The Charts – week one

OK, so The Beatles are in the charts again, following last week’s Remasters releases. I’m of course going to first focus on the all important Norwegian chart: “VG-lista”. VG is the biggest newspaper in Norway, and their weekly record charts have been reigning supreme in Norway for many decades. This week’s albums chart has more than a hint of country and western flavour.

Norway’s Top 40 Albums week 38, 2009.

1. Melodi Grand Prix junior 2009 – Various artists
2. Blue Ridge Rangers Ride Again – John Fogerty
3. The Beatles Boxed Set (Stereo) – The Beatles
4. I Look To You – Whitney Houston
5. Tarpan Seasons – Solveig Slettahjell
6. Norwegian Favourites – Alan Jackson
7. Dreams of Yesterday – Bobby Bare
8. Dredsden – Jan Garbarek
9. En Samling – Thomas Dybdal
10. Oslo Agreement – Paperboys

I’m not going to bore you with the rest of the list, suffice to say that the Beatles in Mono didn’t make it to the Top 40, but some individual albums did:

23. Abbey Road – The Beatles
31. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – The Beatles
36. Revolver – The Beatles
39. The Beatles (aka “The White album”) – The Beatles

The individual album sales have been disappointing, what people want is the stereo boxed set. Unfortunately, it’s sold out – EMI Norway didn’t have enough boxed sets to supply to the shops the actual amounts each shop had ordered. Too bad. But still – hey! They placed third! With a huge and expensive box!
In other charts:

UK
as reported by NME

1. Vera Lynn – We’ll Meet Again – The Very Best Of
2. Jamie T – Kings & Queens
3. David Guetta – One Love
4. Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
5. The Beatles – Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
6. The Beatles – Abbey Road
7. Kings Of Leon – Only By The Night
8. The Cribs – Ignore The Ignorant
9. The Beatles – Revolver
10. The Beatles – Rubber Soul

USA
Billboard’s Top Comprehensive list is the one to reckon with, because Billboard’s more famous “Top 200” list has been given a limitation: It now only lists new and current albums, so it no longer reflects the real Top 200 biggest sellers. Why on earth did they make that decision?
Anyway, here goes the Top 3:

1. Blueprint 3 – Jay-Z
2. The Time Of Our Lives – Miley Cyrus
3. Abbey Road – The Beatles

and further down the list:

5. Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – The Beatles
7. The Beatles (aka “The White album”) – The Beatles
8. Rubber Soul – The Beatles
10. Revolver – The Beatles
15. The Beatles Boxed Set (stereo) – The Beatles
40. The Beatles In Mono – The Beatles