Westlife beat Spice Girls to album top spot

Wonder Westlife sell three times as many albums as Spice Girls

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Irish super band Westlife beat the Spice Girls in the battle to top the British album charts, but were ousted from the number one singles spot by fellow boy band A1.

Westlife notched up sales of 234,000 with their album "Coast to Coast" to clinch the number one spot, while the Spice Girls sold only 71,000 copies of their new offering "Forever" and were forced to settle for second place.

The Irish boy band promoted their second album with a gruelling 36-hour signing tour that included Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and a star-studded party in London.

The five-strong band equalled a Beatles' achievement last week when they scored their seventh consecutive number one.

They will face competition in the album charts when a Beatles' greatest hits CD is released on Monday.

Westlife's single "My Love" dropped to number two after only a week at the top, making way for A1's "Same Old Brand New You."

The Spice Girls also slipped down the singles charts.

Their double A-side "Holler/Let Love Lead The Way," which made them the most successful female group ever when it topped the charts two weeks ago, slid to number 10.

Westlife knocked them from the top spot last week.

America's Backstreet Boys soared into the top 10 with "Shape Of My Heart" entering at number four.

In the album charts, the "Girl Power" versus "Boy Band" clash pushed Irish supergroup U2 out of the number one spot and down to fourth place.

Scottish rock band Texas dropped one place to number three.

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