Lana Del Rey Heading For U.K. Chart Crown With ‘Ocean Blvd’
Lana Del Rey doesn’t need to take the tunnel, she’s on a direct path to the U.K. No. 1.
The alternative pop artist leads the midweek U.K. chart with Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd (via Polydor), her ninth studio album.
If it holds its course, Ocean Blvd will give Del Rey her sixth U.K. chart crown in just over a decade, a list that includes Born to Die (2012), Ultraviolence (2014), Lust for Life (2017), Norman F*cking Rockwell! (2019) and Chemtrails Over the Country Club (2021).
Lana’s latest leads an all-new top 5 on the Official Chart Update, which sees Depeche Mode and Fall Out Boy set to snag podium spots.
DM’s Memento Mori (Columbia), the Rock Hall-inducted synth-pop legends’ first album since the death last year of bandmember Andy Fletcher, is on track for a No. 2 debut, the band’s highest position on the U.K. chart in 10 years. Dave Gahan and Co. have raked-in 17 top 10 appearances on the U.K albums survey, most recently with 2017’s Spirit (No. 5).
Reunited U.S. pop-rock act Fall Out Boy is eyeing a fifth U.K. top 10 finish, with So Much (for) Stardust (Parlophone) debuting at No. 3 on the chart blast.
Pink Floyd could return to the top 5 with a live version of the prog-rock legends’ iconic album Dark Side of the Moon, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary. The Dark Side of the Moon – Live At Wembley 1974 (via Parlophone) forms part of a special anniversary collection, which includes a boxed set of Dark Side, which has chalked-up 557 weeks on the Official U.K. Albums Chart (and counting) but remarkably has never hit No. 1. Its peak position is No. 2, though Floyd has led the chart with six titles.
Completing the top five on the midweek survey is U.S. country star Luke Combs’ Gettin’ Old (Sony Music CG), at No. 5. It’s on course to become Combs’ highest charting LP in the U.K.
Further down the list, Japanese rock act BABYMETAL is heading for a first U.K. top 10 appearance with The Other One (Cooking Vinyl), new at No. 7 on the midweek survey, while Georgian/British singer and songwriter Katie Melua could bag a ninth U.K. top 10 with Love & Money (BMG), set to debut at No. 10.
All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published Friday, March 31.
Lars Brandle
Billboard