Muse on course for fourth Number 1 album with The 2nd Law

According to today’s Official Chart Update, Muse look set to score their fourth Official Number 1 album as The 2nd Law racks up nearly 70,000 sales in just two days. 

The Teignmouth trio, who released their sixth studio album on Monday, are on course to oust Mumford & Sons’ Babel from the Official Albums Chart top spot on Sunday. The news will come as something of a relief for Muse fans who were convinced the band had lost the plot after frontman Matt Bellamy described The 2nd Law as a "Christian gangsta rap jazz odyssey, with some ambient, rebellious dubstep and face melting metal flamenco cowboy psychedelia" on his Twitter account.

Speaking to Kerrang! magazine last week, Bellamy said:

“We're always looking to reinvent ourselves; I don't think we've lost the plot, in fact, I'd say that on this album we've found the plot!"

After overtaking the likes of Lana Del Rey’s Born To Die and Emeli Sande’s Our Version Of Events to become the fastest selling album of 2012 so far with sales of over 159,000 copies last week, Mumford & Sons’ Babel slips into second place on today’s Update. While P!nk’s The Truth About Love (3), The Killers’ Battle Born (4) and Jonathan & Charlotte’s Together (5) complete this week’s Official Albums Chart Update Top 5.

New Entries

In addition to Muse’s The 2nd Law, there are twelve other new entries midweek.

The Overtones look set to score their second Top 10 album on Sunday with new release, Higher, on course to debut at Number 6. Van Morrison’s 34th studio album, Born To Sing: No Plan B is new in at Number 11, while DJs Fresh’s Nextlevelism, which features the Number 1 smashes Louder FT Sian Evans and Hot Right Now FT Rita Ora, is at Number 12.

Brit rockers Lower Than Atlantis’ major label debut, Changing Tune, is currently at Number 14, and The John Wilson Orchestra’s Rodgers & Hammerstein At The Movies look set to chart at 17. AxeWound, the rock supergroup featuring members of Bullet For My Valentine and Cancer Bats, are new in at Number 19 with their debut album, Vultures.

Sugaring Season, Beth Orton’s first new album in almost six years, looks set to debut at Number 20, Tori Amos’ orchestral Greatest Hits album, Gold Dust, is at 21, and ELO’s new Best Of collection, All Over The World is at 23.

Nu-metal heroes Papa Roach’s seventh album, The Connection, is at Number 24, while acclaimed left-field producer Flying Lotus looks set to score his highest-charting UK album to date with Until The Quiet Comes, new in at Number 26.

The Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess completes this week’s Official Chart Update Top 40 new entries with his latest solo album, Oh No I Love You at 36.

The Official Albums Chart Update Top 40 is as follows:

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