Kings Of Leon, Drake and Jessie J go head-to-head in albums race

Kings Of Leon lock horns with Drake and Jessie J in the race to top this week’s Official Albums Chart.

Kings Of Leon, Drake and Jessie J are currently battling it out in the race to score this week’s Official Number 1 album.

While sales remain incredibly close at this mid-way stage, Kings Of Leon (pictured above) have taken an early lead with their sixth album Mechanical Bull (Number 1). Should the Tennessee rockers manage to remain in pole position right through to Sunday’s final whistle, it will be their fourth UK chart topper.

Drake is on course for his highest charting album to date with Nothing Was The Same at Number 2 (the Canadian rapper’s previous career best was 2011’s Take Care, which peaked at Number 5). Jessie J debuts today at Number 3 with her second album, Alive, featuring the star’s recent Top 5 hits, Wild and It’s My Party.

To find out where Kings Of Leon, Drake and Jessie J finally chart, tune into the Official Chart Show on BBC Radio 1 from 4pm on Sunday, and log on to www.officialcharts.com at 7pm to see the UK’s Official Top 100 biggest selling albums of the week in full.

Meanwhile, reigning Official Albums Chart leaders Arctic Monkeys fall three places to Number 4 with AM, while Jason Derulo rounds off today’s Top 5 with his third album, Tattoos (5).

New Entries

In addition to Kings Of Leon (Number 1), Drake (2), Jessie J (3) and Jason Derulo (5), there are ten further new entries on today’s Official Albums Chart Update.

Scottish electro pop trio Chvrches are new in at Number 6 today with their debut album, The Bones Of What You Believe, followed by 17-year-old singer/songwriter Birdy, with her second album, Fire Within (7).

US metallers Dream Theater are on course for their highest charting UK album to date with their eponymous twelfth studio offering (9), while Sting looks set to enter a few places behind them with The Last Ship (11), his first new solo release in almost a decade.

Mazzy Star’s Seasons Of Your Day is fresh in at Number 17, while New Model Army’s Between Dog And Wolf and the 20th anniversary edition of Nirvana’s iconic In Utero album enter at 19 and 20, respectively.

This week’s new entries are completed by Roy Harper’s Man & Myth (Number 24), Anathema’s Universal (37) and Thunder’s Live At Donington 1990 & 1992 (38).

The Official Albums Chart Update Top 40 is as follows. The Official Albums Chart Top 100 will be posted in full, here, on Sunday at 7pm.

1	MECHANICAL BULL	KINGS OF LEON
2	NOTHING WAS THE SAME	DRAKE
3	ALIVE	JESSIE J
4	AM	ARCTIC MONKEYS
5	TATTOOS	JASON DERULO
6	THE BONES OF WHAT YOU BELIEVE	CHVRCHES
7	FIRE WITHIN	BIRDY
8	TRUE	AVICII
9	DREAM THEATER	DREAM THEATER
10	IF YOU WAIT	LONDON GRAMMAR
11	THE LAST SHIP	STING
12	THE DIVING BOARD	ELTON JOHN
13	TIME	ROD STEWART
14	KETEVAN	KATIE MELUA
15	ALL THE LITTLE LIGHTS	PASSENGER
16	THE 1975	1975
17	SEASONS OF YOUR DAY	MAZZY STAR
18	REWIND THE FILM	MANIC STREET PREACHERS
19	BETWEEN DOG AND WOLF	NEW MODEL ARMY
20	IN UTERO	NIRVANA
21	BAD BLOOD	BASTILLE
22	HALCYON	ELLIE GOULDING
23	FROM HERE TO NOW TO YOU	JACK JOHNSON
24	MAN & MYTH	ROY HARPER
25	TO BE LOVED	MICHAEL BUBLE
26	LONG WAY DOWN	TOM ODELL
27	THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM	RICHARD & ADAM
28	NATIVE	ONEREPUBLIC
29	IN A PERFECT WORLD	KODALINE
30	THE HEIST	MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS
31	TAKE ME HOME	ONE DIRECTION
32	HOME	RUDIMENTAL
33	RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES	DAFT PUNK
34	BORN TO DIE	LANA DEL REY
35	UNORTHODOX JUKEBOX	BRUNO MARS
36	NOTHING BUT THE BEAT	DAVID GUETTA
37	UNIVERSAL	ANATHEMA
38	LIVE AT DONINGTON 1990 & 1992	THUNDER
39	RIGHT PLACE RIGHT TIME	OLLY MURS
40	SETTLE	DISCLOSURE