Coldplay to rival Oasis for fastest-selling album

Coldplay's X&Y is set to become one of the fastest-selling albums of all time after hitting the shops yesterday.

Coldplay's X&Y is set to become one of the fastest-selling albums of all time after hitting the shops yesterday.

Industry experts are predicting that more than 400,000 copies of the band's third album will fly off the shelves this week, sending it straight to number one.

X&Y, which was leaked on to the internet last week despite unprecedented security measures, could become the second-fastest selling album since records began in the early 1990s.

UK retailers are predicted to shift 100,000 copies today and some believe the figure could hit 500,000 by Saturday.

Only the 1997 album from Oasis, Be Here Now, has broken the half a million mark in the first week of release, selling 695,761 copies.

Dido's Life for Rent is second in the fastest-selling list, with 400,351 copies in its first week in September, 2003.

HMV said that many of its stores opened early to find fans queuing outside, with many hoping to pick up a copy on their way to work. An HMV spokesman, Gennaro Castaldo, said: ''We haven't seen anything like this since Oasis released Be Here Now in August 1997.

''The excitement around X&Y is palpable and has been building for quite some time now. The band certainly haven't disappointed - both critically and commercially.

''It's an absolutely brilliant recording that will take Coldplay on to the next level of global superstardom, and it's fair to say that we're already looking at the biggest album of the year by far.''

Coldplay were beaten to the number one spot in the singles chart by the Crazy Frog ringtone.

Their first single from the new album, "Speed of Sound", has now dropped to seventh position in the singles chart.