The Killers shoot to No. 1 on Australia’s albums chart with Wonderful Wonderful(Island/Universal), the American alternative rockers’ second leader in the market, while Post Malone visits the summit of the national singles chart for the first time with “Rockstar” (Republic/Universal).
With Wonderful Wonderful. The Killers continue a streak of five top five albums Down Under dating back to their debut Hot Fuss, which hit the top back in February 2005. The new set, which also takes the title in the U.S. and U.K., eclipses the No. 2 peak of the Killers’ most recent set, Battle Born, which reached No. 2 on the ARIA chart in September 2012.
Wonderful Wonderful should enjoy another push this week after the band delivered a well-received performance at the MCG for Saturday's (Sept. 30) AFL Grand Final.
Another U.S. performer who took center stage on Grand Final weekend and is now basking in a strong chart performance is Macklemore, whose Gemini(ADA/Warner) starts at No. 3. It’s the rapper’s first appearance on the ARIA Albums Chart (though he cracked the top 10 on two occasions with collaborator Ryan Lewis), a feat fuelled by his controversial decision to perform the song “Same Love” at Sunday’s showpiece NRL event.
Macklemore’s mini-set came as millions of Australians cast their vote on marriage laws in this country, with some “no” campaigners (including former prime minister Tony Abbott) demanding the sport's administrators ban the performance. The controversy hasn’t hurt Macklemore’s profile. Live Nation on Tuesday (Oct. 3) announced Macklemore would embark on a three-city tour next February and he grabs the highest debut on the national singles chart with “Good Old Days” featuring Kesha, which begins its journey at No. 25.
Meanwhile, albums from Foo Fighters, Ed Sheeran and Angus & Julia Stoneall lose steam in the top 5 while veteran Northern Irish singer Van Morrison just misses out on a top 10 entry with Roll With The Punches (CAR/Universal), which starts at No. 11. Its his third studio set in as many years to crack the ARIA top 50 following Duets: Re-Working The Catalogue (reaching No. 10 in April 2015) and Keep Me Singing (No. 11 in October 2016).
On the ARIA Singles Chart, Post Malone sees his hit “Rockstar” featuring 21 Savage rise 8-1 in its second week for his first career No. 1.
And in a worrying sign for the local industry, just two homegrown tracks appear in the top 50: Vance Joy’s “Lay It On Me” (down 26-27 via Liberation/Universal) and Jessica Mauboy’s “Fallin'” (down 43-45 via Sony).
