Today, Coldplay is a household name. Today, it is not uncommon for the modern rock stations to break their blocks of heavy metal with the inspiring track "Clocks." Both the brilliant critically acclaimed "A Ruch of Blood to the Head"(2002) and the mainstream "X&Y" (2005) have gone platinum, and Coldplay are on top of the world. Let's back up to 1999. Chris Martain forms a band named Coldplay. They become semi-successful in their home country, Britain, due to their completely original light, spacy sounds, Chris's incredibly falsetto vocals, and of course, their amazing and eloquent lyrics. In 2000, they release their first CD, the absolute masterpiece, Parachutes. While their other two albums are great, neither of them can quite match up with the utter brilliance of Parachutes (although AROBTTH [sorry for the abbriviation] does come pretty close). This is the album that started it all. This is Parachutes.
Track 1: Don't Panic - This song is soft, and quiet, yet it has somewhat of an upbeat feel, due to the active drums. The organ solo is calm, and compelling, while Chris's vocals -"We live in a beautiful world," and the incredible falsetto "Yeah we do..." are just that, beautiful. 10/10
Track 2: Shiver - This song's build-up at the beginning to one of the most rock oriented riffs in Coldplay's career hooks you in to this amazing song. Then it slows down to half time, becoming a smooth ballad, with incredibly creative and beatifully high-pitched guitar licks, as the song slowly bulids up...until the climax, with Chris shouting "Don't You Shivaaaaaaaaar..." The countless dinamic changes in this song make it an instant classic. 10/10
Track 3: Spies - This song is somewhat experimental, as it contains several odd, yet perfectly selected sounds. The waves of what sounds to be a guitar with a tremolo effect create the imagery of walking through a blistering hot desert, with the air rippling in front of you. Great song. 9/10
Track 4: Sparks - This song features the acoustic guitar with eloquent complex chords. It is simpler that the previous song, with just acoustic guitar, bass, simple drums, and bells. However, as simple as it may be, this song could be the best song on the album. What makjes this song so good is Chris's incredibly well written an honest lyrics. These are possibly the best lyrics Chris has ever written. 10/10
Track 5: Yellow - This song put Coldplay on the map in America. It was a perfect song to be released as a single, as it has the spacy, quiet ballad sound Coldplay is known for, yet also the stomping rock style that could attract new listeners. This was my favorite song for quite a long time. Not anymore, but it is still great. 9/10
Track 6: Trouble - This song has a very catchy piano riff at the beginning, but then the band never seems to do anything with it. Don't get me wrong, the song is still very good, but compared to the other stellar tracks around it, it seems a bit anti-climactic 7/10
Track 7: Parachutes - This is an all acoustic not-quite-a song, as it is only 45 seconds long. While it sounds nice for the short time it is played, I can't really rate it since it is so short.
Track 8: High Speed - This song is really layed back, even for Coldplay. The bass line is great. For some reason, it reminds me of "The Song I Heard the Ocean Sing." As does Spies, this song plays around with some ambient noises, once again quite successfully. 8/10
Track 9: We Never Change - This song is also layed back and quiet, like the previous song. As an individual song, it's amazing, but since it is similar to the last two songs, it seems slightly redundant. So, I'm giving it two ratings. As and individual song, it gets 9/10. With the rest of the album, it gets a 7/10.
Track 10: Everything's Not Lost - This song sounds nothing like the last few songs, making it a breath of fresh air. This is 7 minute masterpiece, Coldplay at their absolute best. The entire song is all a gradual creschendo, such as "Stairway to Heaven" Led Zeppelin or "Maze" by Phish. By comparing it to those two wonderful songs, you can see that this song is amazing. Chris's falsetto "Come On Yeah...Everything's Not Lost" gives me chills everytime i hear it. This and sparks are the two best tracks on the album. 10/10
Recommended Tracks: Don't Panic
Shiver
Sparks
Yellow
Parachutes (as short as it is)
Everything's Not Lost
Fillers: There aren't any
Pros: The vocals and songwriting are superb
The spacy sound is original and genius
There are no bad songs
Cons: Only 9 real songs
Trouble, High Speed, and We Never Change seem just a tad redundant
Overall, this album is an absolute classic. Every song is solid, and because of that, Coldplay have become somewhat known not just in Britian, but across the globe (although it was, technically A Ruch Of Blood To The Head that had them becoming one of the most famous bands of our time.)
If you have not yet bought this album, I recommend that you do it right now, you will not be disappointed.
