MrIndependent

The Super Deluxe and Deluxe covers both slay my eyes. I don't like the Standard cover as much. I love the photoshoots from the era, though, and the foldout pictures in the Super Deluxe packaging are really nice. Can anyone post pictures of the booklets from the Deluxe and Standard editions, please?

They aren't. The John Legend version is #5 and the original is #18.

So Sam sold slightly more than Madonna yesterday. Not by a huge amount, and Rebel Heart is still holding up well on iTunes and Amazon, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for her.

Just listened to it for the fifth time since I received the album on Sunday and I'm not tiring of it. It's such an eclectic and colourful work yet fairly coherent (I would rearrange some of the tracks, though). For an album with so many songs Madonna and team did a good job on the whole with the structuring and ordering of the record. Messiah and Wash All Over Me remind me of the ballads from Like a Prayer, the former in particular is like a sequel to (Pray For) Spanish Eyes. Body Shop is growing on me as well; the production and instrumentation is great and it's her vocals, particularly in the verses, and lyrics that are taking some time for me to get used to. The songs that I'm really loving at the moment the most are Devil Pray, Ghosttown, Joan of Arc, Heartbreak City, Holy Water, Wash All Over Me, Messiah, Veni Vidi Vici, Addicted and Graffiti Heart.

No, he won't, but Sam Smith might. His sales are going to come flooding in on Friday and Saturday after Comic Relief and approaching Mother's Day. I'll remind people that his final sales almost doubled his Friday midweek sales on the week of 15/2 following a Valentine's Day effect.

Thanks for posting, Liam. Great article. Ray of Light is a rare yet genuinely faultless masterwork.

I don't think it's enough. Even though his sales are down at the moment, all those sales for Sam are gonna come flooding in on Friday and Saturday after Comic Relief and with Mother's Day approaching; I'd bet on her settling for #2. The Jonathan Ross Special should have been on this Saturday just gone.

MDNA started off on 33k and ended up on 56k; using the same calculation Rebel Heart will end up at 34k, perhaps a little more thanks to Mother's Day. Her #1 isn't sealed with this total. 8 and 21 ;)

20k isn't that great of a start for Madonna. Years and Years should be back ahead of Usher tomorrow. Why are the two versions of Lay Me Down charting separately (the one with John Legend at #11 and the original at #19)? It would be #6 combined.

Lay Me Down is #2 combined with 87%. It may well be #1 on the 22/3 chart.

Delighted to see King up to #4; it has gained a lot in the past two days and is only 20,000 streams from #2 so I think it hit the runners up spot.

We already knew that Noel was outselling Madonna digitally, so I don't think MintRoyale is accurate when saying he could close the gap because he's outselling her on iTunes. Madonna's physical sales will be more impressive than the average physical/digital ratio. I'm hoping she'll hold up well today with the record climbing on iTunes and Amazon.

It will hold up well due to her Jonathan Ross special this Saturday. The third week will be the issue.

I can agree with you on it sounding like a collection of songs; to me it doesn't sound like a usual Madonna album (and not in a positive way), and I think it feels quite empty. However, for me I have to say that I only think Papa Don't Preach, Open Your Heart, Live to Tell and La Isla Bonita are worthwhile, making the remainder of the record fairly pointless. I don't think it has a lot to offer and Like a Virgin is even weaker; I only enjoy three of its ten tracks. I hope I didn't piss any 80s fans off. :P To me her 90s records and much of her 00s work is so superior that it's not even up for discussion, but I guess LAV and TB are very nostalgic and memorable for many older fans.

It could have made all the difference to her total and possible final position if she had been on this Saturday just gone instead, however what is great about the appearance is that her second-week sales/position should still be impressive. I think Rebel Heart will have more longevity than MDNA.

Outselling Mr. Gallagher by 3:1 in Tuesday's midweek update.

Rebel Heart is flirting between #5 and #6 at the moment. Nice climb.

Fantastic. Rebel Heart is excellent and absolutely deserves #1, however I think it will end up at #3; I think Sam and Ed will outsell her.

Excellent: 1 Slay of Light :wub: 2 Erotica 3 Bedtime Stories 90s Madonna >>>>>>>>> 4 American Life 5 Music 6 Rebel Heart Very good: 7 Like a Prayer 8 Confessions on a Dance Floor Good: 9 Madonna Fair: 10 Hard Candy 11 MDNA Poor: 12 True Blue Deplorable: 13 Like a Virgin

Those are my least favourites. :lol: I like Best Night, though; the production and Justify My Love sample are ace. It's amazing that the album contains so many songs yet it doesn't feel like an exhausting listen to me at all. Also, I'm not liking the Bitch I'm Madonna (that drop!) and Illuminati shade. :P The former has ultimately grown on me with repeated listens but I liked the latter from first listen.

American Life is horribly underrated whilst Confessions On a Dance Floor is a tad overrated; it's a good album but not as creative, as sonically impressive and as ambitiously composed as either the aforementioned record or Rebel Heart. 1. Slay of Light 2. Erotica 3. Bedtime Stories 4. American Life 5. Music 6. Rebel Heart 7. Like a Prayer 8. Confessions on a Dance Floor 9. Madonna 10. Hard Candy 11. MDNA 12. True Blue 13. Like a Virgin

The pre-orders don't get added immediately following an official release anymore, but they still count towards the overall sales. It's worth noting that, in Madonna's case, the super deluxe edition, which a lot of people will be buying, isn't available on iTunes. As previously stated because of this her physical sales will be much stronger.

Lay Me Down already inside the top ten combined... It's extremely impressive that Sam will get his fifth top ten (sixth if you count La La La) from In the Lonely Hour when it has already shifted +1.5m.

It's an excellent album, bursting with flavour and creativity yet still sounding like a coherent body of work. Out of all those songs the only two that are unnecessary are 'Body Shop' and 'S.E.X'. It has a lot of heart and emotion. There's a lot of great songwriting and ambitious production here. Easily her best since American Life.

I can't see how it will go top 40.