HP cover stars The Killers go No. 1

In doing so they eliminated The Priests from the top slot they had occupied for a week and also pipped their Universal Music 'colleagues' Guns N'Roses. In recent months Hot Press cover stars have fared exceptionally well in the charts, with The Blizzards and Snow Patrol both debuting at No.1 and Lisa Hannigan at No.2.

“It’s a brave album,” Brendan Flowers said of Day & Age, in conversation with Hot Press. “And what’s funny is it’s more playful and it’s more colourful [than previous release Sam's Town]. It took a band with confidence and with a little experience and a little... we almost had to prove ourselves enough just to get to the point where we could make these songs."

The Universal double whammy comes in the wake of a remarkable week, in which SonyBMG had held nine out of the top twelve positions in the Irish charts, including all of the Top 5 – which read as follows: 1. The Priests; 2. Leona Lewis' Spirit; 3. Beyonce's I Am Sasha Fierce; 4. Il Divo's The Promise and 5. Celine Dion's My Love, The Essential Collection.

"That's unprecedented," one industry insider told Hot Press. "It was a remarkable situation that one company would achieve what was a kind of Royal Flush. But Universal have timed things pretty well for the Christmas. They have great new albums by really top rock'n'roll artists. The challenge now is to sustain the sales of The Killers, Guns N'Roses and Kanye West. But their performance this week has certainly been impressive."

Leona Lewis and Beyonce have the advantage of big hit singles – with the Irish current No1 and No.2 in 'Run' and 'If I Were A Boy' respectively – but The Killers are a big radio band and their album is full of potential future hits. As the countdown to Christmas continues, it's all to play for in the battle for chart supremacy!

The latest Top 10 reads:

1 DAY & AGE – KILLERS [VERTIGO]
2 THE PRIESTS – PRIESTS [EPIC]
3 CHINESE DEMOCRACY – GUNS N' ROSES [GEFFEN]
4 SPIRIT – LEONA LEWIS [SYCO MUSIC]
5 MY LOVE THE ESSENTIAL COLLECTION – CELINE DION [COLUMBIA]
6 ONLY BY THE NIGHT – KINGS OF LEON [HAND ME DOWN]
7 RHYDIAN – RHYDIAN [SYCO MUSIC]
8 THE PROMISE – IL DIVO [SYCO MUSIC]
9 SOME GUYS HAVE ALL THE LUCK – ROD STEWART [RHINO]
10 I AM...SASHA FIERCE – BEYONCÉ [COLUMBIA]