Another quiet chart week, the main point of interest being the return of U2′s The Joshua Tree to the top thirty, leaping from 73 to 28 thanks to the band’s UK tour (i.e. two gigs in London) last weekend. This brings its total number of weeks on the chart to 197, way ahead of any of their other studio albums (only War on 148 weeks and The Unforgettable Fire on 132 come anywhere close). The only U2 album to have spent longer on the chart is their 1983 live mini-album Under a Blood Red Sky with a total of 204 weeks in the top 100.
Talking of live albums, it’s a bumper week for them this week as Status Quo’s alleged “last ever” electric tour is captured on a new double CD, triple vinyl set, DVD and Blu-ray The Last Night of the Electrics, while Paul Simon’s appearance at the 2012 Hard Rock Calling Festival appears as a 2CD + Blu-ray set The Concert in Hyde Park and The Wedding Present’s live show to mark the 20th anniversary of their George Best album is finally released as a CD + DVD set Live 2007. Back in the studio, Laibach return with a new album Also Sprach Zarathustra, and celebrated producer and Adam and the Ants drummer Chris Merrick Hughes releases a double album of piano pieces Eirenic Life. Fresh from their appearance on the 1984 Top of the Pops reruns on BBC Four, the self-titled début mini-album by Carmel gets a CD release; two Nick Lowe albums, Nick the Knife and The Abominable Showman are reissued today, and there are vinyl reissues for The Style Council’s 1983 mini-album Introducing The Style Council and their début proper Café Bleu.
