Rudimental have scored their second No 1 album with We Are the Generation. The record, which includes guest vocals from Ed Sheeran, Bobby Womack and Lianne La Havas, finished with more than double the sales of its nearest competitor – Sheeran’s second album x – which leapt from No 8 to No 2 this week.
“This is mad! When I think back to some of the seminal bands I’ve always loved, they all had at least two major records,” the band’s Amir Amor told OfficialCharts.com.
“I always dreamed of Rudimental having at least two major records – hopefully it will solidify to the world that we’re serious contenders in the game. We’re not going anywhere – we plan to stick around for a long time.”
Jess Glynne’s I Cry When I Laugh went from No 5 to No 3, the former No 1 album Rattle That Lock by David Gilmour is at No 4, while this week’s top 5 is completed by Editors, who have their fifth consecutive top 10 album with In Dream.
New entries include Janet Jackson whose first album in seven years, Unbreakable, is at No 11, Avicii is at No 9, and Squeeze score their first top 40 record in 22 years with Cradle to The Grave.
Justin Bieber’s new direction continues to convert fans: What Do You Mean tops the official singles chart for a fourth week. His No 1 stints have not been consecutive, however, making the track the fourth song in history to do so (Frankie Laine’s I Believe (1953), Guy Mitchell’s Singing the Blues (1957) and, most recently, Pharrell Williams’s Happy (2014) are the only others to have returned to the top spot after sliding down the charts).
R City’s Locked Away featuring Adam Levine is at No 2 today, followed by Sam Smith’s new Bond theme song, Writing’s on the Wall, which drops from No 1 to No 3. The highest climber and most downloaded track is Philip George and Anton Powers, with Alone No More, which shoots up 120 places to No 4, trailed by Ellie Goulding’s On My Mind at No 5.
Elsewhere, MNEK and Zara Larsson’s Never Forget You makes its official chart top 40 debut at No 32, followed by James Bay’s Let It Go, which spends its 13th week in the top 40 at No 38.
