Madonna’s MDNA leads the charge for Number 1 album

Madonna is setting the pace this week as new album MDNA leads the pack in the Official Albums Chart race. 

Her twelfth studio album has seen the Queen of Pop collaborating with top flight dance producers including William Orbit, LMFAO and Benny Benassi, and features single Girl Gone Wild, the video for which harked back to Madonna’s classic Erotica days. 

MDNA is looking like a solid Number 1 for the 53 year old pop icon this weekend, and leads today by a cool 29,000 copies.

New entries and climbers

The release of the Complete Confection edition of the Katy Perry’s sugary-sweet Teenage Dream album has bounced the album 29 places skywards to Number 5 today.

Noah Stewart’s debut album Noah Stewart is on track to enter at Number 10. With his sportsman-like good looks and sharp dress sense, Noah Stewar appears every bit the pop star. However, while you could easily mistake the Harlem, New York native for the lead singer of a boyband or a soulful, R&B crooner, he is, in fact, a classically trained opera star.

Noah released his debut, self-titled album yesterday (Monday, March 26), so officialcharts.com decided to get him in for a chat to find out how he is managing to balance his career as an opera singer (he is currently performing at London’s Royal Opera House in Judith Weir's Miss Fortune) with being a rising chart star.

A further flurry of new entries litter the Official Albums Chart Update Top 40 today - Iron Maiden’s En Vivo (11), Shinedown’s Amaryllis (14), Alter Bridge’s Live At Wembley European Tour 2011 (15), All American Rejects’ Kids In The Street (21), Karl Jenkins’ Peacemakers (29), Mars Volta’s Noctourniquet (31), Blood Red Shoes’ In Time To Voices (36) and Madonna’s The Complete Studio Albums completes today’s albums rundown.

The full Official Albums Chart Update Top 40 is as follows:

OFFICIAL ALBUMS CHART UPDATE TOP 40
01 MDNA - MADONNA
02 NOTHING BUT THE BEAT - DAVID GUETTA
03 21 - ADELE
04 OUR VERSION OF EVENTS - EMELI SANDE
05 TEENAGE DREAM - KATY PERRY
06 WHO YOU ARE - JESSIE J
07 SONIK KICKS - PAUL WELLER
08 IN MY DREAMS - MILITARY WIVES
09 MYLO XYLOTO - COLDPLAY
10 NOAH - NOAH STEWART
11 EN VIVO - IRON MAIDEN
12 BORN TO DIE - LANA DEL REY
13 + - ED SHEERAN
14 AMARYLLIS - SHINEDOWN
15 LIVE AT WEMBLEY - EUROPEAN TOUR 2011 - ALTER BRIDGE
16 WRECKING BALL - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
17 SORRY FOR PARTY ROCKING - LMFAO
18 MAKING MIRRORS - GOTYE
19 GEMS - THE VERY BEST OF - MICHAEL BOLTON
20 HOME AGAIN - MICHAEL KIWANUKA
21 KIDS IN THE STREET - ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS
22 DOO-WOPS & HOOLIGANS - BRUNO MARS
23 19 - ADELE
24 UP ALL NIGHT - ONE DIRECTION
25 EL CAMINO - BLACK KEYS
26 HANDS UP - THE ALBUM - JUSTIN FLETCHER
27 CEREMONIALS - FLORENCE & THE MACHINE
28 STEREO TYPICAL - RIZZLE KICKS
29 THE PEACEMAKERS - CROWE/HANSLIP/BELL/LSO/JENKINS
30 IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW - OLLY MURS
31 NOCTOURNIQUET - MARS VOLTA
32 TALK THAT TALK - RIHANNA
33 NOEL GALLAGHER'S HIGH FLYING BIRDS - NOEL GALLAGHER'S HIGH FLYING
34 PORT OF MORROW - SHINS
35 WATCH THE THRONE - JAY-Z & KANYE WEST
36 IN TIME TO VOICES - BLOOD RED SHOES
37 PINK FRIDAY - NICKI MINAJ
38 SECRET SYMPHONY - KATIE MELUA
39 THE COMPLETE STUDIO ALBUMS 1983-2008 - MADONNA
40 FALLEN EMPIRES - SNOW PATROL

© 2012 The Official Charts Company