Illy debuts at #1

Debuts for A Tribe Called Quest, John Farnham & Olivia Newton-John, Phil Collins and more!

The record for most Australian #1 albums in a calendar year has gotten even bigger with Two Degrees by Melbourne rapper Illy becoming the nineteenth Australian #1 album on the ARIA Charts in 2016 (see below).

A week on from his passing, the late Leonard Cohen has jumped up 18 spots with You Want It Darker. Cohen’s most recent album debuted at #6 at the end of October. It equals the Canadian singer-songwriter’s previous peak on the Albums Chart, reached with Old Ideas (#2 Feb. ’12).

Michael Buble’s Christmas continues its seasonal re-emergence, moving up four spots to #4.

With the announcement of her debut Australian tour, Adele’s 25 has moved up nine spots to #17.

After dropping to #48, Pentatonix’s A Pentatonix Christmas is up 17 spots in its fourth week in the top 50 to sit at #31.

Debuts:

#1: Illy ‘Two Degrees’ – Melbourne rapper Illy snares his first #1 on the ARIA Albums Chart with Two Degrees. It’s his fifth studio album and second top ten, following on from Cinematic (#4 Nov. ’13). Two singles from Two Degrees have already charted: ‘Papercuts’ (#2 Aug. ’16) and ‘Catch 22’ (#12 Nov. ’16).

#3: John Farnham & Olivia Newton-John ‘Friends For Christmas’ – ARIA Hall Of Famers John Farnham and Olivia Newton-John reunite for new album Friends For Christmas. The seasonal album comes just over a year on from the live release Two Strong Hearts (#1 Jul. ’15).

#6: Phil Collins ‘The Singles’ – The first new entry on the ARIA Albums Chart for Phil Collins since Going Back (#3 Oct. ’10). The compilation brings together some of Collin’s best-known solo tracks including ‘In The Air Tonight’ (#3 May ’81), ‘Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)’ (#3 Jun. ’84), ‘One More Night’ (#2 May ’85), ‘Sussudio’ (#8 May ’85) and ‘Easy Lover’ (with Philip Bailey).

#9: Sting ‘57th & 9th’ – Sting’s twelfth studio album marks his return to rock music for the first time since Sacred Love (#13 Sept. ’03). 57th & 9th is the follow-up to The Last Ship (#39 Sept. ’13).

#12: Leonard Cohen ‘The Essential Leonard Cohen’ – As well as sitting at #2 on this week’s Albums Chart with You Want It Darker, the late Leonard Cohen picks up a debut with The Essential Leonard Cohen. The two-disc set features many of Cohen’s best-known works including ‘Suzanne’, ‘So Long, Marianne’, ‘Everybody Knows’, ‘Tower Of Song’ and ‘Hallelujah’.

#13: A Tribe Called Quest ‘We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service’ – Hip hop legends A Tribe Called Quest make their top 50 debut with We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service. The group’s sixth album is their first since 1998. It’s also likely to be their final studio album following the passing of Malik Taylor, aka Phife Dawg, in March of this year.

#15: Cliff Richard ‘Just... Fabulous Rock 'N' Roll’ – After the success of The Fabulous Rock 'n' Roll Songbook (#7 May ’14), Cliff Richard takes on some more classic rockers for Just... Fabulous Rock 'N' Roll. The album includes covers of ‘Blue Suede Shoes’, ‘Sweet Little Sixteen’, ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ and ‘Dimples’, amongst others.

#20: Emeli Sande ‘Long Live The Angels’ – Four years on from Our Version Of Events (#17 Jan. ‘13), British singer-songwriter Emeli Sande returns with Long Live The Angels. In between albums, Sande appeared as the guest vocalist on Rudimental’s ‘Free’ (#5 Jan. ’14) and David Guetta’s ‘What I Did For Love’ (#20 Mar. ’15).

#24: Archie Roach ‘Let Love Rule’ – Singer-songwriter Archie Roach returns with his tenth album and first in four years. Let Love Rule is Roach’s second top 50 appearance, following on from Into The Bloodstream (#49 Oct. ’12).

#38: In Flames ‘Battles’ – The third top 50 appearance for Swedish death metal band In Flames. Battles is the follow-up to Siren Charms (#33 Sept. ’14) and Sounds Of A Playground Fading (#50 Jul. ’11).

#39: David Bowie ‘Legacy’ – A new compilation bringing together tracks by the late, great David Bowie. It features material from throughout the singer-songwriter’s illustrious career, including from his final studio album Blackstar (#1 Jan. ’16).

#42: Olly Murs ’24 Hrs’ – The fifth album from Olly Murs gives the Brit his third appearance in the ARIA top 50, following on from Never Been Better (#27 Dec. ’14) and Right Place Right Time (#20 Jun. ’13)

#47: Pink Floyd ‘The Early Years, 1967-1972, Cre/ation’ – Highlights and oddities from the early career of Pink Floyd come together for The Early Years, 1967-1972, Cre/ation. The two-disc set brings together selections from the larger seven-volume set The Early Years, 1967-1972. The material covers from the band’s formation, through to the 1972 album Obscured By Clouds.