Good news from Australia where the album reaches a new chart peak of #12. I'm finding it really weird how The Essential is posting higher chart peaks during it's second week in most countries.

Elsewhere, the album drops 6-8 in the UK while the Live In Bucharest DVD holds at #2.

In Ireland, the album holds at #2 for the second week.

UK

The Essential (2 CD) - UK Top 75 Album Chart
Week #03 (07/08/05): #8

The Essential (2 CD) - UK Top 40 R&B Albums Chart
Week #03 (07/08/05): #2

Live In Bucharest - The Dangerous Tour - UK Top 10 Music DVDs and Videos
Week #02 (07/08/05): #2

IRELAND

The Essential (2 CD) - Top 75 Albums
Week #01 (24/07/05): #4
Week #02 (31/07/05): #2
Week #03 (07/08/05): #2

AUSTRALIA

The Essential (2 CD) - ARIA Top 50 Albums
Week #02 (07/08/05): #12

BTW, if The Essential was eligible for the ARIA Urban Top 40 Albums Chart, it would be #3.

DENMARK

The Essential (2 CD) - Top 100 Albums
Week #01 (05/08/05): #52

WORLD

The Essential (2 CD) - United World Album Chart
Week #01 (29/07/05): #23
Week #02 (05/08/05): #19

The Essential (2 CD) - United World R&B Album Chart
Week #01 (29/07/05): #6
Week #02 (05/08/05): #6
[Edited 8/7/05 16:37pm]

The Essential jumps 12 positions in Switzerland up 23-11 while it debuts in South Korea.

SWITZERLAND

The Essential (2 CD) - Top 100 Albums
Week #01 (24/07/05): #29
Week #02 (31/07/05): #23
Week #03 (07/08/05): #11

SOUTH KOREA

The Essential (2 CD) - Top 30 International Pop Album Chart
Week #01 (08/08/05): #29 (Sales: 254)

Good news as The Essential remains the #1 album in France (on the Compilation Album Chart) for the second week in a row. As some might already know, the album is not eligible for the main album chart since it's a greatest hits collection, therefore, it's only eligible to chart on the Compilation Album Chart.

Elsewhere around the world, The Essential cracks the Top 10 in two more countries as the album moves 27-10 in Portugal and 11-8 in Greece. Thanks pierpento for the Portugal info. And thanks christos for the Greece info.

And finally, in the USA, the album shifted another 8,119 units last week.

USA

The Essential (2 CD) - Billboard 200
Week #01 (06/08/05): #128 (Sales: 8,003)
Week #02 (13/08/05): #96 (Sales: 11,231)
Week #03 (20/08/05): #131 (Sales: 8,119)

PORTUGAL

The Essential (2 CD) - Top 100 Albums
Week #01 (28/07/05): #27
Week #02 (04/08/05): #10

FRANCE

The Essential (2 CD) - Top 40 Compilation Album Chart
Week #01 (30/07/05): #1
Week #02 (06/08/05): #1

GREECE

The Essential (2 CD) - Top 50 Album Chart
Week #01 (31/07/05): #11
Week #02 (07/08/05): #8

Guess who has the #1 album overall in France?

WORLD

The Essential (2 CD) - United World Album Chart
Week #03 (12/08/05): #21

The Essential (2 CD) - United World R&B Album Chart
Week #03 (12/08/05): #5 (New Peak)

UK

Number Ones - UK Top 200 Album Chart
Week #74 (31/07/05): #111

FRANCE

The Essential (2 CD) - Top 100 Comprehensive Album Chart
Week #2 (06/08/05): #1

(12/08/05): The Essential (2 CD) has been certified GOLD in France (100,000 units.)

USA

Live In Bucharest - The Dangerous Tour (DVD) - Billboard Comprehensive Music Videos Chart
Week #02 (20/08/05): #6 (New Peak)

Number Ones - Billboard Top 50 Music Video/Comprehensive Music Video Chart
Week #72 (20/08/05): #14

CANADA

The Essential (2 CD) - National Top 100 Albums
Week #03 (11/08/05): #37

The Essential (2 CD) - National Top 100 R&B Albums
Week #03 (11/08/05): #4

SPAIN

The Essential (2 CD) - Top 100 Albums
Week #03 (11/08/05): #24 (New Peak)

Live In Bucharest - The Dangerous Tour (DVD) - Top 20 Music DVDs
Week #02 (11/08/05): #3

NETHERLANDS

The Essential (2 CD) - Top 100 Albums
Week #03 (08/08/05): #19 (New Peak)

Live In Bucharest - The Dangerous Tour (DVD) - Top 30 Music DVDs
Week #01 (25/07/05): #16
Week #02 (01/08/05): #3
Week #03 (08/08/05): #2

DENMARK

The Essential (2 CD) - Top 100 Albums
Week #02 (12/08/05): #64

BELGIUM

FLANDERS

The Essential (2 CD) - Top 100 Albums
Week #03 (13/08/05): #4 (New Peak)

WALLONY

The Essential (2 CD) - Top 100 Albums
Week #03 (13/08/05): #1 (New Peak)

amit1234 said:

Michael really is the king of pop. There is no question.

GeminiMoon said:

#1 in WALLONY


where is that

you know... i'd almost buy this. it is, by far, the most concise and complete hits collection he's got out there. HIStory disc one was pointless. same for Number Ones. but this... this is approaching perfection.


however.


there's absolutely no excuse for putting a 7 minute track that wasn't even a single (Dangerous) on there. yeah, so he performed it on TV a few times. so what?

should have saved space for a few more songs that were actually hits. especially latter-day stuff. the US version only has 2 songs from the last 10 years on there. of course, he hasn't had that many hits in those years. but Butterflies was a bonafide hit, especially if you consider the minimal promotion it got. Scream? it's not a phenomenal outting, but it's one a lot of people know.


well, anyway, that's my main problem with it. it's got a 7 minute non-hit/non-single on it, and it's missing some deserving material that would have rounded it out and not made his career of the last 10 years look SO pathetic.