The British invasion of Billboard's albums chart will carry on for a third straight week, according to the latest SoundScan figures.

England's favorite rock sons -- the Chris Martin-led melodic quartet Coldplay -- continue to outsell the rest of the music industry's current players with their third studio release, X&Y. The LP, which managed to clear the 1-million-sold hurdle in two weeks, achieved third-week scans of more than 186,000 and holds the top spot despite a 42 percent sales plummet.

As the latest figures reveal, it was a rather languid week for retail, with practically every album in the top 200 having experienced some sort of sales deceleration. One of the few gainers this most recent sales week, My Chemical Romance, jumped from the chart's #79 to #58, thanks to a 7 percent sales upsurge for their latest offering, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge; the disc moved close to 17,000 units.

The reduction in cash-register activity aside, many big records did make positive chart moves. Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi, for instance, climbs two positions to this week's #2, selling 131,000 plus after 11 weeks out. The Black Eyed Peas' Monkey Business finishes as the chart's #4, thanks to sales of more than 103,000, up one from last week's #5 spot. But Dave Grohl's Foo Fighters fall from #2 to #3, with second-week sales of 116,000 for their fifth disc, In Your Honor.

It was a solid week for debuts, but none performed as strongly as the self-titled LP from Hotlanta MCs Boyz N Da Hood. The record opens at #5, with scans of more than 101,000. Oakland-born songstress Keyshia Cole's Way It Is follows at #6, moving nearly 89,000 its first week out. Dexter Holland's Offspring check in at #8, with the band's retrospective Greatest Hits release; opening-week sales totaled 70,000 and change. The second solo effort from Cash Money constituent Birdman, Fast Money, debuts at #9, with sales of close to 65,000.

Haunted Cities, the latest from the Tim Armstrong and Travis Barker collaboration the Transplants, opens as the chart's #28, having sold close to 34,000 during its first week in stores. Smashing Pumpkins mastermind Billy Corgan's first crack at a solo career, TheFutureEmbrace, finishes at #30, with first-week scans of more than 32,000. No Limit Records head Master P takes the #39 slot, with debut week sales of more than 25,000 for his latest, Ghetto Bill. The Warrior's Code, the fresh batch of punk tunes from Boston brawlers the Dropkick Murphys, is the only other debut LP to break into the top 50.

Backstreet Boys, who've returned to pop's forefront following a five-year break, slip four spots on this most recent sales chart to #7, having opened the previous week at #3 with their new one, Never Gone; the album suffered a 73 percent sales plummet, finishing out week two with less than 79,000 scans. The chart's #10 belongs to System of a Down's Mezmerize, which sold close to 63,000 copies -- enough to keep original "American Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway out of the top 10. Clarkson checks in at #11, with sales of more than 61,000.

Gwen Stefani's Love, Angel, Music, Baby continues to soar off store shelves, coming in at #12 with nearly 61,000 scans, followed by country king Toby Keith's Honkytonk University at #13 with sales of 58,000 plus. 50 Cent's The Massacre is in at #14 with 54,000 units sold, and Shakira's Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 takes #15 with sales of 50,000 and then some.

Other noteworthy debuts popping up on this most recent Billboard sales list include TLC's re-released Now & Forever: The Hits, opening at #53 with close to 18,000 scans; Clutch's Robot Hive/ Exodus debuting at #93, with sales of just under 13,000; Dredg's Catch Without Arms comes in at #124, selling 9,000 plus; Sugar Ray's Best Of opens at #138 with 7,600 scans; and the Bam Margera-compiled Viva La Bands debuts at #141, with over 7,500 units claimed.

For an in-depth feature on Coldplay, check out "Coldplay: The Quiet Revolution."