^... that's actually pretty short!
Parachutes:
Very intricate, very nice, it's an album where there's not one single bad song, and overall it's just a perfect masterpiece. The atmosphere to it is so warm... it's perfect for listening at dusk. Lyrics are great.
A Rush of Blood to the Head:
Honestly, this album is so perfect I just don't know where to start. Nailed the production (messier and more "organic" which fits the music so as to speak), like there's not a song just ruined and smothered in production. Flow is absolutely perfect. I love how from the third track it builds up all the way to Clocks. Opening track is a masterpiece, nuff said. You've got: Amsterdam, The Scientist, Politik, Warning Sign, A Rush Of Blood To The Head, Clocks, and In My Place, and every single one of those songs is just... an unexplainable work of art. I mean, they all have such an incredible feel to them, it's so hard to explain. Overall, this album is just... they just did everything right. It has this unique feel to it that I just can't put into words, you know. But it makes this album flow so well together. Melodies are strong, lyrics are magnificent. Instrumentation is very strong. This album is great for listening on cloudy days...
X&Y:
I like how they were trying sort of a new theme in this one. They were going with this future space sound while keeping some of their older sound. They were also reaching out to a bit more of an experimental side of them, not just towards the music, but towards the artwork. I loved how the album cover is a representation of Baudot code and the whole album seems to be about something missing and that everything's broken. It's a neat theme that I actually think comes from their recording sessions. I honestly think the theme refers back to the recording sessions because 52 songs were thrown away from the album, and they probably felt like something was missing. And, they could have kept going on and on, since to this day they still feel like there's something missing from the album as a whole. In my opinion, there isn't anything really missing from the album itself, it sounds quite whole and complete, but the theme is a neat one nonetheless, using the Baudot code to represent it (I love how you can generate code, as you probably have guessed by now I used the album art generator to make my avatar) :D
I also like how they took the time to put 13 FULL LENGTH songs on the album. Which means no hidden tracks. For example. Mylo has 14 tracks technically, but 3 of them aren't even a minute long. When you see this album and its 13 tracks, they're not kidding you; they're full length tracks. And, surprisingly enough, the shortest song on the album falls just under 4 minutes, and that's pretty good. Our new album has surprisingly short tracks, there's 3 tracks that are 3 minutes long, and two tracks are 2 minutes and 1 minute long. There's 3 tracks 4 minutes long that are less than 4:30, and there's only 3 longer tracks than that. Meanwhily, X&Y has the majority of it's 13 tracks being longer than 4:30. That's what I call commitment; with a 13 track album, you'd expect mostly 3 minute songs, but they knew better this time around and made sure that they were full length tracks, and that they weren't making the album seem longer than it actually is. *cough*Mylo*cough*
This album is definetely more synth-heavy than the others. However, they sound great, they didn't smother the tracks in the synths or anything, and they have a lighter feel to them which helps I suppose. Also, they made the synths actually mean something, giving a certain space feel to the tracks, and not just throwing them all over the track meaninglessly like you see in most pop songs today
Overall, this is a solid, and very well done album (contrary to the band's thoughts). Falls in the top 3. This album is suitable for listening on a rainy day. :D
Viva la Vida or Death And All His Friends:
Hoooooolly experimentation! WOW! They've done it all in this album. With Brian Eno on board, this was sure to be a great album. Now Brian Eno of course is known for being the father of ambient music (Please Coldplay, do a full album of this sometime in the future :() however not much of that showed up on here, outside of the Violet Hill intro, of course. Still, I love that they're playing with exotic instruments. I even like how they created that ever-so-infectious main part in Life in Technicolor with an instrument that I don't even know the name of! It sounds really interesting, for sure though. I mean, you have Lost!, trying out new drum sounds, Viva la Vida (same idea) which also combines slightly sad lyrics with such a beautiful melody that's uplifting, yet sad in a way. The Goldrush seems waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay outside of anything Coldplay would do. One of their most experimental tracks for sure. Glass of Water's lyrics are in 7/4? I don't even know how that's possible.... I mean, this album was one of their peaks in terms of experimentation. The tracks have this certain feel to them, again, that I really can't explain.
I also like how they did this Prospekt's March EP thing where they showed off some of their other more raw stuff that didn't make the album. I wish they'd have done that more, especially in the later eras of Coldplay where they never really did that anymore. They even released the demos.
This album I guess would be good for listening to in the slightly late afternoon I guess? :D
Mylo Xyloto:
Here comes... MY FAVORITE ALBUM OF COLDPLAY! :D
Wow. Just wow. I don't know where to start. Something COMPLETELY new from Coldplay here, They're taking a slight pop direction (yet retaining most of their rock sound from before). Bursting full of color and energy this one is. I LOVE the big stadium anthems that sprung from these album's recording sessions. I would have loved to have seen the acoustic album as well though. (Come on Coldplay, you know that there could have been room for an Prospekt's March-style EP here too.... :()
You have: Paradise, Up With The Birds, U.F.O, Us Against The World, ETIAW, Hurts Like Heaven, Don't Let it Break Your Heart, and Charlie Brown. Same idea with AROBTTH: all of them are just so perfect, especially the first 4 or 5, and they seem like true tracks. They all have this feel to them. I just don't know what it is. A magical feel to them.
I really don't feel the need to say much more. This is just a perfect album (besides the flow which is fine for the first half, but gets a little off in the second half). It's full of life, color and energy.... I love that. I don't know. Just so perfect.
Suitable for listening in the late afternoon.
Ghost Stories:
They're taking it back to Parachutes, everyone. This album is a nice return to the intricate style of their earliest works. The warm atmosphere is replaced by a more cool one. Flow is very nice. I really like the experimental "Midnight" of this album; I'd have wished more of the album was like this, it's a very nice ambient track. (I hope they continue this trend with LP8, ambient seems like the next way to go for Coldplay.) Fly On is the perfect piano ballad to end the album. I like how "ASFOS" was the "light at the end of the tunnel" so as to speak in which they'd go and build off of AHFOD.
This album is perfect for listening to at midnight. Makes it even better.
A Head Full Of Dreams:
Well, you want experimentation? You've got experimentaion. It seems to have came back. The band continues to slide just a bit further into the pop and R&B scene with "Hymn for the Weekend". You have a disco rock track on here, the guitar riff is so freaking infectious! You've got an originally alt-rock band that now has gone so experimental as to try the "tapping on glass" in HFTW and the trumpets, and even going into hip-hop. I don't think another band could do that. The flow is actually pretty decent in this album. Up&Up is soaring, and has not one but two guitar solos, a choir (INCLUDING BRIAN ENO, good things possibly for LP8? :D), Merry Clayton, Noel Gallagher, Chris' children, and Annabelle Wallis, potentially among others, on this massive celebratory track. On the album, there is the most amount of collaborations, with Beyonce and Tove Lo. Davide Rossi doing strings on two tracks, and even Gwyneth Paltrow is in the album! They really wanted to include everyone this time around... makes sense for a celebratory and happy album. This album's theme is great!
I guess this album is great for listening to... sometime in the late morning? I don't know. Makes sense, but I'm honestly not sure.
There you have it. :D
that took a little longer than expected :P