So this what happens when the national broadcaster airs your final concert commercial-free and one-third of the country tunes in. The Tragically Hip's entire discography — from the 1987 self-titled EP to this year's Man Machine Poem, including every live album and compilation in between — has placed on Billboard's Top 200 Canadian Albums chart.
The two-disc greatest hits record, Yer Favourites, unseats the Suicide Squad soundtrack as the number one most bought and streamed album in Canada. It even beats Frank Ocean's Blonde, the third largest grossing debut of 2016 in the U.S., which opens at second here with 18,700 units sold nationally, according to SoundScan's weekly data reported by FYI Music News.
Four of the 17 Hip albums land in the top 10 with their debut LP Up To Here coming in at nine, Fully Completely at eight, and their latest Man Machine Poem, the namesake of their final tour, holding the sixth spot for the second week in a row.
The band's total album sales are up 157% from the week prior, digital song sales are up 342%, and streams are up 179%.
And with the summer's last long weekend approaching, occasioning BBQs, bonfires, pool parties and a bunch of others hangouts routinely accompanied by the Hip (and that interest perhaps compounded by the gravity and sentimentality around the situation), you can expect many more "Ahead By A Century"s and "Bobcaygeon"s — both of which are among the 29 Hip songs appearing on the Top 200 singles chart — in the week ahead.
All 17 Tragically Hip albums are on the Billboard Canadian albums chart this week by chris hampton | Chart Attack.
