AC/DC MUSIC BLOG

On Vacation

2008-11-13T19:19:00.002+02:00

acdcmusicblog on a drinking vacation until next week, ohhh yeah.

AC/DC In Chicago: Rosie Malfunction Video

2008-11-07T11:36:00.001+02:00

Black Ice Poll Results

2008-11-07T00:33:00.004+02:00

BLACK ICE - ALBUM RATING

Votes: 404
Average rating: 4.42 ****

BEST SONG ON ALBUM

1. Rock 'N Roll Train 75 votes, 15%
2. Anything Goes 59 votes, 12%
3. Big Jack 59 votes, 12 %
4. Rock 'N Roll Dream 46 votes, 9%
5. Stormy May Day 42 votes, 8%
6. War Machine 36 votes, 7%
7. Spoilin' For A Fight 35 votes, 7 %

AC/DC May Finally Get a Little Respect with New CD

2008-11-06T23:07:00.001+02:00

NEW YORK – When Brian Johnson got the news that AC/DC's new album had debuted at No. 1 in America — and in more than two dozen countries — he didn't pop any champagne.

Instead, the lead singer of one of the world's biggest rock groups celebrated alone, in a modest hotel, with a plastic cup of wine and a cheese sandwich. He was preparing for a tour.

"It (is) kind of ironic, isn't it?" laughs Johnson, who had been staying in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., where the band kicked off their recent tour last month. "I wasn't promenading down the street ... none of that. I was sitting in a little room."

"I think it typifies AC/DC basically, it's just what we're like," he says of the low-key celebration. "I guess I like it that way. We always keep our head below the radar, always have been. Now, there's nowhere to hide!"

Not that Johnson is seriously interested in taking cover after the huge success of "Black Ice," the group's first studio album in eight years. The CD, released exclusively at Wal-Mart and on the band's Web site, sold nearly 800,000 copies in its first week in the United States, making it the second-best album debut of the year, second only to rapper Lil Wayne (the CD has already gone platinum).

While AC/DC is not unaccustomed to topping the charts — they've sold 70 million records in the United States alone over their decades-long run, placing them 10th on the all-time list of best-selling acts — they are enjoying their greatest success, and exposure, in years.

"It's definitely their biggest return to form in many years," said Jason Fine, executive editor of Rolling Stone, which put AC/DC's Johnson and the group's founding members and leaders, guitar brothers Angus and Malcolm Young — on a recent cover (guitarist Cliff Williams and Phil Rudd round out the group).

"It's their best record since 'Back in Black,' since 1980," added Fine. "Unlike some of the records that they made over the last 20 years, this one really sounds alive."

Part of the credit goes to acclaimed producer Brendan O'Brien, whose credits include albums by Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and Rage Against the Machine. Once Angus and Malcolm crafted the songs for the CD, O'Brien geared the sound toward more of the rambunctious, carefree rock sound that made songs like "You Shook Me All Night Long" such enduring classics.

Sitting in the offices of the band's label, Sony Music, the slight Angus, wearing a T-shirt and jeans, talked about O'Brien's impact on the record. The producer thought the band's last two CDs were more blues-based.

"So he was trying to recapture more of that rock sound, like the 'Highway to Hell' — he said he even liked the 'Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap)' time," says Angus, referring to two of the group's seminal discs.

"It has to sound like AC/DC. You want them (fans) to hear that and go, 'That's AC/DC.' ... But you also want them to hear it and go, 'But it's AC/DC playing something new.' That for us is always the challenge. You hope that your songwriting, the way that you're doing it is getting better."

"They do something very unique in (that) they have a way in presenting very aggressive music but almost in a kind of catchy, hokey way, and I just felt like my favorite music that they've done has been that kind of music," O'Brien says. "My thinking was, 'If I can just help people when they hear it remember how great this band is, then that's a service to them.'"

It's not as if AD/DC had been toiling in obscurity over the last few decades. Their 2000 CD, "Stiff Upper Lip," had respectable sales and is now at nearly 1 million copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In 2003, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

But their glory years were in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when Angus and Malcolm's pioneering, gritty guitar riffs helped forge a new era in rock, and their outrageous antics (Angus still dances on stage in a schoolboy suit, though his mooning days may be over) helped propel the band to stardom.

For all their success, they've never received much critical acclaim; in fact, the band was more likely to be derided and ignored than celebrated.

Even Fine acknowledges as much on Rolling Stone's part. When he was considering putting AC/DC on the cover, he went to the magazine's archives to research articles on the band.

"Literally the last story that we did on AC/DC that was of any size was in 1980," he says. "We had literally not covered the band at all. We did very few short news stories, and Rolling Stone was not the only one. AC/DC was never a band that was really covered a lot by the critics, they were always kind of looked down on."

If Johnson, who spoke by phone, has any complaints about AC/DC's career, that may be the main one.

"The critics have always been a little flippant with AC/DC about Angus and the school suit, and it's always easy to have a quick little joke or a dig at the expense of it, the easy riffs, and such and such, and they're all dead wrong," he says. "The easiest riffs in the world are the hardest ones to write, because they are very few."

"'Highway to Hell' is easy, but you ask a guitarist, it's not that easy," he adds. "Nobody can write them because easy things are very difficult to write ... and to put them together in different computations and to come up with something fresh and different. It's genius, but the critics never figure that out."

Source: Yahoo News

AC/DC Downloads Removed From BigPond

2008-11-06T12:14:00.003+02:00

AC/DC has reinforced its “no downloads” policy by ordering the removal of their back-catalogue from Australian down service BigPond Music.

BigPond was selling AC/DC downloads without authorisation from the band. AC/DC has a blanket policy worldwide – no downloads.

BigPond had 16 titles on sale for $16.50 each. Some of the titles were even available in the non-DRM (digital rights management) format of MP3.

Both Angus Young and Brian Johnson have talked about the AC/DC “no downloads” policy in recent weeks since the released of the Black Ice album. The policy was in place for all download services worldwide.

Ironically, that policy slipped through the cracks in the bands own country, Australia.

Australia is also playing havoc with AC/DC’s exclusive deal with Wal-Mart for the sales of the ‘Black Ice’ album.

With the Australian dollar dropping below US 70c, independent retailers have been given a loop-hole to buy the album from Australia and by-pass Sony-BMG in the United States.

Not only have retailers been able to stock up on the Australian pressing, because of the Aussie dollar, they can buy it cheaper in Australia than Wal-Mart was getting it for from America. Even with freight charges, the indie stores in the USA can sell it for cheaper than Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart purchased in advance 2.5 million copies of Black Ice and is making around $4 for every CD sold. At $11.88, it is almost $2 more expensive than general chart product that the chain sells.

Source: Undercover.com.au

AC/DC In Indianapolis: Whole Lotta Rosie

2008-11-06T12:14:00.001+02:00

AC/DC In Indianapolis: Let There Be Rock

2008-11-05T23:26:00.001+02:00

Thanks to AC/DC Italia

AC/DC In Indianapolis: AC/DC Italia Pictures

2008-11-05T21:52:00.002+02:00

Click on the picture to see more pictures

'Black Ice' Breaks One Million Mark In U.S.

2008-11-05T20:26:00.003+02:00

AC/DC's "Black Ice" has topped The Billboard 200 chart for the second week in a row after selling 271,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

"Black Ice", which is exclusively available via Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and AC/DC's web site, was down 65% over its debut total, according to Billboard.com. The album has sold more than 1 million units in two weeks.

Special "pop-up" AC/DC stores are open through January 9 in New York City and Los Angeles, where Wal-Mart does not have stores.

"Black Ice" also topped the sales charts in 29 other countries last week, including the U.K., Germany, Canada, France, Argentina, Japan, Australia, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Switzerland and more.

Source: Blabbermouth

AC/DC in Indianapolis: Big Jack

2008-11-04T21:37:00.000+02:00

Thanks to AC/DC Italia

AC/DC in Indianapolis: Rosie Malfunction

2008-11-04T16:53:00.002+02:00

AC/DC in Indianapolis: Pictures

2008-11-04T16:47:00.002+02:00

More pictures @ Indystar.com

AC/DC and the Gospel of Rock & Roll

2008-11-04T11:44:00.003+02:00

Thirty-four years after he first put on the schoolboy uniform, Angus Young and his blue-collar bandmates return with their best album since "Back in Black"

AC/DC singer Brian Johnson perches on the edge of a sofa in a New York hotel room with a blank look on his face, mumbling to himself in a grainy whisper, his head and shoulders drooping with exhaustion. There is nothing wrong with him. Johnson, a robust man who is built like a bear and who talks in a booming growl, is doing his imitation of AC/DC guitarist Angus Young on tour, backstage just before showtime.

"It's amazing, watching him in the dressing room," Johnson says with a raspy cackle through his thick northern-England accent. "He can be totally knackered, in the middle of a long stretch of shows, sitting there with a cigarette and a cup of tea." Johnson goes into that gnomish slouch. "Then it's, 'Twenty minutes, boys.' He gets up, hardly a word, disappears around a corner — and comes back in those clothes. He's got a fag in his mouth, a jaunty look on his face, his guitar slung on him.

"He's like Clark fucking Kent!" Johnson exclaims. "He goes into a phone booth and comes out as the 14-year-old imp, ready to rock!"

It is one of the most astonishing transformations in live rock & roll, the hilarious opposite of classic guitar heroism. At every AC/DC gig for nearly 35 years, Angus, who is five-feet-two in his stocking feet, has come out of the dressing room looking like he's headed for the principal's office, in a pre-puberty student's uniform — white shirt, tie and matching jacket, cap and shorts — based on the suits he wore to school as a boy in Sydney, Australia. Then, as drummer Phil Rudd, bassist Cliff Williams and rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, Angus' older brother, hit the first iron riffs and sledgehammer chords, Angus erupts in a nonstop lead-guitar tantrum that doesn't quit until the final encore. He fires terse riffs and gnashed-note solos as he duckwalks furiously across the stage, bobs his head like a supercaffeinated chicken and spins on his back, his legs kicking the air. The only pause in the delirium comes during the song "Bad Boy Boogie," from AC/DC's 1977 album Let There Be Rock — when Angus drops his shorts and moons the audience.

That act and the music that goes with it — more than a dozen studio albums of strict blues-riff grammar, lewd vocal snarl and bull-elephant charge — have made AC/DC one of the biggest bands in the world. Their 1980 album, Back in Black, has sold 22 million copies in the U.S. alone. Over the past two years, AC/DC are second only to the Beatles in U.S. catalog sales, and they've sold a combined 23 million albums and DVDs worldwide since 2003, when the band moved from its longtime label, Atlantic, to Sony Music. And AC/DC's new Columbia album, Black Ice, their first studio release in eight years, is poised to be the bestselling rock album of 2008. Advance shipments by Wal-Mart, the album's exclusive retail outlet, to its stores reportedly totaled 2.5 million copies.

But there is another Angus inside that phenomenon — a passionate, quietly dogged craftsman pursuing the endless possibilities in Fifties-R&B and Sixties- British-rock guitar, in the fundamental slash and drive of Chuck Berry, John Lee Hooker, the early Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds. Offstage, without the suit, in AC/DC practice and recording sessions, Angus is "dead still," Johnson says with hushed awe. "He smiles, smokes, concentrates."

And he plays guitar sitting down.

[Read the entire story in the new issue of Rolling Stone, on stands October 30, 2008.]

Source: Rolling Stone

AC/DC Sinks The Pink In America

2008-11-04T11:34:00.001+02:00

Calling the AC/DC vs Pink match this week is the closest thing we have to sport right now. (Well that and Obama vs McCain).

AC/DC will maintain their lead with the biggest selling album in the USA this week with Black Ice, blocking out Funhouse by Pink by almost 2 to 1.

With just over 50% of the week’s sales counted Acca Dacca is registering 190,000 sales compared to Pink’s 88,000, according to hitsdailydouble.com

AC/DC kicked off the Black Ice world tour last week in Wilkes-Barre, PA and have since played Chicago and Indianapolis.

The next show is Wednesday night in Detroit.

Pink does not have the same impact within the United States as she does in the rest of the world. For whatever reason, she has not grabbed as much attention in her own country as she has in places like the UK and Australia.

Pink’s last album sold 1.2 million in the US. That is just over platinum. Funhouse sold 93,000 units in the first 8 days on sale in Australia. Per capita, that is already a better figure than her total sales last time in America.

The secret ingredient both sides have is the tour. AC/DC’s American tour has kept the profile up Stateside. Pink tickets went on sale across Australia as the album was released and she was in the country. Being in the fans face has worked for both acts.

Pink will tour Australia next May. AC/DC is expected to end the world tour in Australia at the end of 2009.

Source: Undercover.com.au

AC/DC Rolling Stone - Photoshoot Interview

2008-11-04T01:51:00.000+02:00

AC/DC Welcomes Those About to Rock at Show

2008-11-03T23:43:00.002+02:00

Location: Wachovia Arena, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Attendance: A sold-out crowd of 8,000

The event: Veteran Aussie rockers AC/DC launched the North American leg of their world tour Tuesday night in support of the band's first studio album in eight years, Black Ice.

First in line: Kyle Friend, 20, of Freeport, stood in frigid winds outside the arena's front door and has been an AC/DC fan "since I was 8 or 9. My first CD was Back in Black."

Family jewels: Like many of the younger people in the crowd, Natalie Wasko, 14, of Scranton, got hooked on the band because of her parents. "I grew up liking them — my dad loves them. It's hereditary. I'm just hoping they play my favorite song, Big Balls."

The merch: AC/DC-emblazoned long-sleeve denim jacket ($125), train engineer cap ($15), red flashing devil horns ($10), CDs, DVDs, more T-shirts than can be imagined.

Biggest fan: Brian Williams, 39, of Cleveland, who fit his 6-foot-4 frame into a replica of the schoolboy uniform (including the red knickers and tie) that guitarist Angus Young wears on stage. Williams' wife, Dianna, made it for him in 2003. "I'm actually going to the first five shows of the tour, nine shows overall. This will be the 31st time I've seen them." The bald Williams even stitched a ponytail onto his cap to complete the headbanger's ensemble. As for the band's allure: "It's something you hold on to through all of your life. It brings you back to a better time."

Opening act: The Answer, Northern Ireland's answer to Led Zeppelin, apparently, because lead singer Cormac Neeson is doing his best to channel Robert Plant.

Riding into the arena: Lights go down and the crowd roars as a huge video monitor plays a cartoon of a freight train screaming down the rails. There's enough sexual suggestion to make Hugh Hefner blush, what with animated strippers pulling all the levers while Angus throws coal into the furnace. The 'toon train "crashes" through the video screen, splitting it in two as fireworks erupt and a hulking iron locomotive with devil horns emerges. Smoke pots boom as AC/DC saunters onto the stage. The tour kicks off with the Rock N Roll Train running right off the tracks.

Casual dress: Angus flies around the stage in his red schoolboy uniform. Brian Johnson is sporting a gray Gatsby cap — it wouldn't be an AC/DC show without it — and a sleeveless black button-down, while rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, bassist Cliff Williams and drummer Phil Rudd are in T-shirts and jeans. All is normal in the world.

Rock and …"All right, you want to roll? Let's get (expletive) going!" Johnson shrieks before launching into Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be.

The sound: The band is tight and loud. The floor is shaking. Crushing waves of sound boom from the walls of speakers on and overhanging the stage. Johnson's vocal cords have got to be held together by dental floss at this point, but he sounds great, shrieking Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap and the stadium anthem Thunderstruck.

The stage: Williams and Malcolm anchor Rudd as he pounds away. A long catwalk extends into the audience so Johnson and Angus can strut up and down, belting out guitar solos or slapping hands with the fans. A circular platform juts out at the end and elevates Angus into the air so everyone in the building can see him wield his ax.

The songs: The band is cranking out new songs as much as the classics, including Big Jack, Black Ice, War Machine and Anything Goes.

Strippin' and bell ringin': Angus is showing some flesh, flashing his scrawny AC/DC underwear-covered bottom to the crowd as the band plays The Jack. Next up is the massive iron Hell's Bell that's lowered over the stage so Johnson can leap onto the dangling rope to clang it.

It's a frat party!: Moms who were in college playing beer pong when You Shook Me All Night Long came out in 1980 are clapping, grooving and singing it with their kids. "Yeah, I knew you guys could sing!" Johnson tells the crowd.

Fire!: That big locomotive is shooting off fireballs and smoke as the band plays the skull-crushing TNT.

Strutting: Angus plays his guitar while holding it over his head during Let There Be Rock, furiously spinning himself in a circle on that elevated platform in the middle of the arena. And the 53-year-old will be doing this probably 100 times, every other night over the next six months. There's no excuse not to take the stairs at work.

The end: "Good night! Thank you for sharing this special night with us," Johnson yells. They're not going anywhere; it's time for encores. Sure enough, Angus pops up from a platform under the stage and rips out Highway to Hell. All 8,000 people, young and old, male and female, are screaming the song about the hellish life young bands lead on the open road. Killer Chuck Berry-esque guitar solo.

It's not over: AC/DC's songs all might sound the same, but they're unique in their own way, like the unmistakable first chords of For Those About to Rock. Six Civil War cannons take their place on the stage speakers and belch out insanely loud explosions and smoke. It's how they end all their shows. But it's a great chaotic way to end the maelstrom.

Ears gone bad: The set was a tight 90 minutes (for $90 tickets, two hours would have been nice, but the guys are getting up there in age). The crowd filing out of the arena didn't seem to mind, shouting to their friends and family because nobody can hear anything.

Next stops: Two shows in Chicago (Thursday and Saturday), then it's on to Indianapolis (Monday).

Source: USA Today

AC/DC In Chicago 2nd Night: Thunderstruck

2008-11-02T22:24:00.000+02:00

AC/DC in Chicago 2nd Night: Setlist

2008-11-02T22:15:00.004+02:00

SETLIST
Rock 'N Roll Train
Hell Ain't a Bad Place To be
Back In Black
Big Jack
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Thunderstruck
Black Ice
The Jack
Hells Bells
Shoot To Thrill
War Machine
Anything Goes
You Shook Me All Night Long
TNT
Whole Lotta Rosie
Let There Be Rock
Highway To Hell
For Those About To Rock

AC/DC in Chicago 2nd Night: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

2008-11-02T10:21:00.000+02:00

Thanks to AC/DC Italia

AC/DC In Chicago 2nd Night: Anything Goes

2008-11-02T10:10:00.000+02:00

Thanks to AC/DC Italia

AC/DC In Chicago: Highway To Hell

2008-11-01T01:29:00.000+02:00

AC/DC drives 'Rock N' Roll Train' into Rosemont

2008-11-01T00:13:00.001+02:00

Despite its volume, AC/DC's sold-out concert at Rosemont's Allstate Arena on Thursday, Oct. 30, was a soothing spectacle. The Australian hard rock quintet's first area show since 2001 brought back many of AC/DC's typical songs and stage tricks, but the grizzled hooligans' honest energy proved strangely comforting in these uncertain times.

Their latest, "Black Ice," is currently the best-selling album in America. It's AC/DC's first release to hit No. 1 here since 1981's "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)," despite only being sold through the band's Web site and at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores. Yes, it sounds like no one but AC/DC. But let's dispel one popular myth right now.

Like most earsplitting rockers accused of the feat, AC/DC has not spent the past several decades repeatedly making the same album. "Black Ice" is miles away from the grimy, scrappy pub-band boogie of their early albums. Its crisp, modern guitar tone and bloated length cannot compare with the compact primal punch of 1980's legendary "Back in Black," still their most popular album, having sold more than 22 million copies in the United States alone.

The group is not repetitive. It's reliable. That, along with its accessibility and lyrical attention to blue collar values (rockin', womanizin', kickin' tail), is key to the AC/DC brand's enduring multigenerational appeal.

The band's extended absence may also be somewhat responsible for the success of "Black Ice," although the Thursday night audience didn't greet new material such as show-opening single "Rock N' Roll Train" with the expected volume. The glorious caveman stomp of "Back in Black" finally roused the crowd, which howled heartily with singer Brian Johnson on the classic rock radio staple.

Then, dependably, hit after hit of similar bone-shaking magnitude punctuated the evening. How satisfying to hear "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" in its proper element: a stadium stuffed with chanting voices, stomping feet and pumping fists, "Deeds," along with other expertly executed favorites "Thunderstruck," "Hells Bells," "T.N.T." and "Highway to Hell" were made for it. Sadly, though, it's still tough to hear "You Shook Me All Night Long" without feeling like you're at a wedding.

Johnson seemed a bit quiet compared to Angus and Malcolm Young's guitars, but his trollish shriek was often pitch-perfect. As for Angus, sure, the AC/DC axeman/mascot went up on a hydraulic platform for an extended "Let There Be Rock." Yet, after he effortlessly tossed out a sharp, searing solo during "Whole Lotta Rosie," still one of the best rock n' roll songs ever written, no one could accuse the man of pretension. And after the 53 year-old's customary striptease, who'd bother?

AC/DC performs again Saturday, Nov. 1. The show is sold out.

Source: Daily Herald

AC/DC in Chicago

2008-10-31T11:26:00.005+02:00

SETLIST
Rock and Roll Train
Hell Ain't a Bad Place
Back in Black
Big Jack
Dirty Deeds
Thunderstruck
Black Ice
The Jack
Hells Bell
War Machine
Shoot to Thrill
Anything Goes
You Shook Me
TNT
Whole Lotta Rosie
Let There be Rock
Highway To Hell
For Those About To Rock

Rock 'N Roll Train

Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

Shoot To Thrill

Pictures from Black Ice World Tour's Opening Night

2008-10-30T20:19:00.001+02:00

More @ breeze_tioga's photostream

AC/DC's 'Black Ice' Dominates Euro Albums Chart

2008-10-30T19:08:00.002+02:00

AC/DC soars triumphantly on European Top 100 Albums, racing 67-1 with "Black Ice" (Columbia/Sony Music). Pink's "So What" (LaFace/Sony Music) starts a second week atop Eurochart Hot 100 Singles.

"Black Ice" claims 29 No.1 spots worldwide, according to Columbia, from an initial global shipment of five million copies. In Europe, they include winning starts in the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Sweden and Ireland. The album also holds at No. 1 in Finland.

"Black Ice" sells 110,00 copies out of the box in the United Kingdom, a dramatic 777% increase on the initial 14,000 units of its 2000 predecessor "Stiff Upper Lip."

Ged Doherty, chairman & CEO of Sony BMG Music Entertainment U.K., says the achievement "confirms AC/DC as the biggest rock band in the world," praising an "exemplary" campaign. The label also says AC/DC has worldwide catalog sales of five million albums this year, including 800,000 in the last eight weeks. The group's new tour, which continues in Rosemont, IL tonight (Oct. 30), will reach Europe next February.

Metallica's run at the pan-European No. 1 with "Death Magnetic" (Vertigo/Universal) thus ends, as did that of the band's previous album "St. Anger," after six weeks. "Magnetic" is down to No. 2, despite climbs of 12-8 in France and 4-2 in Switzerland.

Amy Macdonald's 45th week on Top 100 Albums with "This Is The Life" (Vertigo/Universal) is a memorable one, as the debut set hits the top three for the first time with a 7-3 climb. It's up 8-5 in Switzerland and 8-6 in France.

Oasis falls another place on the composite chart with "Dig Out Your Soul" (Big Brother), down 3-4 after descending 2-4 in Ireland, 2-7 in the United Kingdom and 3-9 in Italy. Coldplay hangs in at No. 5 overall with "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" (Parlophone/EMI).

There's a No. 6 Europe-wide debut for Kaiser Chiefs' third album "Off With Their Heads" (B-Unique/Polydor/Universal). The AC/DC album prevents it from a No. 1 debut in its home market, but "Heads" sells 46,000 there in runners-up spot. That compares to initial sales of 151,000 for the band's sophomore set "Yours Truly Angry Mob" last year.

Kings of Leon's "Only By The Night" (Hand Me Down/Sony Music) slips 6-7 on the composite list, and Keane's "Perfect Symmetry" falls six spots from its No. 2 debut. "Night" falls 1-2 in Ireland but rests at No. 3 in the United Kingdom, where "Symmetry" drops 1-6.

The other newcomer in the pan-European top ten is Annett Louisan's fourth album "Teilzeithippie" (105), at No. 9. It's the German singer's second time in the pan-European top ten, after "Das Optimale Leben" arrived at No. 10 last year. The new release enters at No. 2 in Germany and No. 11 in Switzerland. Duffy's "Rockferry" (A&M/Universal), now in its 34th week on Top 100 Albums, dips 9-10, although it's up 6-5 in Denmark.

Pink's single is off the top after three weeks in the United Kingdom, where to last weekend it had sales of 185,000 units. It's also down 1-2 in Germany, but hangs tough at No. 1 in Austria and Switzerland and climbs 2-1 in Ireland. Its strongest Eurochart challengers are Rihanna's "Disturbia" (SRP/Def Jam/Universal), up 6-2, and Macdonald's "This Is The Life," 7-3, the latter aided by a No. 2 bow in France.

Source: Billboard