HOLY SHITE! Dream Theater Debuts Atop Euro Chart

Dream Theater Debuts Atop Euro Chart
July 03, 2009 - Global | Retail | Rock and Pop

By Paul Sexton, London

Europe welcomes a new bestseller on the composite European Top 100 Albums chart, as New York rock outfit Dream Theater's "Black Clouds and Silver Linings" (Roadrunner) opens its account at No. 1. Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" (Interscope/Universal) scores a third non-consecutive week atop European Hot 100 Singles.

"Black Clouds" jumps 14-1 in Finland and debuts at No. 3 in Germany and Holland, No. 4 in Hungary, No. 5 in Italy, No. 9 in France and No. 23 in the United Kingdom, the band's best ranking there to date. Dream Theater is on a steady upward curve on the composite European chart, having opened at No. 7 with its first Roadrunner album, "Systematic Chaos," in 2007 and No. 16 with"Octavarium," on Atlantic in 2005.

The next three titles on the pan-European chart are unchanged, with Black Eyed Peas' "The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies)" in a third week at No. 2, followed by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's "Greatest Hits" (Columbia/Sony Music Entertainment) and Green Day's "21st Century Breakdown" (Reprise/Warner Music). "The E.N.D." is No. 1 in France again and up 8-4 in the Belgian region of Wallony; Springsteen's compilation holds at No. 1 in Sweden and Green Day's best European ranking is No. 5, down three places, in Austria.