NEWS
Sparks set sights on first Number 1 album with MAD!
28 May 2025
Sparks take an early lead in the race for this week's Official Number 1 album as they aim for their first-ever chart-topper with MAD!.
The 28th studio album by the iconic US duo – brothers Ron and Russell Mael – is expected to go straight in at the summit on Friday. Currently, Sparks' best Official Albums Chart position is a Number 4 peak for their 1974 LP Kimono My House.
Essex blues rock duo When Rivers Meet are on their way to a career-best with fifth studio LP Addicted You (2). The independent and self-managed act, comprising husband and wife duo Aaron and Grace Bond, previously charted with 2021’s Saving Grace (84), 2023’s Aces Are High (9) and 2024’s Breakers of Chains Tour – Live (47).
Alt-rock icons Skunk Anansie are on course for a career-best with their seventh studio LP The Painful Truth (3). They previously scored Top 10 albums with their 1995 debut Paranoid & Sunburnt (8) and 1996 follow-up Stoosh (9).
Orbital's second studio album, 1993's Orbital aka Orbital 2 or The Brown Album, is on course for its highest-ever position on the Official Albums Chart thanks to an expanded reissue (5).
British pop singer Louise is heading for a Top 10 debut with fifth studio set Confessions (7). This would be her seventh Top 15 album following 1996's Naked (7), 1997's Woman in Me (5), 2000's Elbow Beach (12), 2001's Changing Faces – The Best Of (9), 2020's Heavy Love (11) and 2023's Greatest Hits (11).
London alt-rock band Sports Team are also on course for the Top 10 with their third studio LP Boys These Days (10). The six-piece previously made the Top 10 with their 2020 debut Deep Down Happy (2) and 2022 follow-up Gulp! (3).
Avant-pop purveyors Stereolab are tracking for their highest ever Official Albums Chart position with Instant Holograms on Metal Film (11). This is the Anglo-French band's seventh studio album and first in 15 years.
Pete Tong and The Heritage Orchestra are also eyeing a Top 20 debut with Ibiza Classics (10th Anniversary Collection) (12), which gathers tracks from their seminal series of orchestral electronic albums.
Irish folk band Amble are set for their UK Official Chart debut with their maiden album Reverie. And electronica icons Morcheeba could notch a sixth Top 40 album and first since 2005 with Escape the Chaos, their eleventh studio set.
BRIT Award winner Myles Smith already has two Top 40 singles to his name. Now he's tracking for his first-ever Top 40 on the Official Albums Chart with his third EP A Minute, A Moment… (29).
And finally, Welsh alt-rock band Cardinal Black are also on course for their Top 40 debut with their second studio set Midnight at the Valencia (34).
The 28th studio album by the iconic US duo – brothers Ron and Russell Mael – is expected to go straight in at the summit on Friday. Currently, Sparks' best Official Albums Chart position is a Number 4 peak for their 1974 LP Kimono My House.
Essex blues rock duo When Rivers Meet are on their way to a career-best with fifth studio LP Addicted You (2). The independent and self-managed act, comprising husband and wife duo Aaron and Grace Bond, previously charted with 2021’s Saving Grace (84), 2023’s Aces Are High (9) and 2024’s Breakers of Chains Tour – Live (47).
Alt-rock icons Skunk Anansie are on course for a career-best with their seventh studio LP The Painful Truth (3). They previously scored Top 10 albums with their 1995 debut Paranoid & Sunburnt (8) and 1996 follow-up Stoosh (9).
Orbital's second studio album, 1993's Orbital aka Orbital 2 or The Brown Album, is on course for its highest-ever position on the Official Albums Chart thanks to an expanded reissue (5).
British pop singer Louise is heading for a Top 10 debut with fifth studio set Confessions (7). This would be her seventh Top 15 album following 1996's Naked (7), 1997's Woman in Me (5), 2000's Elbow Beach (12), 2001's Changing Faces – The Best Of (9), 2020's Heavy Love (11) and 2023's Greatest Hits (11).
London alt-rock band Sports Team are also on course for the Top 10 with their third studio LP Boys These Days (10). The six-piece previously made the Top 10 with their 2020 debut Deep Down Happy (2) and 2022 follow-up Gulp! (3).
Avant-pop purveyors Stereolab are tracking for their highest ever Official Albums Chart position with Instant Holograms on Metal Film (11). This is the Anglo-French band's seventh studio album and first in 15 years.
Pete Tong and The Heritage Orchestra are also eyeing a Top 20 debut with Ibiza Classics (10th Anniversary Collection) (12), which gathers tracks from their seminal series of orchestral electronic albums.
Irish folk band Amble are set for their UK Official Chart debut with their maiden album Reverie. And electronica icons Morcheeba could notch a sixth Top 40 album and first since 2005 with Escape the Chaos, their eleventh studio set.
BRIT Award winner Myles Smith already has two Top 40 singles to his name. Now he's tracking for his first-ever Top 40 on the Official Albums Chart with his third EP A Minute, A Moment… (29).
And finally, Welsh alt-rock band Cardinal Black are also on course for their Top 40 debut with their second studio set Midnight at the Valencia (34).