‘X&Y;’ adds up to No. 1

Coldplay’s “X&Y;,” an album highlighted by lovely, anthem-like tunes, entered the nation’s pop sales chart at No. 1 on Wednesday after registering the second-biggest first-week sales total of the year.

The CD’s total of 737,000 copies has been topped in 2005 only by the 1.1 million figure set by 50 Cent’s “The Massacre” in March, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It was also the highest first-week total by a rock band since U2’s “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” sold 840,000 copies in November.

The British quartet, whose last album, 2002’s “A Rush of Blood to the Head,” has sold more than 3.5 million copies in this country -- begins a North American tour on Aug. 2 that will include three Southern California stops: the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine on Aug. 20 and 21 and the Coors Amphitheatre in San Diego on Aug. 26.

Three other artists also made flashy chart debuts with new albums. The Black Eyed Peas claimed the No. 2 spot with first-week sales of 291,000, the White Stripes rock duo took No. 3 by selling 189,000 copies and Shakira’s Spanish-language album finished No. 4 with 157,000 copies.

Shakira’s success was especially dramatic. Epic Records, which released her album, reported that it was the biggest first-week total in the U.S. by a Spanish-language album since SoundScan began monitoring U.S. sales in 1991, more than doubling the previous record of 65,000 set by a Ricky Martin album in 2003.