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In a history-making week on Billboard’s European Top 100 Albums, Michael Jackson holds down a spectacular eight of the top ten titles. Meanwhile, “When Love Takes Over” (Positiva/EMI) by David Guetta featuring Kelly Rowland starts a second week atop European Hot 100 Singles.
Jackson’s domination also represents a near-lockout of the pan-European top ten for Epic/Sony Music Entertainment, in which last year’s “King of Pop” compilation again comes out on top. It leads the way in no fewer than eight markets, holding at No. 1 in Germany and Austria, moving 77-1 in the Belgian region of Flanders, 6-1 in neighboring Wallony, 13-1 in Poland, 3-1 in Holland and 2-1 in Switzerland and Spain. It’s top five in five other territories.
In the United Kingdom, it’s “The Essential Michael Jackson” that rules, with 113,000 new sales last week from a running total in its four years on release of 483,000. That compilation holds at No. 2 Europe-wide, also moving 4-1 in Finland, 3-2 in Switzerland and entering and No. 3 in Norway and Portugal.
Next up, at No. 3 overall, is the original edition of “Thriller,” which leaps to the top in Italy (12-1) and Spain (3-1) and is in the top five in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany. Its title track single also rises 4-2 in Italy. Jackson’s “Number Ones” collection is up 6-4 on Top 100 Albums, sitting at No. 2 in both Ireland and Germany. “The Collection” is his only title in descent on the overall chart, down 3-6 despite holding at No. 1 in Denmark and racing 34-5 in Sweden and 19-9 in Germany.
With the regular volume of “Thriller” at No. 3, the 25th anniversary deluxe reissue also fares well, climbing 14-7 on the composite chart. It’s up 12-2 in Hungary, 7-5 in Finland, 41-6 in Spain and 18-9 in the United Kingdom, but falls from the top spot in Switzerland and Poland. “Off The Wall,” the studio predecessor to “Thriller,” is up 34-8 on Top 100 Albums, fuelled by a 10-3 climb in the United Kingdom on sales of 39,000. Remarkably, that’s the album’s highest-ever position on the U.K. chart, where it previously peaked at No. 5 in its fourth week on the survey in October 1979.
The biggest leap of all Jackson’s albums is taken by “HIStory – Past, Present & Future, Book 1,” which zooms 92-9 after reappearing at No. 4 in Germany and 33-17 in the United Kingdom. Jackson also has two singles in the European top ten, holding at No. 7 with “Man In The Mirror” and dipping 9-10 with “Billie Jean.”
The only non-Jackson titles in the top ten of the pan-European album chart are Black Eyed Peas’ “The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies)” (Interscope/Universal), which holds at No. 5, and labelmate Lady Gaga’s “The Fame,” down 8-10.
Guetta’s single, a former U.K. No. 1, continues to lead the European Hot 100 as it extends its reign in Switzerland, Ireland and Wallony and climbs 6-3 in Austria, 4-3 in Germany and 11-10 in Italy.
Source: Billboard