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\n\tTaylor Swift<\/a> will be crowned when the U.K. albums chart is published later this week. <\/p>\n \n\tThe U.S. pop singer opens-up a monster lead in the U.K. chart race<\/a> with 1989 (Taylor\u2019s Version)<\/em> (via EMI), which is currently outperforming the rest of the top 40 combined, the Official Charts Company reports.<\/p>\n \n\t1989 (Taylor\u2019s Version)<\/em> reigns over the midweek chart, and is already the year\u2019s best-selling album, amassing 148,000 chart units. That\u2019s more combined units in just three days than Lewis Capaldi\u2019s second LP Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent<\/em> (95,000 combined units) \u2014 the previous leader for 2023 \u2014 clocked in its first full-week. And it\u2019s roughly double the sum collected by Rolling Stones<\/a>\u2019 Hackney Diamonds<\/em> (Polydor), the current leader<\/a> on the weekly chart and, until now, one of the three best-sellers of 2023.<\/p>\n \n\tWhen the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published late Friday, Nov. 3, Swift will nab her 11th U.K. No. 1 album, a tally that includes the original recording of 1989<\/em>, which ruled for a single week in 2014. That result would extend her record as the female solo artist with the most chart-topping albums this century. Only Madonna, with 12 U.K. No. 1s, leads Swift on the all-time tally. <\/p>\n \n\tThe re-recorded edition of 1989 <\/em>is the fourth of Swift\u2019s six \u201cversions,\u201d and features three bonus tracks and five songs from the \u201cVault.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSwift is likely to nab a U.K. chart double<\/a>. Based on midweek singles sales and streaming data published by the OCC, \u201cIs It Over Now\u201d slides into pole position, ahead of \u201cSlut\u201d and \u201cStyle,\u201d respectively.<\/p>\n \n\tMeanwhile, OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) is on track for an eighth top 10 album with Bauhaus Staircase<\/em> (100 Percent Records), new at No. 2 on the midweek tally, ahead of the Stones\u2019 Hackney Diamonds<\/em>, down 1-3 on the chart blast. <\/p>\n \n\tDuran Duran<\/a>\u2019s \u201cultimate Halloween party\u201d album Danse Macabre<\/a><\/em> (BMG) is forecast to enter the chart at No. 4, for what would be the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers\u2019 12th U.K. top 10 LP. The new set, a collection of covers, reinterpretations of DD songs, and three new numbers, is the followup to Future Past<\/em>, which opened and peaked at No. 3 in 2021. <\/p>\n \n\tAlso eyeing top 10 berths are new releases from James Blunt<\/a> (Who We Used to Be<\/em> at No. 5 via Atlantic); CASisDEAD (Famous Last Words <\/em>at No. 6 via XL Recordings); Alfie Boe<\/a> (Open Arms \u2013 The Symphonic Songbook <\/em>at No. 7 via BMG); Simple Minds<\/a>\u2019 live recording New Gold Dream \u2013 Live from Paisley Abbey<\/em> (No. 8 via BMG); Billy Bragg<\/a>\u2019s career retrospective The Roaring Forty 1983-2023<\/em> (No. 9 via Cooking Vinyl) and Gaslight Anthem (History Books<\/em> at No. 10 via Rich Mahogany Recordings). <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n