Coldplay - X&Y
By: Patrick Vu | Category: Album Reviews | 06/07/05 | 09:53 PM
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 Grade: B- |
Genre: Brit Rock
Summary: "And it was all yellow." For a second effort, you wish you could have gotten more. Even the album cover leaves much to be desired.
From out of nowhere, during the summer of 2000, Coldplay invaded the American pop charts with the unlikely hit, "Yellow," making this small U.K. band the latest candidate to reach one hit wonder stardom. What we never saw coming was that Chris Martin and company were just laying the groundwork with their debut, Parachutes, to stake their claim as the biggest band in the world. Their next release, Rush of Blood to the Head, broke the sophomore jinx by actually improving on their melancholic sound and rocketed the foursome into rock god status. Now, the crew finally returns with the most anticipated release of the year, X&Y, and aim to solidify their reign as the industry's top band. |
However, can a group that escaped the dreaded sophomore slump with a wildly successful second release be expected to release a third album that would surpass the success of the previous two? As history has proven, it isn't an easy feat. Oasis' Be Here Now was a misstep for the Gallagher bros, Ben Folds Five's The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, signified the band's demise, and from what I saw, Dave Matthews Band's Before These Crowded Streets actually emptied the streets. If you're Coldplay, you've set yourself up for an inevitable disappointment that true fans will hopefully dismiss as growing pains sure to strengthen the classic fourth album...or so one can only hope.
I'll give this to the guys...they definitely have a knack for taking a song that has you cringing at it's opening melodies and lyrics and turning it around with a soaring chorus that saves us from hitting the skip button. Admit it, A Rush of Blood's title track wasn't what you had hoped for initially, but when Chris Martin puts all of himself behind the transition of "Honey / All the movements you're starting to make / See me crumble and fall on my face / And I know the mistakes that I made / See it all disappear without a trace," you feel it's power rip you to pieces and you hate yourself for thinking any less of it. X&Y's opening track "Square One" isn't one you thought would open the album and isn't the one you expected to be your first taste of what you've waiting for so long. You wince at it's opening lines of optimism, "You're in control / Is there anywhere you wanna go" and wonder just what the hell Gwyneth has done to our sad boy, Chris? Should we think that he could even remain solemn married to Shakespeare's muse? But then, "Square One" turns our heads by sharpening its edges with "From the top of the first page / To the end of the last day... It doesn't matter who you are." You get a small sense of optimism that the long wait wasn't in vain.
It's not that X&Y is a regretful album, but it might just be a forgettable one compared to the first two. I must confess that Parachutes wasn't an instant classic upon first listen and A Rush of Blood took a while to be recognized as a superior album to it's predecessor. Both took time and patience to be fully appreciated, so I guess X&Y will have to be measured against the same standards.
So much has been said of Coldplay's sobering conjectures that we can't forget that there are regular doses of brooding optimism throughout the band's catalog that redeem and uplift. "White Shadows" and "Fix You" do their best to pick you up when it seems nothing else will, but alas you feel as if something's missing. The singles "Talk" and "Speed of Sound" are probably the strongest tracks on the album but unfortunately don't live up to the standards that "Yellow," "The Scientist," and "Clocks" have set. Both singles are "pretty" for sure, but lack the personalities that make you want to continue taking them out.
Has too much pressure bittered an otherwise average album? With a few more spins, X&Y could make its way into your regular rotation, but most likely won't last as long as Parachutes or A Rush of Blood did. We've made Coldplay our favorite band for a reason and X&Y doesn't do much to validate ourselves. This is the album that could have been a solid debut for the band of even a satisfying sophomore effort. It definitely deserves more time and will take extra sessions to feel its impact. Who knows, after a while, that yellow light could turn a bright green. Unfortunately, there are already other recent releases that we love more (Oasis, Gorillaz, Common) and would rather listen to instead.
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