Iron Maiden and Drake both released new albums on Friday, September 3rd, 2021. The two titans of their respective genres came out with Senjutsu and Certified Lover Boy. Normally, an album like Drake’s would be decimating the top charts in regards to albums. But thanks to the midweek chart update from Official Charts, it’s a close race between Maiden and the former Degrassi star. It’s a real testament to the power of the heavy metal icons stance in the UK. The race between the two albums for sales supremacy is at just about 8000 units.

In streaming numbers, Certified Lover Boy is dominating, but in physical sales, Iron Maiden has a massive edge. Even if Iron Maiden ends up losing the number one spot, it’s a fantastic debut for their seventeenth album, Senjutsu. The massively anticipated album is garnering rave reviews across the board, including our own review.

Senjutsu – Iron Maiden Outdoes Themselves With A New Classic [Review]

Drake has four past number one albums, so this would put him in special territory with the fifth. Iron Maiden have long not care about radio airplay or music video play. They’ve garnered all their popularity and good will with fans through their music and live play. Although this would be a fantastic feather in their cap to have a number one album this late in their career.

Whatever plays out, it’s fantastic to see Iron Maiden and heavy metal represented on the UK charts. If only the US could get their act together and get more metal acts onto the charts. We’ll keep you updated on this race for the number one spot as the week goes on.

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Source: Official Charts