Liam Gallagher is approaching higher ground, as Knebworth 22 (via Warner Records) leads the race for the U.K. chart title.
Cut during the British rocker’s two sold-out shows at Knebworth in June last year, where he played to crowds of 170,000, the live collection leads the midweek chart.
If it holds its momentum, Knebworth 22 would give Gallagher his fifth solo No. 1 album, and bragging rights over his brother Noel Gallagher, who boasts four No. 1 albums with his High Flying Birds, and missed out by a fraction on claiming a fifth when Foo Fighters won a tight chart race in June.
Liam Gallagher is no stranger to life in the U.K. chart penthouse. As frontman with Oasis, he led the chart on eight occasions, a consecutive streak that includes all seven of the band’s studio albums, plus the 2010 compilation Time Flies.
Knebworth was, of course, the setting of Oasis’ legendary gigs, played across two nights in August 1996, a moment in time that was captured for the feature-length documentary Knebworth 1996, directed by Jake Scott, and for its companion album which peaked at No. 4 on the U.K. chart in 2021.
As a solo artist, Liam Gallagher has led the national tally with As You Were (2017), Why Me? Why Not (2019), MTV Unplugged (2020) and C’mon You Know (2022).
Dropping in at No. 2 on the Official Chart Update is the Hives’ The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons (Disques Hives), the Swedish rockers’ sixth album and first in more than a decade. Fitzsimmons is on track to become the group’s career peak and third top 10 title, including their 2002 breakthrough Your New Favourite Band, released on Alan McGee’s Poptones, and 2004 followup Tyrannosaurus Hives (Polydor), both peaking at No. 7.
Completing an all-new top three on the latest chart blast is Volcano (Caiola), from electronic act Jungle. Volcano should blast to the duo’s fourth top 10 appearance.
Finally, John Lydon’s’s post-punk outfit Public Image Ltd could snag a first-ever U.K. top 10 with End of the World (PIL Official), set to start at No. 7, while new releases from London rapper Fredo (Unfinished Business via PG Records at No. 11) and English singer-songwriter Lucy Spraggan (Balance via CTRL at No. 12) are just outside the top tier.
All will be revealed when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published Friday, Aug. 18.
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