The cynic is compelled, amidst the frenzied run-up to what many are already touting as the rock album of the year, to ask a simple question: Why Coldplay?
Why, out of all the musicians plugging diligently away at their trade in this day and age, is this amiable troupe of young, sensitive Britons being touted as the group to unseat the likes of the Rolling Stones, U2 and Radiohead as the world's most beloved rock band? They're good, make no mistake — Coldplay's best songs ("Yellow," "Trouble," "Clocks") are the sort of indelible pop anthems that will haunt us all to our graves — but they're a bit too normal to qualify as the world's most interesting band.Why U2 or the Rolling Stones or Radiohead, though? What matters is consensus, and Coldplay is that rare rock 'n' roll animal that everyone can get behind: Not too arty to alienate the masses, ambitious enough in its populism to earn the respect of critics and music geeks, earnest and honest enough that even full-on haters will concede it's preferable to have them at the top of the charts and all over the radio than, say, Il Divo.
Having a handsome frontman who can seemingly compose exquisite girly-boy ballads in his sleep doesn't hurt, either; they may have moved a lot of units, but Fred Durst and Chad Kroeger will never hold quite the same sway over female record buyers that Chris Martin does.
The swooning faction was, thus, out in force for Coldplay's extremely hot-ticket club gig at Kool Haus last night (scalpers were offering to buy single tickets for in excess of $150), one of a handful of "intimate" North American dates cuing up the release next month of its third album, X&Y. Their boyfriends and husbands, however, were willing accomplices, and they stood alongside a full complement of hipsters, Brit-pop aficionados, writers and recording-industry types out for the occasion.
Coldplay — which played its first, sold-out Toronto gig in the same venue five years ago before quickly ascending to arenas and amphitheatres — demonstrated, meanwhile, that it has become more than capable of delivering the kind of sweepingly immodest musical gestures that rock superstars are supposed to deliver, and that X&Y will continue to do that process.
Blustery new number "Square One" segued seamlessly into A Rush of Blood to the Head's stirring "Politik" and "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face" at the outset, while "What If" and "Speed of Sound" commanded enough presence to compete with rapturously received standards like "In My Place," signature hit "Yellow" and the towering "Clocks." On the quieter side, a mildly Zeppelin-esque acoustic ditty that will serve as a hidden track on X&Y and Rush's lovely "Warning Sign" confirmed that Martin's talents as a singer and songwriter need not be applied to the self-conscious epic to shine.
If we must have a Biggest Band in the World, there are far more objectionable candidates for the job. Watch your back, Bono.
from today's edition of the Toronto Star, A31. No colour picture of them though! Only b&w of Chris. :(
[thanks timeo]
by BEN RAYNER
POP MUSIC CRITIC
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