R.E.M. Earns Eighth U.K. No. 1 Album

Paul Sexton, London
"Accelerate" (Warner Bros.) took R.E.M. back to the top of the U.K. album chart yesterday, debuting at No. 1 to become its eighth British bestseller. London-born R&B singer Estelle, now based in New York, scored a third week at the singles chart summit with "American Boy" (Homeschool/Atlantic) and added a No. 6 entry for the album "Shine."R.E.M.'s success comes despite the relative failure of "Supernatural Superserious," the first single from the album, which peaked at No. 54 on digital sales last month and could only re-enter the published top 75 chart at No. 63 this week following its physical release. "Accelerate" takes the band's span of No. 1 U.K. albums to 17 years, a run that began when "Out of Time" had a week at the peak in March 1991.Duffy's "Rockferry" (A&M/Universal) thus fell to No. 2 after four weeks atop the album chart, Leona Lewis' "Spirit" (Syco Music/Sony BMG) edged up 4-3 and Nickelback's "All the Right Reasons" (Roadrunner) jumped 6-4. Panic At The Disco's "Pretty Odd" (Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen) fell sharply from its No. 2 debut to No. 11, but U.K. girl pop outfit Girls Aloud's "Tangled Up" (Fascination/Polydor/Universal) climbed 28-12.Scouting For Girls' self-titled Epic album improved 20-13 and Newton Faulkner's "Hand Built By Robots" (Ugly Truth/Sony BMG) raced 26-14. Gnarls Barkley's "The Odd Couple" (Warner Bros.) debuted at No. 19, but the single "Run" fell from its No. 32 peak to No.39.As Estelle continued at the top of the singles chart and "Low" (Atlantic) by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain held at No. 2, the big mover was the Kooks' "Always Where I Need To Be" (Virgin/EMI). The first single from the English band's second album, "Konk," due April 14, raced 71-3. Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body" (Def Jam/Universal) debuted at No. 6 to become her 23rd U.K. top 10 single.
On Billboard's pan-European charts, "Back to Black" (Universal Island) is in a 13th aggregate and sixth consecutive week at No. 1 on European Top 100 Albums for Amy Winehouse, while Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" (Syco Music/Sony BMG) is enjoying a fourth week atop Eurochart Hot 100 Singles, and second consecutively.