Coldplay Hold First Place

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Coldplay's third album, X&Y, kept a fierce hold on the top spot this week, selling another 323,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. This brings the Brit rockers' second-week total to a whopping 1.1 million CDs. Right behind them is the Foo Fighters' double album, In Your Honor, with 310,000 units sold -- nearly three times more than 2002's One by One in its debut week. And in third place is the Backstreet Boys' comeback, Never Gone, which put in a strong showing with 291,000 copies sold. The Boys may not be happy with their return, however, considering this marks their first debut below the top spot since 1997.

Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi continued its chart power, selling another 163,000 in its tenth week to take Number Four. But Los Angeles hip-hoppers Black Eyed Peas couldn't handle the competition: Monkey Business slid three spots to Number Five (155,000), moving nearly 140,000 fewer copies in its second week.

The other big debut this week came from Fat Joe, whose sixth album, All or Nothing, moved 107,000 units to take Number Six. This is big step up for the Bronx rapper, whose last effort, 2002's Loyalty, sold less than half that number to open at Thirty-One.

For the rest of the Top Ten, country star Toby Keith's latest, Honkytonk University, held its ground at Number Seven (93,000), while Columbian star Shakira's Spanish-language album, Fijacion Oral Vol. 1, fell four spots in its second week to Number Eight (77,000). Gwen Stefani's solo debut, Love, Angel, Music, Baby, is on a par with Carey's record, refusing to quit the Top Ten, dropping just one place to Number Nine (76,000). And Los Angeles metal act System of a Down's Mezmerize (the first half of a double album), dropped four spots to Ten (76,000).

Although it wasn't available in record stores (and thus, SoundScan, didn't track it) Alanis Morissette's tenth-anniversary acoustic version of her breakthrough album Jagged Little Pill sold 61,000 copies through the Starbucks, according to the singer's spokesman. That was the week's fourteenth-highest total, which bodes well for the coffee chain's burgeoning role in the music industry. Starbucks has a Herbie Hancock release planned for the fall and there's talk of a Bob Dylan exclusive as well.

Sliding down the ranks were Detroit garage-rock duo the White Stripes: Their fifth album, Get Behind Me Satan, scored them their highest opening yet -- before quickly falling eight spots out of the Top Ten to Number Eleven (75,000) in only its second week. And Audioslave's Out of Exile also dropped from the top ranks, falling five places to Number Fifteen (59,000).

For next week, expect more Coldplay domination. But don't forget about punk-rock supergroup Transplants, featuring Rancid's Tim Armstrong and Blink-182's Travis Barker. Their second effort, Haunted Cities, should make some chart noise.

This week's Top Ten: Coldplay's X&Y; Foo Fighters' In Your Honor; Backstreet Boys' Never Gone; Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi; Black Eyed Peas' Monkey Business; Fat Joe's All or Nothing; Toby Keith's Honkytonk University; Shakira's Fijacion Oral Vol. 1; Gwen Stefani's Love, Angel, Music, Baby; System of a Down's Mezmerize.

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Song Stories

“Everyday People”

Sly and the Family Stone | 1968

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.

More Song Stories entries »

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