Green Day and Neck Deep are at Number One and Two in the UK charts right now

The Official Charts have unveiled the current midweek runnings – and it’s good news for fans of pop-punk and heavy metal.

As it stands, the Top Three is made up of Green Day (Number One), Neck Deep (Number Two) and Saxon (Number Three) – with the leaders (or should that be saviours?) waaaaaay out in front, apparently selling the rest of the Top 10 combined with their incredible 14th album. It would be Billie Joe and co.’s fifth UK Number One if it remains in its spot – which it most likely will – following in the footsteps of American Idiot, 21st Century Breakdown, Revolution Radio and Father Of All…

Meanwhile, Neck Deep’s self-titled LP will be their highest-charting album if it stays in second place. Speaking to Kerrang! in this week’s Cover Story about potential chart success, frontman Ben Barlow said, “I’d love a Number One to tick off the bucket-list. But paying too much attention to that stuff, I wouldn’t want it to cloud the effort that we put in. Maybe a mistake I’ve made in the past is, ‘We’ve gotta get this chart position!’ and then Taylor Swift always comes along (laughs).

“But yeah, it’s one of those things where if it happens I’ll be over the moon, but I think putting all your eggs in that basket isn’t what it should be about. I think the biggest achievement was the fact that we fucking made this record in the first place. If it happens it’ll be fucking awesome, but I think we’re actually releasing on the same day as Green Day, so there you go!”

Read this: Green Day: “We’re not going anywhere… and we’re just getting better!”