Brit Music Scene

UK Music Charts – Oct 25 – Cheryl Cole & Alexandra Burke

Posted: 25 Oct 2009 06:00 PM PDT

The UK music charts may mean less now than they used to but they're still an indicator of what's hot on the popular British music scene right now. This week's Top 10 singles and Top 10 albums are listed below.

This week’s singles chart saw Cheryl Cole depart Girls Aloud temporarily to score her first solo number one with Fight For This Love. It was the fastest selling single of the week, racking up sales of 290,000 copies. Alexandra Burke slipped to number two with Bad Boys. With the exception of a new entry by Young Soul Rebels and Whitney Houston climbing into the top ten, the rest stayed virtually unchanged.

Last year’s winner of The X Factor, Alexandra Burke, beat Michael Bublé, Whitney Houston, and Seasick Steve to take the number one spot on the new albums chart. Fleetwood Mac and Spandau ballet also entered the top ten with new albums while the very kooky yet beautiful Paloma Faith moved into the number nine spot with Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?

Top 10 UK Singles

1. (-) Cheryl Cole: ‘Fight For This Love’
2. (1) Alexandra Burke ft. Flo Rida: ‘Bad Boys’
3. (3) Chipmunk: ‘Oopsy Daisy’
4. (2) Robbie Williams: ‘Bodies’
5. (14) Whitney Houston: ‘Million Dollar Bill’
6. (4) Taio Cruz: ‘Break Your Heart’
7. (6) Black Eyed Peas: ‘I Gotta Feeling’
8. (5) Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys: ‘Empire State Of Mind’
9. (9) Michael Bublé: ‘Haven’t Met You Yet’
10. (-) Young Soul Rebels: ‘I Got Soul’

Top 10 UK Albums

1. (-) Alexandra Burke: ‘Overcome’
2. (-) Michael Bublé: ‘Crazy Love’
3. (-) Whitney Houston: ‘I Look To You’
4. (-) Seasick Steve: ‘Man From Another Time’
5. (5) Paolo Nutini: ‘Sunny Side Up’
6. (-) Fleetwood Mac: ‘The Very Best Of’
7. (-) Spandau Ballet: ‘Once More’
8. (2) Chipmunk: ‘I Am Chipmunk’
9. (16) Paloma Faith: ‘Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?’
10. (6) Vera Lynn: ‘We’ll Meet Again – The Very Best Of’

[Photo Source: Amazon.co.uk]

Post from: Brit Music Scene

U2 Disappointed With ‘No Line On The Horizon’ Sales

Posted: 25 Oct 2009 11:16 AM PDT

To say I wasn’t impressed by No Line On The Horizon, U2’s latest album, is a bit of an understatement. When I reviewed it back in February, I ended up scoring it a 3/10 after enduring the ignominy of listening to it a few times straight through. Suffice to say, I haven’t listened to it again since.

I wasn’t alone in not liking the album, with even longtime, die-hard fans expressing their dislike for it. No Line On The Horizon has sold in excess of a million copies, but U2 have now come out to say how disappointed they are by the album’s reception and (by their standards at least) poor sales figures.

Talking to ABC News, Bono whined about how the public’s “diet of pop” may have directly affected sales of their latest LP. He said:

“We weren’t really in that mindset. We felt that the album was a kind of an almost extinct species, and we should approach it in totality and create a mood and a feeling, and a beginning, middle and an end. And I suppose we’ve made a work that is a bit challenging.”

Adam Clayton added:

“The commercial challenges have to be confronted. But I think, in a sense, the more interesting challenge is, ‘What is rock ‘n’ roll in this changing world?’ Because, to some extent, the concept of the music fan – the concept of the person who buys music and listens to music for the pleasure of music itself – is an outdated idea.”

Sure, the industry is changing, with digital downloads and an increasing number of ways to easily obtain and consume music. But don’t U2 have it in themselves to realize that maybe, just maybe, No Line On The Horizon just wasn’t good enough?

Sometimes it isn’t about market forces or because an album is too challenging but merely because it sucks. As is the case with No Line On the Horizon. Not that U2 would ever admit to putting out an inferior work because they are clearly above all that.

[Photo Source: Amazon.co.uk]

Post from: Brit Music Scene