A Rush Of Blood To the Head - 10th Anniversary - August 26, 2012

[RazorEye]

 

At this point in time, Coldplay were an cult band. Living off the mild success of their debut studio album, 2000's Parachutes, they gained alot of attention as being the next big rock act. As the media shone the spotlight on major releases such as U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind, Radiohead's Amnesiac, and Muse's legendary Origin of Symmetry, Coldplay didn't seem like a big contender in the game of thrones, but then again they weren't really aiming for that to begin with. The band's hopes relied on them recording their second studio album for Parlophone, and they did so in a relatively quiet fashion, setting a release date for the follow-up to the acoustically centered Parachutes for August 26, 2002.

 

10 Years, 3 Studio Albums, 24 Singles and millions of records sold later, A Rush of Blood to the Head, Coldplay's legendary second studio album, has been cited as one of the greatest albums of the decade. It's legacy is one that not many albums of the past 10 years has achieved. Amongst Coldplayers, this album is practically a religion, and amongst alternative rock fans like myself, one that should never be left unheard.

 

Since it's release in 2002, it has won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album (2003), Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "In My Place" (2003) and for Record of the Year for "Clocks" (2004). It earned them Best British Album of the Year athe the BRIT Awards (2003) and was selected as Q's album of the year for 2002. So far, it has reached #1 in 10 countries and #1 on the European chart, also reaching a peak of #5 on the Billboard 200. It has been certified 9x Platinum in the UK, 4x Platinum in the US and 7x Platinum in Australia, with accumulative sales of 2.7 million units in the UK and over 15 million worldwide. It currently has a score of 80 on Metacritic and a user score of 8.6. A Rush of Blood to the Head has also been chosen as Billboard's Critic's Choice for 2002, and was nominated for the BRIT Award for Album of 30 Years at the 2010 awards. It placed #21 on Rolling Stone's Top 100 albums of the 2000s and #466 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums.

 

Join me in celebrating the 10th anniversary of one of the greatest albums of our time.

 

This is A Rush of Blood to the Head

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEoHFzEmld0]In My Place - 5 August 2002[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqWLpTKBFcU]The Scientist - 4 November 2002[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d020hcWA_Wg]Clocks - 10 December 2002[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9Kcg_8gK30]God Put a Smile upon Your Face - 14 July 2003[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2PxjcBl1ZI]Warning Sign[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHlYLt7Vt2c]Politik[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2EECqOznSg]Daylight (Live 2003)[/ame]

 

[Coeurli]

Amazing! :awesome: And nicely done :D

And I'll be here August 26th! Yeaah!!!! :D

 

 

Oh how I love this album :heart:

Every single song. AROBTTH defines Coldplay's sound. A milestone in their career. It's intense, powerful, beautiful without getting too cheesy, and one of their strongest albums lyrically.

 

Politik is one of the most epic songs ever, imo. The piano part is one of the most beautiful piece of music ever, AND it adds drama to daily life situations, like running to catch a bus for instance :lol:

 

In my place is not only amazing, it's now also the Buckin moment of their gigs :awesome::lol: It is so awesome that even a Bad Lip Reading version of this song IS awesome :lol: I love the Live 8 performance of this song, with the amazing: "And I like it, I like it, I like it, laaalalala everyboodyyy, rockin all over the wooorld, rockin all over the wooorld" :awesome:

 

God Put A Smile Upon Your Face, their "longest title ever" as Chris said, is not a song that I instantly fell in love with, I gotta admit, but it quickly grew on me and I now LOVE it :D The recent live version is badass. And this song proves again Coldplay's awesomeness. A simple "honey, honey" is enough to make thousands of fangirls faint. True story.

 

The Scientist....oh The Scientist :cry::wacky::cry::wacky::bigcry:

A beautiful ballad that makes the crowd cry in concerts, I heard. One of the first Coldplay songs I've ever heard and loved. A piano melody and lines such as "NOOOBODY SAAID IT WAS EAAAASSYYYYYYY" that anyone would recognize. And, finally, one of Coldplay's best videos, with the amazing idea of the story told in backwards.

 

Clocks, is, for me, as well as Politik, one hell of an epic song. A hard-hitting, powerful song that represents the album well. And the live videos do not contradict that. If I ever get bored of it, I listen to another version, as there are so many of them :lol:, and it gets me every time. An acoustic version, a live concert version, any of them. Jonny's riff, Will's drums, Chris' voice...

It's taken a more personal meaning to me recently, as I actually heard it LOUD in my mind at a moment where I was to decide whether I'd take an opportunity or not. Well, I took it & I was right to do so. Thank you Coldplay.

 

Daylight is a song I didn't like very much at first, for some reason :confused: But watching their performance at the TOTP, I believe, well my reaction was: oooohhmyyyyyyy :dazzled: Fangirl mode switched on :lol: As some other crazy fangirls pointed out in the Chris' thread, that song is HAWT. And it's Chris' fault. Anyway, Daylight is another intense song from an intense album.

 

Green Eyes :dazzled: was written partly for an "American friend" of Chris, and partly for Jonny :awesome: I had fell in love with this song 2 years ago already, I think, before even becoming a fan of the band. I saw a cute video on Youtube, of a man dancing in his living room, to this song, while his wife was on the computer. 2 minutes later she joins him & they dance together and they're having fun. Lovely :wacky:

They performed it yesterday for the first time in a while, as I believe they had stopped after/at the end of the Viva tour. I read it was because Chris got tired of being asked: "OMG IS THIS SONG FOR GWYNETH ?!"

Anyway, such a lovely ballad. :wacky:

 

Warning Sign is another amazing burstin-into-tears song. I love it but not as much as many of the fans here :lol: The recent live version is amazing, though. My eyes were filled with tears when I first heard it.

 

A Whisper is probably the least popular song on this album, meaning the least known. In an interview from 2008, Chris said he loved that song. I don't listen to it a lot, but I think it rocks. Guitar and drums kick ass once again.

 

A Rush Of Blood To The Head has some of the greatest lyrics of Coldplay's entire catalogue. Again, not a love-at-first-listen love for me, but it quickly grew on me as I absolutely love it now. One of Coldplay's hidden treasures.

 

And, finally, Amsterdam is one of the most hauntingly beautiful Coldplay songs ever. An intense, powerful song, and its Live 2003 version is for me the best version. Touching lyrics, beautiful piano melody and a voice that always makes me wonder in what context this song was written, as Chris seems to mean every single word with all his heart.

 

So, to resume, AROBTTH is for me an intense and powerful album that shows what Coldplay can do. Kudos to Coldplay as it was only the second album of an incredible career.

 

THANK YOU COLDPLAY :heart:

 

 

 

Oh, and let's not forget a video that gave us an insight of Coldplay's unique recording process and how AROBTTH could have sounded like :uhoh:

 

[ame=

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[/ame]

 

:lol:

 

 

OMG, sorry for the long post :embarrassed:

[Phoebeo]

A Rush of Blood To The Head is damn beautiful/amazing. For some reason I didn't used to give much for that album, but I seem to grow more to it with age.

¨

My review:

 

Politik - One of the most powerful songs I know. It's beyond amazing. One day I wish to hear this song live. And give me love over, love over, love over this.

 

In my place - Great live song. :wacky: I have now seen Coldplay twice, and it's amazing to hear live.

 

God Put a smile upon your face - again, - Such a powerful song, and I love the video. This was one of theese songs that just made me love Coldplay, and made me stay when not-so-good-songs annoyed me. :heart:

 

 

The Scientist - A very beautiful song. The guitar part near the end is awesome.

 

Clocks - My favorite Coldplay song. I didn't used to give much for it, but I felt in love with it, when I heard the live version on LRLRL. According to Itunes, this song have been played more than 300 times. :dazzled:

 

Daylight - Amazing live song, and very inspiring. :wacky: I used to paint a lot while listening to this. :dazzled:

 

Green eyes - GE is just beautiful. I can't help it but envy this American Friend, and Jonny, just a tiny bit. It's so powerful, and one of my all time favorite songs.

 

Warning Sign - Beautiful song. Unlike most of the album it have never been a favorite for me, but it's still gives me the shivers.

 

A Whisper - Night turns to day

And I still have these questions

Bridges will break

Should I go forwards or backwards

Night turns to day

And I still get no answers

Just a whisper, whisper, whisper, whisper. I have always liked the lyrics for this one, and I love how it's easy to relate to.

 

A rush of blood to the head - I don't even have words for how much I adore this song. It's lyrically and musically one of the best songs I know. This song makes me proud of being a Coldplay fan. I wish more people knew it. :heart:

So Im gonna buy a gun and start a war

If you can tell me something worth fighting for

 

 

Amsterdam - Such a powerful song. Like AROBTTH, I think it's one of Coldplay's best songs, and I wish that more people knew it, and could hear that Coldplay does amazing songs with amazing lyrics.

Stuck on the end of this ball and chain

And I'm on my way back down again

Stood on a bridge, tied to the noose

Sick to the stomach

You can say what you mean

but it won't change a thing

I'm sick of the secrets

Stood on the edge

tied to the noose

She came along and she cut me loose

You came along and you cut me loose

You came along and you cut me loose

[Mackplay]

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE this album :dazzled:

[Lena Berryman]

My favorite album :heart: It has great songs (like every Coldplay album), but it has an interesting large variety, which inspires me a lot. My (two) favorite songs of Coldplay are on it (GPASUYF & Politik). But in general, it's a great mix! Their music helps me in any situation! I love it and I love Coldplay! So, thank you for everything :heart:

[Black Dog]

Like every good album, this one ties in with your personal life and creates great memories. It's one that reminds you of lots of past things every time you listen.

[coldplaymom]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb_7C1vMpRQ]Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head (Live 2003) - YouTube[/ame]

[Phoebeo]

^ :dazzled:

 

And

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-mFwMQTDuM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-mFwMQTDuM[/ame] :heart:

[Cheese Nip 2]

Wow ten years! What a great album. Even with all the praise it's gotten already I think in the future people are gonna look back on it and realize it's even better than they originally thought!

[LdySpace]

Happy Anniversary to my favorite album as well!!!

[Pink]

Perfect album.

 

Here's a favorite of mine, possibly because I vividly remember hearing it live over the radio. I wasn't a crazy fan at the time. In fact, I was an emotionally raw young mom, trying to deal with a very difficult infant. Then this came on the radio and stopped me in my tracks. I called my husband and told him he couldn't come home without stopping to buy me the album.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkMGf2_NKvs]Coldplay-The Scientist (Acoustic) - YouTube[/ame]

[PrincessofChina]

I wish I had a nice way of stating how much I appreciate this album.. it's my favorite, and it probably will always be. Absolutely love it.

[Spider-Man]

Woke up to this song this morning. Rush of Blood is an amazing album. 10 years of awesomeness and counting...and still going. I have realized you have to have a taste for the song Daylight, it's good, but never grabbed my attention like other songs.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf4cTlgG_cc]Coldplay - A Whisper - YouTube[/ame]

[MasoKnight]

As an album, I think VLV still tops AROBTTH for me, but Coldplay have never been on a writing streak like they were during the AROBTTH era. That album + its b-sides + live additions. Incredible.

[onewordepic]

This is without a doubt the best Coldplay Album out there, so personal, so emotional, so downright heartbreaking. This album haunts you for years, 10 years isnt enough to get this album out of my head.

[the scientist is dead]

Every single song on this album makes me shiver...every time I hear them!!! They never get old...

The scientist video and song made me fall in love with Coldplay...and I love it because of that...

Politik is the best musically, and lyricaly song I've ever heard...

A rush of blood to the head is the perfect song you can relate to...such brilliant lyrics and guitar!

Clocks...OMG , the best piano part I've ever heard!!! And drums of course!

A warning sign is so nostalgic for me, I cry every time I hear it...

Daylight just has the best chorus EVER!

Amsterdam...can't even talk about this genius song...piece of art!

God put a smile upon your face always puts a smile upon my face really...and it's great live!

In my place...great drums...and great lyrics, and of course great live version!

And finally a whisper...definitely underrated!!!! It is just soooo great!!! I'll leave it to that...

[kittybitty]

This is my all time favorite Coldplay album. I got it because I had liked Parachutes, and my hubby and I took the CD on our one year anniversary trip to San Diego, and played it all the way. I was blown away by Politic, especially since almost all of Parachutes was so very subtle and quiet. I can still listen to AROBTTH 10 years later in amazement at the musicianship--there is a lot going on in every song, you keep hearing new things. I especially love Warniing Sign (so gorgeous, instruments played beautifully) and the title song. It just keeps me in awe with how good it is.

 

Thank you, Coldplay, ten years later.

[anacaren08]

Aw without a doubt, my favorite album of all time! This album is the one that made me fall in love with Coldplay :heart::heart: the nest purchase i have done was to buy this album. And i still remember that first day hearing it. Every single song is beautiful and amazing!!!! It is a masterpiece and it's perfect :heart::heart: can't believe it's been 10yrs ago now! I'll never get tired of this album, it will always be my favorite!

[eva71]

What about an anniversary reedition? :)

[RazorEye]

^ That would be an amazing idea! With single re-issues too!

[m@r@]

Great reviews :)

 

It's my favourite album as well. So many powerful songs with melodies and lyrics that make you shiver/cry/feel absolutely great.

You just feel the deep honesty and this mix of feelings in this album.

It's hard to find outstanding tracks on this album, because every single song is beautiful in its own way. The lyrics are so so good and I think every single person can relate to them even if we don't always completely understand what the song is about.

 

The Scientist is one of my all time favourite songs. It is so simple but so powerful and meaningful. And it has made me cry every time I saw it live. This song means so so so much to me.

 

I'm so happy that they also played Warning Sign recently and even Green Eyes (I still haven't watched the vid ; I loved Green Eyes in the VLV Tour so much) because they're so beautiful and simple.

In my opinion, they should play Amsterdam again as it's one of their most beautiful songs ever. And I agree with Céline who said that the Live 2003 was the best version.

 

It's not necessary to describe every song of that album, because they're all great.

 

I think it's just a simple, authentic, powerful and beautiful album.

 

I wish I could have been a Coldplay fan back then.

 

:heart: :heart: :heart: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY AROBTTH :heart: :heart: :heart:

[RazorEye]

Trivia

 

Did you know that the artwork for A Rush of Blood was originally meant to be inverted colors?

 

 

Does Rush look better in black? I personally think so.

[katja]

No doubts,

BEST COLDPLAY ALBUM !!!!

[postcards]

Like it in black. Thanx for all the reviews. That album is so special. It's ageless, they write songs to stand the test of time. The Scientist, Clocks, A Whisper, Daylight, Rush Of Blood To The Head. My favorites. :heart: Always said, are these the same guys from the first album???

[JM-42]

I will always love this album. nough said.