With Eminem's rumoured new album Revival failing to drop on Friday (17th), Taylor Swift continued to rule the digital roost, with her sixth studio album Reputation remaining atop the iTunes rankings in 61 of the 97 countries in which it has thus far achieved top spot.
With its first week sales in The USA certainly north of a million but still being counted, Revival will certainly become Swift's fifth No.1 there. In the first raft of official chart positions compiled since its release, it also debuts at No.1 in Ireland, Flanders, The Netherlands, New Zealand and The UK, while opening at No.2 in Germany and Sweden, No.3 in Italy and No.9 in Wallonia. Some sources suggest it is also No.1 in Japan - but that is something no album by a Western act has achieved since November 2015, when the newly-expanded version of The Beatles' 1 compilation did so. In fact, Reputation opens at No.3 in Japan on sales of 28,281 copies. The confusion arises because it is the No.1 album on Japan's International chart, which exists mainly to give visibility to overseas acts, as the market is dominated by domestic repertoire. In fact, the No.1 album in Japan this week, with sales of 1,113,297 - nearly 40 times those of Reputation - is Finally, by Namie Amiro. Her 14th No.1 album since she made her debut in 1995, it is the 40 year old's first release since she announced her intention to retire next year, and includes re-recorded versions of some of her old material and seven new songs. It is the first album to sell a million copies in a week in Japan for three years.
Swift's failure to capture the No.1 slot in Sweden is due to the continued popularity of Sam Smith's The Thrill Of It All, which heads the list for the second time. Swift has thus still never had a No.1 in Sweden, where her last album, 1989, peaked at No.23.
As well as getting the nod again from Sweden, Smith's album is confirmed as debuting at No.1 in Canada, Denmark, Norway and The USA, and is also new at No.2 in Australia, No.3 in Portugal and Switzerland, No.7 in Austria, 10 in Finland and Poland, No.12 in Spain, No.15 in France and Slovakia, and No.18 in The Czech Republic, while advancing 34-32 in Japan. It is on the way down elsewhere, falling 1-2 in Ireland and The UK, 1-4 in New Zealand and Flanders, 1-5 in The Netherlands, 8-15 in Germany, 11-20 in Wallonia and 35-82 in South Korea.
New Elton John compilation, Diamonds, opens at No.5 in The UK, at No.10 in Ireland, No.52 in Germany, No.76 in Flanders and No.94 in Wallonia.
Finally, Seal's new album Standards - which, as its title suggests, is a collection of classic songs, and is the third of his 10 studio albums to consist of covers - opens at No.14 in Wallonia, No.17 in The UK, No.18 in Flanders, No.70 in Germany, No.72 in Ireland and No.88 in The Netherlands.
