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Rank Coldplay's 6 Studio Albums

jc90

By jc90
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HowCouldIForget

HowCouldIForget

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1. :arobtth: |9.8| Stylistically, it doesn't get much better. Chris's talented piano playing always blows me away, Jonny's shimmery guitars are lovely and the acoustic guitars are top notch. Lyrically, there are no complaints. The Scientist and Clocks stand out the most to me as they are my favorite songs of all-time. There's not a song here that isn't fantastic and although I'd probably rank it third lyrically, I've never found an album that speaks to me so incredibly on a purely musical level. A Warning Sign is the song I hear in my head when someone mentions alternative/alt rock music. It's amazing this album was made, it's an incredible feat and my favorite album ever.

 

2. :viva: |9.7| The masterpiece I wasn't expecting at all. X&Y was definitely a step down after A Rush of Blood and I didn't know what to expect. I was overwhelmed at the sheer talent and cultural infusions dripping from the album. It's the most worldly and instrumentally diverse album I've ever heard, it has its own genre as far as I'm concerned. Jonny just started to hit his stride as an amazing guitarist which would carry much of MX. The most lyrically impressive and abstract (which I'd feared I might not like reading the journal entries), I think objectively it's their best album, my personal musical preference puts A Rush just ahead of it though. I can't listen to just one song, I always listen to it all the way through.

 

3. :parachutes: |9.3| Parachutes is immensely impressive for a debut album, the best one as far as I'm concerned. Chris's falsetto is so fragile and beautiful, as Will's methodic percussion and Jonny's soaring solos create a gorgeous and bittersweet backdrop to Chris's regrets and apologetic tone. Perhaps the most relatable and emotional, it's also the most-important for laying the groundwork for Coldplay's future successes, the sheer honesty and chemistry of the band underscore Chris's somewhat quirky and endearing lyrical style here in particular. No album feels so peaceful, uplifting and composed of raw talent.

 

4. :mx: |9.1 |This is the most complicated album because it deserves to be higher. But the fact is, Princess of China and (to a much lesser extent) paradise cost this album points. If Christ,as Lights and/or Moving to Mars replaced these songs, it would be A Rush and VlV level which makes it tragic in my opinion. Jonny's blooming into an incredible guitarist is the biggest strength of MX and his work on HLH, ETiaW, MM and DLBYH is mind-blowing, arguably his best performance by leaps and bounds. Will also excels, proving his mastery of the drums, unafraid to pick up speed and tempo and also showcasing some of his best work her (in stark contrast with GS). Chris's lyrics are powerful, especially on UAtW and UwtB, second only to VlV in terms of the album as a whole. The most underrated album and the one with the most potential unrealized.

 

5. :x&y: |8.6| The first album I heard by Cold play and my first 'favorite' when I became a fan in 2006. For all of it's strengths, namely the ethereal outer space motif and the brilliance of tracks like Talk, A Message and Twisted Logic, the album presents its share of faults as well. Swallowed in the Sea had hands down the worst lyrics of any Cold play song until more than half of the songs from GS beat it this year. Classics like Fix You feel melodically and lyrically underwhelming, while Speed of Sound is still great but far from the perch it once occupied as my favorite Coldplay song long ago. White Shadow's existential and insightful lyrics on humanity and the nature of existence are hurt by the bombast and overwhelming walls of synths- there's almost always a moderate flaw to hinder the greatness of each song on the album.

 

6. :gs: |6.5|There's "stripped-down" and then there's "removing most of the music, peeling away the talent and acting as though Chris and a drum machine are the only two members of Coldplay." This is the latter. Something about this album is so unlike them. The awkward and forced lyrics, the dumbed-down and even generic (or nonexistent) melodies here and there. That Coldplay soul and reputation for putting effort into every song unlike most artists nowadays seems absent here. True Love and Magic are songs I won't even listen to and ASFoS isn't much better. O is what saves the album, far too mature, gracefully crafted and compelling to fit with most of the album. Midnight is another bright spot and always in My Head is goodish as well. And that's just the problem. When has Coldplay ever been just 'good-ish? ', something that's even rather generous to be said about GS. I hope they can't go any lower but only time will tell.

 

*Note Ghost Story and All Your Friends are bonus tracks and don't count as part of GS. Parachutes had Careful Where You Stand and X&Y had a bonus track or two and I don't see people considering them as apart of those. :P

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  • 5 weeks later...
texfischer

texfischer

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Keep in mind that I'm rating eras, not just albums; that includes B-sides, EPs, and anything else which got an official release. My 2 cents are as follows:

 

:viva: 8.19

The best thing ever, basically... The variety of sound and tone while maintaining a lyrical theme is impressive. This album never gets old and is my favorite album of all time by far.

 

:arobtth: 8.14

A close second for me, there's not a bad song on the whole thing. It has an edge to it that hasn't been found since and that's a shame.

 

:parachutes: 8.07

The most heartfelt of all, beautiful lyrics, the whole album is somehow calming, very raw sounding, I love it.

 

:mx: 7.71

This being in 3rd place in spite of Princess Of China speaks to how great the rest of the album is. I could spend quite a while speaking to how much I detest that cancer on Mylo Xyloto is, but I shan't. Paradise is soaringly beautiful, Moving to Mars is a hidden gem, and Up With The Birds is the perfect closer to such a colorful and optimistic album.

 

:x&y: 7.69

A much better album than it's said to be, in my opinion. Though, it suffers from a somewhat serious case of monotony. Songs like White Shadows, Talk, and Square One sound much alike. Most of the album has a similarity to it whoch goes a bit beyond just a theme, that's really its greatest flaw.

 

:gs: 7.21

Atlas gave me great hope for this new era, but is hasn't quite been what I hoped. The first time I listened to Midnight, my reaction was, "That was... interesting..." I had no clue to expect from Ghost Stories after that. I listened to it a few more times and it quicklyt took a place in my top 10. Magic did nothing for me and A Sky Full Of Stars was immensely underwhelming. O, Ghost Story, All Your Friends, and more than compensate for Ink and Another's Arms. All this being said, I'd rather have this disappointing Coldplay album than 90% of other bands "good" stuff.

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Falcon

Falcon

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1)Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends: Coldplay's peak. It was a great era with incredible, well planned songs. The lyrics were phenomenal. Every song had its own special theme and mood to it. It had variety. Every track stands out in its own way. One of the greatest albums of the late 2000's. It had me Strawberry Swinging all day.

 

2)A Rush of Blood to the Head: You could hear THEM. Like others have said, this album expresses their true sound. Mellow, yet filling. Nothing was empty, nothing was too flashy. It was so balanced, with a track flow that flowed like a stream. It represented their growth as muscians. This was the rising action that soon lead to the climax of their career.

 

3)Parachutes: This album's music was as light as a feather. It was so tranquil and peaceful. I enjoyed the acoustics and the fluidity of the tracks. I never really liked the color yellow until I listened to that song. It's a great album, a breakthrough for them... However... I felt like there was something missing in certain tracks.

 

4)X and Y: I love this album. The songs had character and energy. I enjoyed "Talk" a lot and "X and Y" became my IPad alarm clock sound. Not the best songwriting, but I did understand the feelings and emotions coming out from each track. I feel like there were a few flaws and minor complications with this, but as we all know not everything can be perfect.

 

5:Mylo Xyloto: This album didn't impress me as much as the other top 4. The couldn't really hear the instruments that well in some songs... It seemed overshadowed by filters. It wasn't very raw. It sounded like just another pop album. There were a few exceptions of course, I'm fine with "Us Against the World" (I felt like the lyrics were nice... And I could kind of relate to this song). "Up With the Birds" sounded like a good movie soundtrack and a great way to end a playlist. Otherwise, they could have done better.

 

6: Ghost Stories: It felt more raw than Mylo, but I just couldn't connect with this album very much. The songwriting could have been better. I understand that Chris was pouring his heart out in this album (I saw that hour long Zane Lowe interview), but I just wasn't captivated. I'm not a big fan of the electronic sounding, "A Sky Full of Stars". Like some of the other tracks it was a little too simple. I appreciate them for expanding their field, but they could have explored more than just electronic based music in my opinion. The only songs I could really get something out of were, "Oceans", "Always in My Head" and maybe "O".

 

Wow. That took long. Sorry for being too critical.

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  • 2 months later...
ColdplayingfromKansas

ColdplayingfromKansas

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1. VLVoDAAHF - To me, this is and always will be the most perfect album to ever exist. Every song is so diverse, but comes together in a way that is just mind-blowing. I listen to this album more often than any other by any artist, and it still hasn't gotten old. This was Coldplay's peak as far as I'm concerned, and each of the guys were at their absolute best. The story is fantastic, the songs are fantastic, the era was fantastic.

 

2. Ghost Stories - Some people say this album is pretty cheesy, but the only song I find cheesy is ASFoS :P I love the rawness and honesty of the lyrics, and I love that it kind of mashes together each of Coldplay's eras into one album. Maybe it's just because I was going through a rough time relationship-wise when this came out, but I can really relate to this album. That being said, I don't particularly care for Magic and Ink, but if they were swapped out with Ghost Story and All Your Friends, this one would be a lot closer to perfect for me.

 

3. ARoBttH - I know, I know, how dare I put A Rush third :P Honestly, I love this album basically as much as the first two, but someone had to come third. There are a few songs that for some reason I just don't care for, even though I know lyrically/musically they are great (Green Eyes, Warning Sign). It does include my all-time favorite song (A Rush of Blood to the Head) and the song that first made me fall in love with Coldplay (Clocks), so even though this album may not come in first place, it's still pretty special to me.

 

4. Parachutes - This is where the albums go from "I can listen to the whole thing and love it" to "I can listen to most of the album and love it." I love most of the individual songs on Parachutes, but if I listen to them all in a row I get bored a lot faster than with the first three albums. It's still one of my favorites, but I definitely listen to it less frequently.

 

5. X&Y - Now things start to get kinda negative. X&Y has its moments (Swallowed in the Sea, Twisted Logic, White Shadows, Talk, A Message), but I feel like this album is too "cluttered" for me to enjoy listening to it straight through. If the guys had pared it down to 10 songs or so instead of the 13 it has now, I would definitely listen to it more often.

 

6. Mylo Xyloto - This is really the only album that has two songs I truly like (Major Minus and UWtB). To me, it sounds like they were trying to make Viva II and went in the wrong direction stylistically. The lyrics aren't all that good, and the overall sound is just too pop-y for me. My favorite song from this era isn't even on the album :P

 

 

EDIT: Added some elaboration :P

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Liam

Liam

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1. A rush of the blood to the head

2. Viva La Vida

3. X&Y

4. Parachutes

5. Mylo Xyloto

6. Ghost Stories

 

I put mylo and ghost stories last because i think out of them all, they are the only 2 that i actually skip songs on the albums when i'm listening to them! The rest are perfect (Yes even X&Y) But nothing beats AROTBTTH!

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Nature

Nature

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Here's my rank list.

 

1.Ghost Stories

2.AROBTTH

3.VIVA

4.Parachutes

5.X&Y

6.MX (ofcourse :P )

 

There was a time X&Y was my number 1 Coldplay album, but after a recent listening, i dont know why i thought it was THAT good, now i find it to be one of there lesser albums.

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HowCouldIForget

HowCouldIForget

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I'm not sure if my rankings have changed since the last time I posted on this thread, but I'll post it again :)

 

Samesies

 

1. A Rush of Blood to the Head (9.8)

2. Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (9.7)

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3. Parachutes (9.3)

4. Mylo Xyloto (9.1) (if they had dropped PoC and added MtM this would be up with the first two)

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5. X&Y (8.5)

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Ghost Stories (6.7) (I don't include the bonus tracks, they're not apart of the album anywhere but here in the U.S. so don't count and stylistically they sound nothing like GS)

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  • 3 weeks later...
ciaA26

ciaA26

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1. Rush of Blood to the Head- My favourite album of all time. PLEASE GO BACK TO THIS STYLE!

2. X and Y- I really don't get why nobody appreciates this album, even the band themselves

3. Mylo Xyloto- So many killer tracks with a couple of poor ones thrown in

4. Viva la Vida- Great album, but not all to my taste

5. Ghost Stories- I can listen to every song on the album but nothing grips me

6. Parachutes- I'll just say sorry for this one

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