Sam Smith's The Thrill of it All reclaims Number 1 album
He may be too good at goodbyes, but this week Sam Smith says hello again to the top of the Official Albums Chart, with sophomore release The Thrill of it All returning to Number 1 after three weeks away.
Ed Sheeran's Divide is also on the rebound, back up two to 2, while Michael Ball & Alfie Boe's Together Again advances two places to 3, and Pink's Beautiful Trauma goes back up six to land at 4.
U2 are this week's highest new entry – Songs of Experience gives the Irish icons their 17th Top 10 album in the UK and goes in at Number 5.
MORE: The UK's Official Top 40 biggest albums of 2017 so far
New entries and high climbers
Aside from U2 at 5, there are six more albums breaking into the Top 40 this week.
Pete Tong, the heritage Orchestra and Jules Buckley's Ibiza Classics, orchestral reimaginings of vintage dance hits, is new at Number 17, following up their 2016 chart-topper Classic House, while Rolling Stones' compilation On Air is new at 25.
MORE: Look back over every Official Number 1 album EVER
Midge Ure's Orchestrated, featuring orchestral reworkings of the singer's solo and Ultravox back catalogue, is new at 33; Strictly Come Dancing vocalist Tommy Blaize starts at 34 with Life & Soul; Sam Smith's debut In the Lonely Hour returns to the Top 40 at 37; and Van Morrison's Versatile goes in at 38.
View this week's Top 100 Official Albums Chart in full
Look back through every Number 1 album of 2017 so far below:
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Foxes
To celebrate '÷' rebounding back to #2 in today's chart, I decided to do a review of it because, well, why not? I enjoyed doing my 'reputation' review last week, so I thought that I'd do another one, and the obvious choice was '÷'.
'÷' is an album from my 2nd favourite artist (and, at the time of '÷'s release, my favourite artist) so I had very high expectations going into the album, and, in general, it's lived up to those expectations for the past 9 months. It starts off with a song that I love, 'Eraser'. I like a lot of rap music, and I've loved Ed's previous rap songs 'Take It Back' and 'You Need Me, I Don't Need You', so it's no surprise that I love this one as well.
The album then goes into the one of the 2 tracks released as a part of the inital promotion for the album, 'Castle on the Hill', before heading into one of the most vocally straining songs on the album, 'Dive'. This is a song that I really liked upon the release of the album, but I have started to go off it a little bit after hearing it so many times.
We then get to the record-breaking megahit that is 'Shape of You'. After quite a bit of deliberation, I decided that this was my favourite out of the initial 2 tracks from the album, but at the point it wasn't by much. 'Shape of You' has since extended its lead over 'Castle on the Hill', however. Straight after that we have Ed's current single and this week's #1 single, 'Perfect'. While I do like the song, I would say that it is one of my least favourite songs from the album. I usually prefer faster and more upbeat songs to slower songs, with a few exceptions, so 'Perfect' isn't really a song that I keep coming back to.
'Galway Girl' is a song that I LOVED when the album was first released, but I have lost interest in it in the past 9 months. I still like the song, just nowhere near as much as I used to. Ed's next single, 'Happier', is the next song on the album, and this is one of the few songs that has kept its inital appeal all the way through to now. It was one of my favourite songs on the album when it was released, and it still is.
'New Man' was my favourite song on the album 9 months ago, but, like 'Galway Girl', I've lost a lot of interest in it since then. I'd still say that it's one of the best tracks on the album, though. Coming from that high the album goes straight into 'Hearts Don't Break Around Here', which is one of my least favourite songs on the album. I just find the song boring whenever I listen to it, so it's definitely not a song that I find myself coming back to very often.
'What Do I Know?' is an incredibly catchy and fun song that I just love listening to! It's proven to be one of the more popular album songs and I can definitely see why. If you listen to it once, you just want to listen again! 'How Would You Feel (Paean)' is an instant grat song that was released just a few weeks before '÷', and it's one of my least favourite songs from the album. While I like this more than 'Hearts Don't Break Around Here', it's far from being one of the best.
The last track on the regular version of the album, 'Supermarket Flowers', is an emotional song about the passing of Ed's grandmother that ends up being my favourite slow track on the album. While it is a long way from being my favourite overall, it really impressed me for being a genre of music that I generally dislike. Then the first of the deluxe tracks, 'Barcelona', is a complete juxtaposition to 'Supermarket Flowers'. It's just an upbeat, feel-good track that could make almost anyone want to dance and sing along.
'Bibia Be Ye Ye' follows much of the same theme, and the title of the song literally means "All will be well" in Twi, the Ghanaian dialect. 'Nancy Mulligan' is a song that has Irish roots, much like 'Galway Girl', and I like it almost as much. The final song on the album, 'Save Myself', is another emotional song that almost anyone can relate to if they've ever felt down. This is another song that I was very impressed with for being a slow song.
Overall, I'd give '÷' an 8/10. It doesn't quite live up to its immediate predecessor, 'x', for me, but just how much do I actually like 'x'? Well, you'll have to wait until my review of it next week to find out. ;)
Track by track rating (from worst to best):
16) 'Hearts Don't Break Around Here' (59/100)
15) 'How Would You Feel (Paean)' (63/100)
14) 'Perfect' (66/100)
13) 'Save Myself' (71/100)
12) 'Supermarket Flowers' (72/100)
11) 'Castle on the Hill' (75/100)
10) 'Bibia Be Ye Ye' (77/100)
9) 'Dive' (79/100)
8) 'Nancy Mulligan' (80/100)
7) 'Galway Girl' (82/100)
6) 'What Do I Know?' (85/100)
5) 'Barcelona' (86/100)
4) 'Shape of You' (89/100)
3) 'New Man' (90/100)
2) 'Happier' (92/100)
1) 'Eraser' (95/100)
Piran
I mostly agree with you on your scores, although I would put 'Castle On The Hill' way higher & 'Happier' & 'Eraser' a little bit lower down.
I also think that 'Hearts Don't Break Around Here' was the worst track on '÷', because of how boring it was. What made it even more forgettable is that he's already got two better ballads on the album; 'Perfect' & 'How Would You Feel [Paean]'.
'x' might be the next album I review, but since I do a track-by-track analysis, I have a feeling it won't be a very concise one. I look forward to seeing your thoughts on it next week! :D
Foxes
I knew you'd put 'Castle on the Hill' way higher than me, but I still really like the track. It just gets overshadowed by some of the other songs on the album for me.
Yeah, 'Hearts Don't Break Around Here' is quite a boring and forgettable track, and those other 2 are definitely better. I don't think that it's a bad track though, it's just not a good one.
I'd love to see your thoughts on 'x' as well! :D
Piran
'Castle On The Hill' had to grow on me & it was only alright at first listen, but after about a month, I kind of neglected 'Shape Of You' because I loved 'Castle On The Hill' so much, but it was my third favourite song of 2017 after all. ;)
I gave '÷' a light 7/10 when I reviewed it back in March & I would say that the rating hasn't changed since. Do you plan to review '+' one day then too?
Foxes
I definitely plan to do '+', in fact I'll probably do it the week after 'x'! Then I'll take a break for a few weeks, and the week after 'Camila' releases I'll review that, then I'll just review whatever new albums come out that I've been excited for or that I like, whenever they come out.
Calum Pk7
although I don't really have an order anymore, id agree that Hearts Don't Break Around Here is the worst on the album. I used to think Eraser was the best track on the album too, but id say its now beaten by New Man, although I haven't listened to any divide track besides Perfect for months!
Piran
'Camila' is definitely the next album I'm going to be reviewing! :D
I'll be listening to it between exam revision though, so I might be a little late discussing it. I'm predicting a reasonably big impact on my Top 40 though; not as big as what Taylor did, but I think of all of her solo hits that have been released so far will either gain or re-enter.
Foxes
Lucky for me 'Camila' releases the day after I finish 3 exams in January, so I'll be able to listen to it as much as I want! :D I won't be reviewing it until the week after it releases though, as I want to get a proper feel for the album first.
Piran
Your exams finish on the 11th? Wow... you have them early then!
Yeah, even with 'Reputation', I waited a week after the album was released before I reviewed it! Of course, I made sure I purchased it on the day of release & I'll hopefully be doing the same with 'Camila' too. ;)
Foxes
Well, some of my exams do. My next set of exams is in May - June, and that's when I have most of them. I just have 3 engineering exams, which make up 25% of the grade for all 3 subjects, on 10th and 11th of January.
I've already pre-ordered 'Camila', both digitally and physically, and I've pre-saved the album on Spotify. :D
Piran
Well I have three exams in January too & they are on the: 10th, 12th & 16th. That said, two of them are regarded as coursework under controlled conditions, so in those tests, we get the brief beforehand & they'll have only changed a couple of numbers or symbols. That makes it considerably easier than an actual exam, but it does mean that we need to do some additional work over the Christmas holidays.
Z
Zak
Demi at 26 on streaming chart but not even top 100 overall. Surprising, I thought streaming would be worth more these days.
Foxes
Streaming only makes up around 42% - 49% of the album market in the UK, depending on whether there's a big album release that week or not. It's singles where it makes up 92% - 93% of the market.
Z
Zak
92% seems high af for singles lol. I thought it was like 60/40 or so.
Foxes
Depends on the single. Songs like 'Havana' get something like a 60/40 split, while songs like 'rockstar' get something like an 85/15 split. As for the whole singles market, last week streaming accounted for a record 92.87% of the market.
Z
Zak
Ah interesting. Thanks!