As expected, Coldplay's hugely anticipated new album ‘X&Y’ has stormed into the album charts this morning at number 1, but has narrowly missed out on being the fastest-selling UK album ever.


The album had been shifting in gigantic numbers since its release on Monday June 6, with early sales figures prompting record retailers to predict that the album would go on to become one the biggest sellers of all time.

In the end, it was confirmed that the album had sold 464,000 copies by Saturday (June 11), making it the second fastest-selling album since records began in the early 1990s.

The previous second fastest seller was Dido's ‘Life For Rent’ which sold 400,000 in its first week in September 2003, but the number one fastest selling record of all time is still Oasis album’s ‘Be Here Now’ which sold 695,761 copies in its first week back in 1997.

HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo said, "This has been an important event for the industry; we've been waiting for this release for a long time."

What’s more, Coldplay's earlier albums, ‘Parachutes’ and ‘A Rush of Blood To The Head’ also re-entered the chart on Sunday at numbers 19 and 23 respectively.

The White Stripes' new album ‘Get Behind Me Satan’ was also released last week and leapt into the charts at number three, just behind Oasis' newly ousted album ‘Don’t Believe The Truth’ which was Number 1 last week.

However, it’s not all good news. In the singles chart, the Crazy Frog ringtone held on to the number one spot for a third week.

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