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Member since:01.03.2005
Reviews:87
Members who trust:17
X & Y is Coldplays third supposedly difficult album. Not difficult to listen to but difficult for an altogether different reason. 2000 was Coldplays year. Starting rockily with Shiver only charting at 35 in the UK charts, follow up single 'Yellow' changed all that. Peaking at 4 it became an anthem and stayed in the charts for months falling and rising again! Debut album 'Parachutes' reached number one before third single 'Trouble' (though only charting at 10) became yet another anthem.
Two years on came their biggest hit 'In My Place' reaching number 2. 'A Rush Of Blood To The Head' followed Parachutes to the number on spot in the album charts. The band had also broken America. Singles 'The Scientist' and (my fav) 'Clocks' also made the top ten, even though the album was selling by the bucket load.
This is why 'X & Y' was a difficult album. It had all this to beat. First single 'Speed Of Sound' was a number one robbed. How Crazy Frog beat it I'll never know. The album I am sure will hit number one, and here is why…
'Square One' is the all important album opener. It opens with lush sounds of an unearthly variety. "Your in control is there anywhere you wanna go, your in control is there anything you wanna know. The futures for discovering" are the all important opening lines. Slowly the drums kick in and it becomes a roaring anthem that blows you away. This is one of the most intense Coldplay songs lyrically, instrumentally and vocally. Chris Martin hits notes higher than I have heard him do before. This is an awesome start to the album.
The Coldplay simplicity of old is blatant in 'What If'. This song is a beautiful simplistic
piano ballad. "What if you should decide you don't want me there by your side, what if you don't want me there in your life." You would think this was a ballad to a woman… it's a ballad to the fans, and the nerves of making this album. Heartfelt, honest and astounding.
Guitars kick you out of the melancholy at the start of 'White Shadows'. It's a very definite drum lead song overall though. The pounding is profound throughout. This has a very U2 anthemia feel to it. There seems to be no chorus, which is very clever as instead you have a bout of instruments. Coldplay are obviously experimenting with this track. "All this noise I'm making up, all this space I'm taking up."
My instant favourite has to be 'Fix You' its stunning. It has the organ you would expect at a church wedding when the bride walks down the aisle. I think this will become a firm wedding song with the masses! Its simple and mainly Chris and his piano. The idea behind the song is that anything that should go wrong can be fixed by love. The chorus says it all "lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones, and I will try to fix you." Its simplistic till the rousing almost chant, "tears stream down your face, when you loose something you cannot replace" after a barrage of guitars. Its possibly the best work they have done.
'Talk' uses a sample of Kraftwerks 'Computer World' and changes it just slightly. This is another future guitar anthem. You can imagine guitar players everywhere practising this. "You can take a picture what do you see, in the future what will I be, you can climb a ladder up to the sun." It's a song about the future and what you can make of it… well that's what I make of it. I love the lyric "you feel like a puzzle where you cant find your last piece" brilliance.
Title track 'X & Y' starts as a solem affair. "When something is broken then you try and fix it, try to repair it anyway you can." I think that this is a song about broken love. Fixing is used in the same vein as 'Fix You' only the subject matter is dying love rather than love conquering over all. As with all the songs so far the emotions and vocals are unreal, I mean that as in they are soooo good.
The first single to be taken off the album was track seven 'Speed Of Sound'. I read a very funny quote on this song saying "it was clever and decent of Coldplay to write a song that grows on you every time you hear it… as this will be played to death this year." Its true, every time you hear this song there's another sound or lyric you love. I love the video to this song so simple with just lights (that U2 have copied). "Birds go flying at the speed of sound to show you how it all began, birds came flying from the underground if you could see it then you'd understand". Well I don't quite understand but its brilliant!
"My song is love" starts 'A Message' and that's simply what it is a message of love! This is a simple acoustic song on the album. I like the fact they have made songs with a mass of fabulous noise and then songs with just piano's or just guitars and this is the latter. "You're the target that I'm at, can I get that message home?" Very clever, very beautiful.
Guitars pulse and drums band as 'Low' opens. It calms for the verses but you know it will rouse again for the chorus. "All you ever wanted was love, but you never looked hard enough." This song ahs a very almost chilled dance clipping break between verses and chorus, and the bells are brilliant. This song has as many flavours and sounds as it can. It's a strange song as the message is nothings complex, yet nothings easy… fair enough!
I'm sorry have I put a country album on? 'Hardest Part' sounds very country when it starts. It soon becomes a stunning mid-tempo piece about the hard ship of love. I think it's a past love that went wrong "a bitter taste in my mouth… I wish that I could work it out." The lyric "I tried to sing, but couldn't think of anything" is a very open honest lyric from Chris and possibly the most understated personal lyric on the album.
"You cut me down a tree, and brought it back tome, and that's what made me see where I was going wrong." 'Swallowed by the sea' is a haunting song about claustrophobic and over protected love. Possibly my least favourite as its a bit repetitive, buts its still beautiful. Reminds me of some stuff on 'Parachutes', which is a good thing.
'Twisted Logic' is the should be final song, there's the listed yet hidden track to come. "Hundreds of years in the future, there could be computers, looking for life on earth, don't fight for the wrong side, say what you feel like, say what you feel." This is a dark very political song about what could happen if we don't take control of our world, future and destiny. It's dark in bass and trudging in beat. Very clever and very astute. Really listen to this song.
Hidden track - that's listed (hmmm) is 'Til Kingdom Come'. It starts with "one, two" before Chris laughs. It's made to sound like a demo i.e. very simple acoustic and raw. I have a weird feeling this is about death; it's not a tragic song though at all. "For you I'd wait til kingdom come, until my day, my day is done, say a poem and set me free, just say you'll wait, you'll wait for me." I think this is Chris as if he was looking at his life if he died. He speaks of love (the wife) and I think Apple also. It's a lovely strummy end.
OVERALL
This is a superb album, Coldplays finest and after the last two that is saying something. No song is a filler (you can see the benefit of writing and re-writing) and no babies, marriages etc have changed the band as claimed by the press! This album is MUST HAVE music. It's not rock, pop, indie… it's simply AMAZING! So buy it, it'll be available everywhere!
Cheers for reading!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I agree on Coldplay being good songwriters but of the tracks I have heard from this album, they all seem a bit tired. They'll become known as the boring anthem band if they're not careful.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the review.
Majiggy 15.07.2005 05:29
Great review on a brilliant brilliant band. I love them. Have all their albums and will be getting this one as soon as I can. :-)
x maj x
tom_very1st 07.07.2005 21:56
Great review, great band, great album. Nothing more can be said - tom
Coldplay were faced with a difficult choice as they set to work on X&Y. They could ... more
either follow Radioheads lead and use their enormous success and financial security as a springboard to a brave experimental future--or they could play it safe, repe...
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Square One @@us/euwm2/726/6588726_1_01.asx?obj=v50610@@ What If ... more
@@us/euwm2/726/6588726_1_02.asx?obj=v50608@@ White Shadows @@us/euwm2/726/6588726_1_03.asx?obj=v50607@@ Fix You @@us/euwm2/726/6588726_1_04.asx?obj=v50607@@ Talk @@us/euwm2/726/658872...
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Advantages: great, lengthy and not a dissapointment to past releases. Disadvantages: if you dont like Coldplays previous songs/albus you wont be a fan of this
chrismoll 05.06.2005 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of X And Y - Coldplay
Advantages: Accoustic harmonies and easy to listen to songs.Sincere and heartfelt lyrics. A really nice album. Disadvantages: I didnt like it as much as X&Y or A Sudden Rush of Blood to the Head.
SpookyMoon 29.05.2009 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Parachutes - Coldplay
Jun 6th, 2005
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