Official NZ Music Chart & Chartbitz May 23 2007

Chartbitz

Linkin Park Returns
Linkin Park are back. And straight out of the box Minutes To Midnight, the band’s sixth album, outsells all comers with an excellent first week tally to land right in at #1.
Back at the turn of the century, the group played a one-off gig at Auckland’s Avondale College to support their debut Hybrid Theory. That set took five months to register its solitary week on top but sold over 90,000 copies in the process.
Their other studio album Meteora opened on top in April 2003, spending three weeks in the pole position, racking up over 60,000 sales.
Chester Bennington, Rob Bourdon, Brad Delson, Joe Hahn, Dave ‘Phoenix’ Farrell and Mike Shinoda aren’t content to rule the Albums roost though and the album’s lead cut What I’ve Done makes a 29-place rise to #10 in its second week on the Singles list. It gives them their third Top 10er following 2001’s #10 In The End and their only #1 Somewhere I Belong from 2003.
The 14 months spent recording Minutes To Midnight is paying off. As well as debuting at #1 here, it’s #1 in the UK and #2 in Oz.

The New Singles
#14 30 Seconds To Mars - From Yesterday
The sophomore A Beautiful Lie set from LA-based, Jared Leto-led 30 Seconds To Mars moves up and cracks the Albums Top 20 for the first time in its eighth week. Back in January the lead single The Kill (Bury Me) made it to #22, now the group grab their second and highest charter to date with this week’s highest new entry From Yesterday. There is a link in to the #10 single and #1 album this week - 30 Seconds’ production knobs were twiddled by Josh Abraham who has previously worked with Linkin Park.

#34 Snow Patrol - Hands Open
It becomes a trio of hits from Snow Patrol’s third release and first hit album the chart-topping Eyes Open as Hands Open drops in at #34. The album, meanwhile, spends its 45th week on the chart. The Dundee-formed group feature on the Spiderman 3 soundtrack with a forthcoming track Signal Fire, which gives them their biggest UK hit ever at #4 this week.

The New Albums
#1 Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight
See story above.

#32 Bjork - Volta
Iceland. It’s cold near the Arctic Circle and they fish there, but the biggest musical export is 42-year-old Bjork Gudmundsdottr, former lead singer of the country’s previous biggest musical export The Sugacubes (whose sole piece of Kiwi chart action was the 1988 #41 single Birthday). Thankfully calling herself simply Bjork, she’s bettered the Singles count by four with the 1995 #26 Army Of Me being the biggest thus far. Albums wise, Volta (new at #32 this week) becomes her sixth chartset since her 1993 #5 debut Debut. The biggest was 1994’s #4 Post, the most recent 2004’s #35 Medulla. On Volta she’s helped out by Timbaland who himself has this week’s #3 single Give It To Me.

#33 Manic Street Preachers - Send Away The Tigers
Originally a quartet, Welshmen Manic Street Preachers’ rhythm guitarist went MIA in 1995. The band carried on though, going from strength to strength as a trio and 12 years later they land their fourth New Zealand chart set Send Away The Tigers. Band members James Dean Bradfield (vocal/guitar) and Nicky Wire (bass) have both recorded solo sets in the past 18 months, but got back with drummer Sean Moore for the new set. They’ve racked up four chart singles here, their first Motorcycle Emptiness still their highest-charting (#35). They’re joined on the Tigers lead single Your Love Alone (Is Not Enough) by Swede Nina Persson of The Cardigans who hit #1 in 1997 with Lovefool.

You can contact Andrew at:
andrewmiller @ radioscope.co.nz

Top 40 Albums - Week To Sunday, 20 May 2007

This Last Weeks
Week Week In Title Artist Label

1 new 1 Minutes To Midnight Linkin Park WEA/Warner
2 1 9 Treasure Hayley Westenra Universal
3 4 27 I'm Not Dead: Tour Edition Pink SBME
4 6 26 Konvicted Akon Universal
5 2 3 Reach Out: The Motown Record Human Nature SBME
6 12 5 The Best Damn Thing Avril Lavigne SBME
7 3 4 Portrait Of A Legend: 1951-1964 Sam Cooke Universal
8 7 3 Call Me Irresponsible Michael Buble WEA/Warner
9 9 38 Loose Nelly Furtado Universal
10 18 7 Because Of The Times Kings Of Leon SBME
11 8 24 Albertine Brooke Fraser SBME
12 5 37 The Sound Of Bread Bread WEA/Warner
13 11 36 FutureSex / LoveSounds Justin Timberlake SBME
14 15 15 Infinity On High Fall Out Boy Universal
15 14 5 Second Hand Planet OpShop Siren/EMI
16 17 13 Back To Basics Christina Aguilera SBME
17 10 5 Begin To Hope Regina Spektor WEA/Warner
18 20 18 B'Day: Deluxe Edition Beyonce SBME
19 30 2 Soundboy Rock Groove Armada SBME
20 28 8 A Beautiful Lie 30 Seconds To Mars Virgin/EMI
21 27 7 Shock Value Timbaland Universal
22 21 12 Life In Cartoon Motion Mika Universal
23 24 4 Favourite Worst Nightmare Arctic Monkeys Domino/EMI
24 16 17 Back To Black Amy Winehouse Universal
25 13 8 Rocket Man: The Definitive Hits Elton John Universal
26 36 9 Good Morning Revival Good Charlotte SBME
27 23 42 Real Life Evermore WEA/Warner
28 37 2 Strength And Loyalty Bone Thugs N Harmony Universal
29 32 5 Grand National John Butler Trio Jarrah/EMI
30 29 24 The Sweet Escape Gwen Stefani Universal
31 26 53 Stadium Arcadium Red Hot Chili Peppers WEA/Warner
32 new 1 Volta Bjork Universal
33 new 1 Send Away The Tigers Manic Street Preachers SBME
34 35 2 Because Of You Ne-Yo Universal
35 31 45 Eyes Open Snow Patrol Universal
36 reentry 5 The Evolution Ciara SBME
37 38 7 Young Modern silverchair Eleven/EMI
38 22 13 Van At The Movies Van Morrison EMI
39 34 7 The Very Best Of: 40th Anniversary The Doors Rhino/Warner
40 19 26 Undiscovered James Morrison Universal

Chart compiled by Media Sauce Ltd.

ENDS

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