The Murder Capital and Black Star Riders on track for best success yet on the UK Albums Chart

The Murder Capital and Black Star Riders are set to achieve new milestones on the UK Top 10 albums chart, according to the Official Charts Company's mid-week preview. Black Star Riders – whose lead singer Ricky Warwick hails from Co. Down – are expected to place No. 2 with Wrong Side Of Paradise and Irish band The Murder Capital are expected to place No. 7 with Gigi’s Recovery. Both albums were released on January 20.

The Murder Capital’s 2019 LP When I Have Fears reached No. 18 on the UK chart, their current record-best on the Top 40. The Dublin-based rock band – comprising James McGovern, Damien Tuit, Gabriel Pascal Blake, Cathal Roper and Diarmuid Brennan – were featured in their first Hot Press cover this month.

Gigi’s Recovery has received much acclaim since its release. The Guardian's Damien Morris gave the album an impressive five-star review for reaching new standards of excellence – praising the "new textures that broaden and deepen their sound, hinting at the big music of U2 and Simple Minds without losing the youthful, bug-eyed intensity that’s long abandoned those bands.”

Hot Press’ Will Russell wrote a rave review of Gigi’s Recovery, applauding the album for its “utterly enthralling” sound. “This is killer stuff from The Murder Capital. If there's any justice, it should be huge,” Russell writes.

Wrong Side Of Paradise is Black Star Riders’ fifth studio album, which follows the band's past success on the UK Top 40 chart. Their 2019 record Another State Of Grace placed at No. 14 and their older albums All Hell Breaks Loose, The Killer Instinct and Heavy Fire all placed on the Top 40 chart.

Hot Press’ Edwin McFee praised Wrong Side Of Paradise for the hard rock band's new sound. “There’s still plenty of their trademark duelling axe-work and hooks the size of Belfast’s big yellow cranes on offer, but for their fifth opus, their frontman peppers proceedings with more Northern Irish flavour than ever before,” Mcfee writes.

Thin Lizzy could also see a return to the Top 40 chart with their super deluxe reissue of their hit 1978 LP Live and Dangerous. It would be the first time the Irish hard rock group's LP landed on the chart in 45 years.

The list of artists expected to place high on this week’s Top 40 chart also include South Yorkshire band The Reytons at No. 1 and Italian rock band Måneskin at No. 3.