There are still a couple of days left, but the mid-week charts for British Album sales, as published by the Official Charts Company, has Depeche Mode's new album, Delta Machine, just 4,000 copies behind Justin Timberlake's 20/20 Experience which is in its second week of release.
Every one of the group's twelve previous studio albums made the British top ten, but only 1993's Songs of Faith and Devotion and 1997's Ultra actually made it to the top. Their last album, 2009's Sounds of the Universe, peaked at number 2.
Timberlake sold 106,000 copies of his album in the U.K. last week, making it the biggest sales week for an title this year.
Also hanging in very strong is David Bowie's The Next Day which is currently at number 3.
Debuts, at midweek, include Eric Clapton's Old Sock at number 10 (he did better in the U.S.), Simple Minds' Celebrate: The Greatest Hits at 15 and Iron Maiden's Maiden England '88 at 20.
Final charts will be released on Sunday.
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