|
|
ColdplayAlbums ReviewedParachutes (2000)A Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002) X&Y (2005) Parachutes(2000)As Radiohead have retreated from conventional songwriting into more experimental realms, a market niche has opened for groups to pursue an accessible adaptation of melancholy semi-acoustic music patented on The Bends. Just as Creed are a poor-man's version of Pearl Jam, and Limp Bizkit are an even worse version of Rage Against the Machine, Coldplay are a pale imitation of Radiohead. They do not, however, fall as far short as the other pretenders; they at least have taste, and lots of nice musical ideas. It is always nice to hear Coldplay's songs on the radio; they have melodic sense, and the piano riff in 'Trouble' is memorable. Where Coldplay fail is that they're just numbingly bland. A defining and endearing characteristic of British musicians has always been individuality, from the idiosyncracies of Radiohead and Pink Floyd, through to the flat out weirdness of David Bowie and Kate Bush. While vocalist Chris Martin has a plaintive voice, with an impressive upper register, his lyrics might as well have been written by a computer. Musically, they're a three piece without much identity, even though they pull some strong vocal melodies out on occasion. It is no coincidence that 'Spies', the only lyric that doesn't vaguely skate around the boundaries of a mildly dynsfunctional relationship, makes for the most entertaining track. Parachutes is pleasant if you find it cheap, but I can't see any listener getting extended listening mileage out of it. 
A Rush Of Blood To The Head(2002)Ignoring the fact that it's phrased so correctly, it is difficult to imagine a less appropriate album title for Coldplay, the purveyors of pre-meditated, neatly-packaged, post-adolescent angst. To its credit, A Rush Of Blood To The Head is more expansive and innovative than its predecessor, but by the same token a quartet of gibbons in the possession of a couple of tambourines and some rudimentary recording equipment could have created a more innovative record than Parachutes. More than ever, this is Chris Martin's project; the other guys might help write the tunes or something, but they're completely faceless behind their instruments, and are a subservient backdrop to Martin's vision of sensitive and inoffensive adult pop/rock. It's not quite as downtrodden as its predecessor - somewhere along the road to stardom Martin hooked up with actor Gwyneth Paltrow - but 'God Put A Smile On Your Face' is more of a dirge than the merry hoedown that its title implies. While it doesn't spread as wide as country or western, A Rush Of Blood To The Head is more diverse than its predecessor (of course, a trio of orang-utans in the possession of a couple of maracas and some rudimentary recording equipment could have created a more innovative record than Parachutes), opening with the aggressive Brit-pop of 'Politik' and taking on more ambitious material like 'Warning Sign' and 'Amsterdam'. Meanwhile, 'Clocks' is the group's best song yet, based on a Martin piano riff, proving that as mundane as he is, he's still the most interesting member of Coldplay's personnel. Most of these songs are pretty good, but some of them only serve to get me nostalgic for forerunners with the same title; the dull 'Green Eyes' just gets me nostalgic for the Grant Hart classic on Flip Your Wig, while 'Warning Sign' is accomplished enough, but was a more interesting title in the paranoid hands of early Talking Heads. And some of these songs could have come straight from the first album; 'In My Place' and 'The Scientist' both would have slotted neatly into the monotony of Parachutes. It's not like these Coldplay albums are particularly bad; it's pretty difficult to find any bad songs on them. But there's so much more interesting music out there than this faceless conglomerate of British musicians; they're competent in every aspect, but excellent in none, selling loads of albums to adolescents and housewives and neglecting what makes music great in the first place.
X&Y(2005)Maybe I'm the only person in the world who thinks this, but to my ears this is Coldplay's most substantial album yet. It's not far removed than A Rush Of Blood To The Head, which did admittedly sound different from Parachutes, but anyone who listens to Coldplay expecting stylistic experiments and artistic innovation needs a good solid dose of Can to set them straight. Instead, the problem is that lots of people who came on board with Parachutes will have now have outgrown the group, realizing that there's a whole bunch of more interesting music out there, leaving Coldplay hanging in the mainstream. Which is kind of a shame, because X&Y has a better ratio of good songs to bad songs than their first two records, and more robust melodies, and those are just about the only fair criteria to grade a Coldplay album on. The band is competent and kind of poignant, but they're never going to blow anyone away with fantastic musicianship or genre inventions. They're still mining the space between Coldplay and U2; the riff in 'White Shadows' sounds like the guitarist wants to be The Edge Mark II, but I'm not too fussed if they can string together enough good songs like this. Although Chris Martin is still over emoting about the minutiae of his feelings, these songs seem more meaningful than before. "Lights will guide you home/And ignite your bones/And I will try to fix you" doesn't make a whole lot of literal sense, but it's nice - this song is all about how Martin cares about Gwyneth Paltrow and/or little baby Apple, and how he wants to fix them. The verse melody of the title track is terrific - if they managed more moments like that, I'd actually consider owning one of their albums. First single 'Speed of Sound' is kind of reminiscent of 'Clocks', the first single from the previous record, but since that was that their best song ever, and the new edition's good too, I'm not blaming them. Best of all is 'Fix You' - that softly dramatic chorus is very effective. The acoustic tracks 'A Message' and 'Til Kingdom Come' are also excellent, and break up the album nicely. I'm not ranking this too highly still, as there are like thousands of other bands I'd rather listen to, but this album's a definite step forward over the first two, so if you thought those ones were enjoyable, prepare to be blown over by X&Y.
 |
|
|
|
Written 2001-2007, Graham Fyfe
