Whether you're obsessed with Coldplay or just a casual listener you can't deny their impact on the world. Their music can be seen everywhere from movies, tv shows, cafés, airports, grocery stores and even in elevators (unfortunately). I am big Coldplay fan from back to their early days in 2000 all the way to present day and when the question of "what are the top 3 Coldplay CDs of all time" came up in small little café in an even smaller southern French village called Lasseube, it really got me to really thinking.
Take a look at what I came up with...
Parachutes
Parachutes was released after the band had gone through many transformations. They weren't always known as "Coldplay". They were first known as "Pectoralz" (I think that's pretty funny.) back in 1996. Afterwards they brought in Guy Berryman on bass and they changed their name to Starfish. It actually wasn't until 1998 that they finally settled on the name "Coldplay" (Thank God!)
Ok so, Parachutes was released in 2000 but before that they had already released 3 EPs, "Safety" in 1998, "Brothers & Sisters" in 1999 and "The Blue Room" in the same year. But when Parachutes came out they released the single "Yellow" and achieved stardom. This is not only a great song but the video is actually a one-shot take where lead-singer Chris Martin is walking down a beach, singing into the camera and by the end the sun comes up behind him right on the last note. Brilliant!
Their 2nd release from the album was "Trouble" which was a somber and dark video but with a beautiful uplifting nuance behind it.
A Rush Of Blood To The Head
After the success of their 1st major CD they went back into the studio in 2001 to record their 2nd, "A Rush of blood to the head". In this CD Coldplay manages to do what most new bands fail to do...raise the bar to their success. You see, what unfortunately happens to most bands is that they peak with their first album and then never write anything as good ever again. What most people don't realize is that, usually speaking, a band's first CD is actually an amalgamation of work that's taken them 10 years to write. By the time they get signed their record labels allow only one year to release their 2nd album which culminates in their demise. Great songs like "In My Place", "Clocks" and "The Scientist" spawned from this 2002 hit record. "The Scientist" was inspired by George Harrison's song "All things must pass".
Viva la Vida or Death and all his Friends
I love this album for the shear fact that a band has the guts to try new ideas, and then when they do they come out with great songs like "Viva la Vida" and "Violet Hill". This album began production in 2006 with producer Brian Eno. The hit song "Viva la Vida" received a lawsuit from guitarist Joe Satriani in 2008 for copyright infringement. Basically, Joe said that their song sounded exactly like his song "If I could fly" from his 2004 album. And though I do agree that there are similarities in one of the melodies, neither songs as a whole sound alike. Coldplay denied the allegation and an unspecified settlement was reached between the two.
If one word could describe Coldplay as a whole I would have to choose the word "Consistent". Very few bands have the staying power as Coldplay, to be able to pump out hit after hit.
Take a look at what I came up with...
Parachutes
Parachutes was released after the band had gone through many transformations. They weren't always known as "Coldplay". They were first known as "Pectoralz" (I think that's pretty funny.) back in 1996. Afterwards they brought in Guy Berryman on bass and they changed their name to Starfish. It actually wasn't until 1998 that they finally settled on the name "Coldplay" (Thank God!)
Ok so, Parachutes was released in 2000 but before that they had already released 3 EPs, "Safety" in 1998, "Brothers & Sisters" in 1999 and "The Blue Room" in the same year. But when Parachutes came out they released the single "Yellow" and achieved stardom. This is not only a great song but the video is actually a one-shot take where lead-singer Chris Martin is walking down a beach, singing into the camera and by the end the sun comes up behind him right on the last note. Brilliant!
Their 2nd release from the album was "Trouble" which was a somber and dark video but with a beautiful uplifting nuance behind it.
A Rush Of Blood To The Head
After the success of their 1st major CD they went back into the studio in 2001 to record their 2nd, "A Rush of blood to the head". In this CD Coldplay manages to do what most new bands fail to do...raise the bar to their success. You see, what unfortunately happens to most bands is that they peak with their first album and then never write anything as good ever again. What most people don't realize is that, usually speaking, a band's first CD is actually an amalgamation of work that's taken them 10 years to write. By the time they get signed their record labels allow only one year to release their 2nd album which culminates in their demise. Great songs like "In My Place", "Clocks" and "The Scientist" spawned from this 2002 hit record. "The Scientist" was inspired by George Harrison's song "All things must pass".
Viva la Vida or Death and all his Friends
I love this album for the shear fact that a band has the guts to try new ideas, and then when they do they come out with great songs like "Viva la Vida" and "Violet Hill". This album began production in 2006 with producer Brian Eno. The hit song "Viva la Vida" received a lawsuit from guitarist Joe Satriani in 2008 for copyright infringement. Basically, Joe said that their song sounded exactly like his song "If I could fly" from his 2004 album. And though I do agree that there are similarities in one of the melodies, neither songs as a whole sound alike. Coldplay denied the allegation and an unspecified settlement was reached between the two.
If one word could describe Coldplay as a whole I would have to choose the word "Consistent". Very few bands have the staying power as Coldplay, to be able to pump out hit after hit.
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