Coldplay seem to
divide people of all ages, backgrounds and levels of cool. Some young
ultra-hipsters love them, some middle-aged tediums have them as a soundtrack to
dinner parties, and yet some people find them the musical equivalent of
magnolia paint. Whilst they are clearly a successful group, and I did enjoy
Parachutes, their later work has left me with an intense feeling of
ambivalence.
The behemoth that is
the modern-day Coldplay was but a mere twinkling when this album came out.
Parachutes, the debut, had been reasonable well received but not many would
have predicted the stadium-filling monster that was to come. Following the
success of Parachutes, and the single Yellow in particular, the band tried to
record the follow up in London, before settling in Liverpool instead. The album
has sold 3 million copies in the UK, nearly 5 million in the USA, and has
featured in many lists as one of the best albums of the 00s. It also had four
successful singles released off it, and won Grammys, BRITs, and NME awards; in
terms of universal acclaim, that is about as high as it gets.
Politik is a
fast-slow-fast (relatively speaking) opener, and whilst the lyrics are frankly
bizarre, the song builds nicely towards the chorus. The breadth of sound is
impressive, and probably not a surprise given the band delayed the release by
two months to perfect the sound of the album. In My Place is an inoffensive
number that is a bit too treble-y for me; The drumming is decent, but the
guitar just sounds like an annoying ringtone. God Put a Smile Upon Your Face
has a decent layer of instruments, and I'm sure would be great live, but is
just ok from the studio as it never really kicks into gear, however much it
threatens to. The Scientist is comfortably the best song on the album, with an
epic chorus that it's hard not to join in with, and some lyrics that almost
make sense. It reminds me of Rilo Kiley's Science vs Romance in terms of its
content, wrangling with the difficulties of head vs heart, and recalling that
track is never a bad thing. Clocks has a lovely piano riff, and was one of the
few Coldplay songs post-Yellow that I've known and enjoyed, but upon repeated
listens it relies a bit too much on that riff. Relying on a riff can work, but
only when that riff is exceptional (yes I'm talking about Smoke on the Water),
and this isn't up there. Daylight is a song I keep forgetting is on here, but
is actually alright, with a pleasant bassline. Green Eyes is a bit like Yellow,
but weaker in every sense, including the choice of colour. Warning Sign shows
that Coldplay know where the distort pedal is, but also demonstrate that they
don't really want to use it much. A Whisper is a more energetic and driven
song, and produces a track which I find pretty captivating. The range of
instruments and faster pace make it something approaching an encompassing
experience, rather than just background fodder. A Rush of Blood to the Head
builds fairly well, but the chorus doesn't hit the mark for me. It might be the
ascending note before that jars, but it just sounds a bit annoying to me.
Amsterdam is a nice enough ending, with an ebb and flow to it that makes the
pace more interesting.
Overall I started to
feel like I quite liked this album, before realising that I actually actively
liked about three songs, and the rest were just ultimately inoffensive. In
writing this review, I've almost had to resort to looking up synonyms for
'pleasant', before my arrogance . If I want to host a middle-aged MOR British
soft rock dinner party in future, I will turn to Elbow, who at least manage to
keep their earnesty to a palatable level. But when no-one's looking I'll slip
The Scientist on the end, so I can ashamedly sing along to it when everyone's
gone home.
Chloe's album
rating: 6
Chloe's favourite
track: 5. Clocks
Olly's album rating:
6
Olly's favourite
track: 4. The Scientist
Next week is 139.
Astral Weeks by Van Morrison. Seminal, Jazz-inspired folk - check.
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