One Direction On Course For Another UK No.1 Album With 'Midnight Memories' - Contactmusic.com

The boyband top the midweek charts.

One Direction are yet again set for another official UK chart number one with their newly released album, Midnight Memories. The five-piece boyband have topped the midweek charts, outselling the rest of the top five combined and are rocketing towards snatching the fastest selling album of the year title from Daft Punk's Random Access Memories which moved 165,000 units in its first seven days.

One Direction Look Set To Score a Wintery Hit With 'Midnight Memories.'

After having been on sale for just three days, Midnight Memories has shifted 145,000 copies and has pulverised both Gary Barlow's Since I Saw You Last and Robbie Williams' former number one, Swings Both Ways in the charts listings, according to The Guardian^[1] . 1D's album has already sold more copies than the quintet's 2011 debut, Up All Night, bucking the trend for diminishing returns seen so frequently in pop music.

However, even if the group claim number one this week, their album will need a big push to take it to the same level as this year's biggest selling album in the UK, Emeli Sandé's Our Version Of Events.

The Group Can Always Rely On Their Directioners: But Is That Enough?

There has been a promising excitement upon Midnight Memories release. Although critics have filed largely middling reviews^[2] , the record has shot to No.1 in every single iTunes top 10 list, including the U.K., the U.S., Canada, Ireland, Japan, Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Poland, Italy, Denmark, Sweden and more, according to The Examiner^[3] .

The boys are currently still in the US, having attended the weekend's AMAs where they picked up the Favourite Pop/Rock Album and Favourite Pop/Rock Group awards. They've had an intensive promotional tour for their new album that has included slots on Good Morning America and both the UK and US versions of The X Factor.

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So far, every single released from Midnight Memories - 'Midnight Memories,' 'Best Song Ever,' 'Story of My Life,' 'Diana,' 'Midnight Memories' and 'Strong' - has reached No.1 in multiple countries. It's pretty safe to say that the guys have this week's No.1 in the bag but the succeeding weeks will show if the album has sticking power or is just a flash in the pan.

References

1. ^{^} The Guardian (www.theguardian.com)


2. ^{^} critics have filed largely middling reviews (www.contactmusic.com)


3. ^{^} The Examiner (www.examiner.com)