dance” (which appears on both releases), spends a fourth week at No. 1 on Rock Airplay and a sixth frame top Alternative Songs. It previously led Adult Alternative Songs for eight weeks.
UNLOCKING NEW LEADER: The Black Keys notch their third leader on Adult Alternative Songs with “Gotta Get Away” (2-1). The band ruled the chart for 10 weeks earlier this year with “Fever” and for seven weeks in 2011 with “Lonely Boy.”
DA-DA DA-DA, DA-DA DA-DA …: Fall Out Boy lifts 11-9 on Alternative Songs with “Centuries,” marking the band’s fifth top 10 on the tally. As the track interpolates Suzanne Vega’s “Tom’s Diner,” it returns the composition to the Alternative Songs top 10: Vega’s version, a remix by DNA featuring Vega, hit No. 7 in October 1990. Vega originally released “Diner” as an a cappella track on her 1987 album Solitude Standing, which features highest-charting Hot 100 hit, “Luka” (No. 3); DNA’s “Diner” hit No. 5 in 1990. The New York restaurant (at least its exterior) is famously the one you see in Seinfeld.
On Hot Rock Songs, “Centuries” holds at its No. 2 peak, while the group also debuts at No. 16 with “Immortals.” The latter track is from Disney’s Big Hero 6, in theaters Nov. 7.
FAST ‘BEAT’: Also on Alternative Songs, Lorde logs the quickest vault to the top 10 by a woman since June 1996 (and, thus of her lifetime; she was born that November), as “Yellow Flicker Beat” bumps 12-10 in its third week on the chart. No song by a solo female had made such a swift sprint to the top 10 since Alanis Morissette‘s “You Learn” also reached the region in three weeks.
Morissette posted the prior three-week top 10 flight by a woman, too: her breakthrough “You Oughta Know” zoomed 26-10 in just its second frame in June 1995 on its way to a five-week reign.
Additional reporting by Gary Trust