Coldplay’s new album X&Y met all of the vaunted expectations set out for it: first week sales topped 700,000, making it No. 1 on the Billboard 200. With 737,000 copies sold, this is Coldplay’s best debut ever; their last album, 2002’s A Rush of Blood to the Head, debuted at No. 6. Coldplay is tops in the virtual world as well as the physical one. Their album is the top seller in every iTunes market worldwide, and X&Y was the first digital preorder ever made available on iTunes; usually, iTunes only takes orders for albums after their release date. The boys from Britain beat out Black Eyed Peas, who landed at No. 2 with 291,000 copies of their latest, Monkey Business, and the White Stripes, who moved 187,000 copies of their new album Get Behind Me Satan to land at No. 3, also their best ever debut. The White Stripes’ first single, “Blue Orchid,” is also a chart gainer, rising from No. 9 to No. 7 on this week’s Modern Rock chart.
