COLDPLAY IT AGAIN
Coldplay slammed the competi tion this week, rushing Billboard’s Top 200 Albums Charts with “X&Y,” the Brit-pop band’s latest disc.
Chris Martin and company’s third studio release sold 737,300 copies in its first week to capture the No. 1 slot, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Despite some critics harping about the group being “grim” and “insufferable,” the sweet anthem album also soared to No. 1 in 21 other countries.
“X&Y” marks many achievements: It’s the first career chart-topper for the group, the big gest rock opening of the year and the second- hottest U.S. debut, following 50 Cent’s “The Massacre.”
In Britain, “X&Y” made the second strongest debut ever in the country – topped only by Oasis’ 1997 album “Be Here Now.”
Coldplay is due to open a two-month North American tour on Aug. 2 in Toronto that will arrive in New York in September.
Other big debuts include the pop-rap fusion of the Black Eyed Peas’ “Monkey Business” (No. 2), the postmodern garage rock of the White Stripes’ “Get Behind Me Satan” (No. 3) and the Latin rock of Shakira’s “Fijacion Oral, Vol. 1” (No. 4). All of them marked first-week career highs for the artists.
Colombia-born Shakira is a history-making story all her own. “Fijacion” sold 157,000 copies, making it the biggest debut for a Spanish-language release in the SoundScan era. Sales were boosted by the sensual crossover single “La Tortura,” which launched the CD to the top of the charts in nine countries.
In November, Shakira plans to double the fun, releasing an English-language album, “Oral Fixation, Vol. 2.”
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