[Article] Four great Coldplay albums, but which is the best?

[busybeeburns]

 

A decade of music, four critically acclaimed and award winning albums, but which is the best?

 

Four great albums, but which is the best?

 

Over the last decade Coldplay have risen from being a modest student project, to being one of the most iconic bands of the modern era. Rooted in humble indie pop, they now sell out arenas across the globe with their instantly recognisable stadium anthems. Their extraordinary development can be traced in four critically acclaimed and award winning albums, but which is the best?

 

Parachutes

 

Coldplay’s first and shortest album; Parachutes remains a favourite for Coldplay purists. The success of Parachutes lies in its melodic and atmospheric tunes, and its ability to inspire and produce memorable and powerful tracks despite its humble and delicate foundations.

 

Praised for the inclusion of not one poor track; the album also produced classics such as Yellow and Trouble, songs which instantly brought Coldplay a wealth of fans and admirers, and which remain examples of their greatest work still today.

 

A Rush of Blood to the Head

 

After the success of Parachutes, the anticipation and expectation surrounding the release of A Rush of Blood was more than daunting for what was still a young and developing band. Despite this their second album was received positively. Coldplay were commended for their desire to move away from the proven success of Parachutes, and their bravery in searching out new ground and new sounds.

 

The biggest transformation between the first two albums is the influence of Chris Martin. Whereas Parachutes was driven by the cleaver guitar riffs supplied by Johnny Buckland, A Rush of Blood is lead by the sound of Martin and his piano, tracks such as The Scientist and Clocks being prime examples of this, and it was these tracks which would eventually be released as singles.

 

Looking back at the Coldplay discography, it has been suggested that A Rush of Blood represents the greatest inconsistency of a Coldplay album. Littered with some of their greatest tracks, Green Eyes, The Scientist, In My Place and Warning Sign being such examples, the album also contains some of the most forgettable Coldplay moments.

 

X&Y

 

Few would dispute that Coldplay’s greatest leap came between A Rush of Blood and X & Y. It seems that during this period a conscious decision was made by the group that they wanted to become a ‘stadium’ band, and the result is X & Y.

 

Arguably their bravest album, the band attempted to record a succession of stadium anthems, the most memorable of which being Fix You, Talk and Speed of Sound. The album received mixed reviews from many hardcore Coldplay fans who felt bewildered with the sudden change in direction; others praised the band for attempting such an ambitious step.

 

More diplomatic Coldplay followers appreciated the band’s endeavour to produce something more emphatic, but questioned the overall execution of their third album; an album which Coldplay themselves have recently described as their weakest. Despite the album’s mixed reaction, it did give Coldplay their first UK number 1 single in the form of Fix You. An achievement which was a number of years overdue.

 

Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends

 

The band collaborated with Brian Eno, the producer behind the success of U2, for their latest release. With the guidance of Eno, Coldplay managed to develop the ideas which brought them mixed reactions to X & Y, and ultimately produced a more rounded and well executed album.

 

Songs such as Viva La Vida, Lovers in Japan and Violet Hill are obviously written with the intention of being played to massive live audiences, yet even the more subtle and restrained tracks, such as Strawberry Swing and Death and All His Friends, manage to sit nicely on what is an altogether polished piece of work.

 

The Coldplay discography represents quite a remarkable evolution of a band that has covered considerable ground in just over a decade; and it is this ability to change, to evolve, and to experiment which has prolonged their success and brought them a steady stream of new followers to join ranks with the already giant army of faithful Coldplay admirers.

 

Source: http://indie-rock-music.suite101.com/

[busybeeburns]

X&Y: Arguably their bravest album, the band attempted to record a succession of stadium anthems, the most memorable of which being Fix You, Talk and Speed of Sound. The album received mixed reviews from many hardcore Coldplay fans who felt bewildered with the sudden change in direction; others praised the band for attempting such an ambitious step.

Hence the poll!

[R_Burns]

Poor article, doesn't even answer his own question.

[BerrymanGirl1]

the album also contains some of the most forgettable Coldplay moments

Aww thats not true!

[Arwen Evenstar]

that is a horrible article

learn how to write buddy :angry:

[Destrokk]

I think we all know the answer.

[The Final Track]

Article is a little short :\

[R_Burns]

Also factually wrong when he says Fix You got to UK #1. It only reached #4.

[The Escapist]

Poor article, doesn't even answer his own question.

 

But at least its not another article bashing the hell out of them.

[R_Burns]

But at least its not another article bashing the hell out of them.

 

I'd rather have read a negative one, at least that may have analysed why they don't like the lads rather than writing a pretty basic wikipedia entry for each album.

 

There are going to be negative responses to bands, granted some are unfair for their reasons, but I wouldn't like this world if we all agreed on music.

[SilverStar]

Really, i think the question here is ¿why choose the best album, if all we have great moments with every song?.

 

Every album is different, the only thing we can do is choose one that we like, we can't say what is the best, just the one we like more.

[karenc]

Poor article, doesn't even answer his own question.

 

Exactly...he posed a question, wrote what he thought about each album and then didn't leave any conclusion...shoddy work :thinking:

 

I don't really agree with the part about some of their most forgettable moments being on AROBTHH...I don't really agree with the article at all tbh :shrug:

 

Personally, I can't pick a favourite because each one has something different for me. Also which album is best is a matter of personal opinion, there is no way that everyone would ever agree on that, not that people should have to agree on it :rolleyes:

[NumbersGirl]

I don't really agree with the part about some of their most forgettable moments being on AROBTHH...I don't really agree with the article at all tbh :shrug:

 

Yeah, and he conveniently didn't mention which moments were forgettable... either because he's trying to sound cool/knowledgable, or because he forgot. :tongue:

[karenc]

Yeah, and he conveniently didn't mention which moments were forgettable... either because he's trying to sound cool/knowledgable, or because he forgot. :tongue:

 

I hope he forgot, I find that amusing :laugh4: :P

[mrman78]

Haha, that was funny. He didn't even finish the article!! Oh well, I don't agree with what he says about AROBTTH, but the others are fairly decent descriptions.

[jenshack24]

 

Personally, I can't pick a favourite because each one has something different for me. Also which album is best is a matter of personal opinion, there is no way that everyone would ever agree on that, not that people should have to agree on it :rolleyes:

 

This. If you put a gun to my head and demanded it of me, I'd say X&Y, but they're all equally wonderful in my mind for different reasons....

[Netoplay]

I don't care what do they think, I LOVE COLDPLAY :)

[flickahidalgo]

He gives his opinion in a decent way, bu I think everybody has a different opinion. So, I would have to not agree with this article. :\

[Arantza]

He didn't finish writing the article, did he? :P

 

In my opinion, you can't decide which album is the best because not everyone is going to agree with you. As some of you already mentioned, it depends in which album you like the best.