Coldplay: No 1 On US Charts

British rock band Coldplay's new album debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. pop music chart on Tuesday, largely bucking the sales slides that have affected other musicians, the group's label said on Tuesday.

"Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends," Coldplay's fourth release, sold more than 720,000 copies in the six days ended Sunday, Capitol Records said.

Its previous album, "X&Y," also debuted at No. 1, selling 737,000 copies during its first week in June 2005. But total U.S. album sales have fallen more than 20 percent in that period, according to tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan. Stars have had to adjust their sights much lower as music piracy and competition from videogames take their toll.

The new Coldplay album also topped the charts in Britain, Japan, Australia, Canada, France and Germany, Capitol said. The single, "Viva La Vida," is also No. 1 in both the United States and Britain.

The album's strong performance delivers a psychological boost to Capitol's struggling British parent company EMI Group, which was bought last year by private-equity firm Terra Firma for about $6.4 billion. Terra Firma chief Guy Hands has ruffled feathers by laying off thousands of employees and introducing fiscal disciplines that are largely foreign to the freewheeling music business.

Among the skeptics was Coldplay manager Dave Holmes, who told the Times of London in January that Coldplay was "in no hurry" to deliver its album, adding, "Why would you want to release an album with a record company in the midst of massive lay-offs? Coldplay have a lot of options."

In the end, Coldplay's management brought in their own team of consultants and advisers to supplement EMI's sales and marketing efforts.

Read more at Reuters.

Comments

[godberry]

didn't UG post an article about this last week?

[raging247]

One word - overhyped.

[Scumbag1792]

Well I liked the album, and as a response to godberry, I think that was how they topped the UK last week

[6cradle6of6filt]

Its just genesis copy:p

[JPetrucci25]

wow. i dont see how this album is doing so well. the single "Viva la Vida" is not impressive. guess international standards are falling. disturbed just came out with an album. give it a listen

[gdm09]

best band ever...best album ever...just so you know...

[HukedAnFonix]

Eh, I didn't like the album. Too different in my opinion. I think A Rush Of Blood To The Head is their best work.

[Pink_blood]

I like it, they've been very creative which is a nice change from the rest of the charts

[whitestrat279]

I liked the album. And I think the last article about this said it was the first time an album can sell over 750,000 albums since 2005 or something like that.

But Lil Wayne sold over 1 million last week. Just wanted to point that out.

[Like I Is]

Good for them.

[bright-eyes]

I like Coldplay but I thought this album was pretty meh tbh.

[RounderIII]

Like I Is wrote:

Good for them.

what I was going to say

[toeMas]

not a fan

[-Stevie-Ray-RIP]

Even if it's not the best I have ever heard, it's MUCH better then the rap stuff that is #1 currently

[BobChicken]

I dont really like Chris Martin- he is a bit too cocky, always saying coldplay are the greatest band in the world or whatnot. Never the less, good for them.

[pratt121]

JPetrucci25 wrote:

wow. i dont see how this album is doing so well. the single "Viva la Vida" is not impressive. guess international standards are falling. disturbed just came out with an album. give it a listen

did you ever just wonder if coldplay weren't your style? obviously if you listen to disturbed you're high on testosterone, and coldplay are not - that doesn't mean they're no good.

[fitter.happier.]

BobChicken wrote:

I dont really like Chris Martin- he is a bit too cocky, always saying coldplay are the greatest band in the world or whatnot. Never the less, good for them.

not really.
but i do think their picture in this article is kind of radiohead...haha they can never avoid it

[kaizerkhan13]

JPetrucci25 wrote:

wow. i dont see how this album is doing so well. the single "Viva la Vida" is not impressive. guess international standards are falling. disturbed just came out with an album. give it a listen

disturbed is lame.

[timster36]

kaizerkhan13 wrote:

JPetrucci25 wrote:

wow. i dont see how this album is doing so well. the single "Viva la Vida" is not impressive. guess international standards are falling. disturbed just came out with an album. give it a listen

disturbed is lame.

beat me to it haha.

[ziminycricket]

competition from videogames take their toll.

I don't think videogame sales effect music sales whatsoever. or is that just me

[alaub1491]

I reallly realllly loved this album. Rush of Blood used to be my favorite but now this one blew that out of the water. It was so creative and original. They took their style and put it on steroids and it sounds amazing.

[randyaintdead82]

kaizerkhan13 :
disturbed is lame.


uuuhhhh no there not have some respect for that band like i respect this one

[McFadden]

BobChicken wrote:

I dont really like Chris Martin- he is a bit too cocky, always saying coldplay are the greatest band in the world or whatnot. Never the less, good for them.

He does but it's always a sarcastic/joking kind of way.

I love Coldplay, but so far the album is just meh. I need to listen to it a bit more.

[ernie123]

"Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends," Coldplay's fourth release, sold more than 720,000 copies in the six days ended Sunday, Capitol Records said...

And i thought people didn't buy cd's anymore?

[les.is.more]

I love this CD, it hasn't come out of my cd player since i got it.

[Daneeka]

Honestly, i gave it a chance and listened it in the background while i did my daily routine.
Apart from Violet Hill i could recommend it for babies who don't want to sleep. This album is boring.

checked.

[EmoChipsAhoy]

Chris has already said that the old sound of Coldplay (Parachutes through X&Y)was already squeezed as much as it could. I honestly love the more musical and vivid sound this album has (over the organ/piano church sounding last one). And don't get me wrong, I love Coldplay as much as the next guy, but ever since I heard "Death and all his Friends" they have gone to a whole new level of music. Heck, I even got friends who never listened to Coldplay to start asking me for the albums so they can burn them (which was kind of the job of Viva la Vida, to get more people interested).

[metalness11]

I honestly love the more musical and vivid sound this album has (over the organ/piano church sounding last one). And don't get me wrong, I love Coldplay as much as the next guy, but ever since I heard "Death and all his Friends" they have gone to a whole new level of music. Heck, I even got friends who never listened to Coldplay to start asking me for the albums so they can burn them (which was kind of the job of Viva la Vida, to get more people interested).

my thoughts exactly. this album goes way more in depth musically and creatively. i think the large part of coldplay's fanbase is not grasping this at all. It's much more mentally stimulating especially as a musician. The album was pieced together fantastically. But like i said, i think alot of people just don't get it.

[zippidyduda]

Congratulations Coldplay, it was well deserved, fantastic album in my opinion.

[Haunted_Shell]

pratt121 wrote:

JPetrucci25 wrote:

wow. i dont see how this album is doing so well. the single "Viva la Vida" is not impressive. guess international standards are falling. disturbed just came out with an album. give it a listendid you ever just wonder if coldplay weren't your style? obviously if you listen to disturbed you're high on testosterone, and coldplay are not - that doesn't mean they're no good.

Ahhh so you're high on estrogen and pms relief tabs?

[metalness11]

lmao you gotta be kidding, disturbed is a ****ing joke.

[slaptasticdave]

Haunted_Shell wrote:

kaizerkhan13 wrote:

JPetrucci25 wrote:

wow. i dont see how this album is doing so well. the single "Viva la Vida" is not impressive. guess international standards are falling. disturbed just came out with an album. give it a listen

disturbed is lame.


Disturbed is lame? you're a waste of life that should have dripped down your mothers leg instead of being conceived. Cold gay sucks *cough* I mean cold play

man that was just so creative cold gay? how do u do it man? I'll admit that disturbed might be talented musicians but if I had to pick between the two new albums I'd def go with viva la vida

[dholmestar]

Coldplay is a great band IMO, and Viva La Vida is their best and most cohesive overall album, but it is not their best collection of songs (which is Rush of Blood).

[Axlthegreat]

whitestrat279 wrote:

But Lil Wayne sold over 1 million last week. Just wanted to point that out.

proving once again how horrible most peoples taste in music is nowadays

[Mistytario]

Well I've been a coldplay fan since parachutes, and I think this cd is great, I've listened to it a lot of times and it doesn't bores me, it is a really good album, Keep it up making good music. Hoping to get Chinese Democracy on this year haha

[darkfrost12]

I always enjoyed listening to Coldplay but I always thought their sound was lacking that "It" factor. ROBTTH was the only album I really listened to before, that is a very good album. But Viva La Vida takes their old sound and puts it on acid, in a good way. "Yes" is one of the top album cuts I have heard in the last couple years. It is always great when you get two contrasting artists collaborating like Eno and Coldplay. The production and instrumentation is top notch. Just as they were getting formulatic, they pushed themselves to make a truely quality album. Some bands only make new albums to fufill their contracts and don't really care what the fans think of it. Coldplay and Eno have made a well constructed album that has obviously had some thought put into it, and I commend them for it.

[Raijin.xiii]

I thought coldplay was really annoying, but I don't mind the new single. I don't even know what it's called or anything.. not interested enough to buy it though.
good for coldplay though.

[Raijin.xiii]

I used though too much there

[TDKshorty]

coldplay is awesome.

[the_maestro]

I don't see all the fuss about this album. To me it's X&Y with added reverb and strings. I'll give them credit for trying something new, but sadly it's not and quite a boring album.

[tcangusyoung123]

I'm not a coldplay fan, but even i can tell they've let themselves down on this one. it just goes to show that if you become big enough fans will buy anything you put out.

[LynchMobster]

I saw an article in rollin stone calling these guys rock gods, or at least chris martin. I really, really dont agree. Hardly a god by any means. Hardly rock by any means. Like seriously. Imagine seeing a bunch of true gods on stage. Imagine Satch, Zeppelin, Sabbath, AC/DC, Kiss(admit it, no matter how commercial they are, they are rock gods), Metallica, Dio, all on stage. Then there is Coldplay. No one would even know who they were. They would definately get booed off of the stage. they just wouldnt fit in. not that they are horrible, they just dont fit the title "rock gods"

[Kilimacory]

well the songs viva la vida and violet hill are pretty good, very reminiscent of U2, but idk the cd is just a little too calm for me. i like something a little more angry

[les_paul_01]

this article makes me happy.

[pratt121]

look, maybe coldplay isn't for you. maybe you're more into bands like disturbed and AC/DC. fine. take it, I dun want it.

but you can't deny that they have a certain respect for songwriting, for song craft, that most popular bands nowadays don't seem to have.

[The_Fuzz22]

BobChicken wrote:

I dont really like Chris Martin- he is a bit too cocky, always saying coldplay are the greatest band in the world or whatnot. Never the less, good for them.

Ok there you're just wrong. Chris Martin has always been hailed as a surprisingly humble and meek person. He's one of pop music's most self-deprecating stars!

[food&liquor]

This album is second only to A Rush Of Blood To The Head, a vast improvement over X&Y. 'Yes', 'Strawberry Swing', and 'Cemeteries Of London' are awesome songs. And I'm happy for them getting to number one, good on them.

As for the person who recomended Disturbed... are you serious??? It could have been anything from Metallica to Dream Theater to Black Sabbath, but you recommended Disturbed???

FAIL.

[enactment11]

Coldplay have a very niche audience and to see this article makes me high =P Love the album and if coldplay isnt ur style, then go ahead cos i dont like disturbed either.

[Grimme]

They deserve it, Viva La Vida is a fantastic album and I'm glad to see it doing so well, beating a lot of the other trite in the charts.

[gareno]

is it just me or is coldplay a little overrated

[Led4UrHead88]

coldplay is wayyyyy overrated. their music is decent if you want to fall asleep listening to it.

[dm_86]

They are overrated, but they have done some fab songs like Trouble, Clocks, Speed of Sound and Violet Hill

[TheAngryMob875]

JPetrucci25 wrote:

wow. i dont see how this album is doing so well. the single "Viva la Vida" is not impressive. guess international standards are falling. disturbed just came out with an album. give it a listen

your an idiot. genius album. even if you dont like it, different from what everyone else is doing now. two, three part songs. arena choruses. nice. disturbed? right.

[grungeisdead312]

they are overrated IMO
I got viva la vida
I do think they're older albums were better though