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U.K. CHARTS: COLDPLAY SETTLE FOR FIRST-EVER #2 ALBUM

Adele has scuppered Coldplay’s hopes of hitting #1 in Blighty. A Head Full of Dreams (Parlophone) winds up in the second spot—marking the first time a new release from the veteran band has failed to reach the Official Albums summit. Nonetheless, with 236k in first-week sales (90k of which were preorders), it’s their highest debut since 2008.

So how is 25 still doing in the U.K.? The XL monster has shifted 354k since last Friday (12/4), bringing its total tally in Blighty to 1.595 million, compared to 5m in the U.S.

Coldplay’s week-one total also gives them the biggest-selling #2 album since Rihanna’s Loud, which sold 249k in December 2010.

A Head Full of Dreams beats the 168k Coldplay’s 2014 Ghost Stories notched up in its first week, as well as the 208k Mylo Xyloto sold in the first seven days of release in 2011. In what’s now looking like a smart decision, their latest album was held back from Spotify initially, but has arrived on the service today.

The rest of the Top 5 albums chart is largely unmoving. Elvis Presley’s If I Can Dream is at #3 with 105k, meaning its total number has crossed the half-million barrier with another three weeks to go before year’s end (a feat Sony U.K. boss Jason Iley was banking on).

Justin Bieber’s Purpose (Def Jam) is at #4 and Jess Glynne’s debut I Cry When I Laugh (Atlantic) logs a 16th consecutive week in the Top 10 at #5.

Bieber is still very much the man of the moment in Blighty’s Official Singles Chart, as “Love Yourself” boasts a second week at #1. The Ed Sheeran co-write has 114k sales this week. Its closest competitor is “Sorry,” another one from the Biebs, which holds at #2.

The comeback king has become the first-ever artist to knock himself off the top spot and hold the position for two consecutive weeks.

Ministry of Sound’s Sigala was a competitor for Bieber in the midweeks, but has ended at #3, with “Sweet Lovin’” logging combined sales of over 400k.

Rounding off this week’s Top 5 are Adele’s "Hello" at #4 and Grace & G-Eazy’s "You Don’t Own Me" logging a second week at #5.

The biggest release from the U.K. this coming week is a cover of Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" from whoever wins Simon Cowell's X Factor this weekend, which will be out on Sony label SYCO as the show ends on Sunday. With just two weeks to go until Christmas day, will Iley's label end on a high note with the #1 spot on Christ's birthday? Providing we wake from a coma induced by a potent mix of turkey, mulled wine and the best tranquillisers Her Majesty's pound can buy, we'll report back on the 25th.

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