U2 is on the brink of ending a decade-long drought in the U.K., where the Irish rockers’ Songs of Surrender (via Island) is cantering to No. 1.
The collection will be tough to overcome in the chart race. Based on midweek sales and streaming data, Songs of Surrender is outselling the rest of the top 5 combined, according to the Official Charts Company, and should become the band’s 11th leader when the chart proper is published late Friday (March 24).
The last time U2 was crowned on the U.K. chart was 2009 with No Line on the Horizon, while subsequent releases Songs of Innocence (from 2014, peaking at No. 6) and Songs of Experience (from 2017, peaking at No. 5) both cracked the top 10.
On Songs of Surrender, Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. revisit — and rework — 40 songs from across their 40-plus year career, including “One,” “Bad,” “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “Desire,” “With Or Without You,” “I Will Follow,” and more.
The compilation, a companion to singer Bono’s recent memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, leads the Official Chart Update, ahead of Miley Cyrus‘ Endless Summer Vacation (RCA), set to dip 1-2.
The Rock And Roll Hall of Famers could see another hits collection surge into the top 40. The November 2006 compilation U218 Singles (Mercury) reenters the midweek chart at No. 33, having peaked at No. 6 following its initial release.
Meanwhile, Brighton, England indie-rock foursome Black Honey could stick a second top 10 record with A Fistful of Peaches (FoxFive). It’s new at No. 3 on the Official Chart Update, and could become the band’s highest-charting album (2021’s Written & Directed reached No. 7).
Also, U.S. pop-punk veterans All Time Low are heading for a fifth U.K. top 10 with Tell Me I’m Alive (Parlophone), new at No. 6 on the chart blast.
Finally, with Taylor Swift’s The Era Tour getting away to a buzzy start in North America, Swifties on the other side of the Atlantic are gobbling up her music, in anticipation of their turn.
Four of the U.S. pop superstar’s LPs rise on the Official Albums Chart Update: Midnights (up 12-7), 2014 (32-25), Lover (51-29) and folklore (58-37), all via EMI. Swift’s U.K. tour dates have yet to be announced.