Don't panic (Coldplay) (LP 2170 - 2179)

Coldplay  Parachutes (CD, Parlophone Records, 2000) *****  

Coldplay  A Rush Of Blood To The Head (CD, Parlophone Records, 2002) ****  

Coldplay  Live 2003 (CD and DVD, Parlophone Records, 2003) **** 

Coldplay  X&Y (CD, Parlophone Records, 2005) ****  

Coldplay  Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends (CD, Parlophone Records, 2008) ****  

Coldplay  Viva La Vida + Prospekt's March Edition (CD, Parlophone Records, 2008) ***  

Coldplay  Mylo Xyloto (CD, Parlophone Records, 2011) *** 

Coldplay  Ghost Stories (CD, Parlophone Records, 2014) **** 

Coldplay  Ghost Stories Live 2014 (CD and DVD, Parlophone Records, 2014) **** 

Coldplay  A Head Full Of Dreams (CD, Parlophone Records, 2015) **    

Genre: pop rock 

Places I remember: The first two are from a CD shop in the World Centre Mall (Bangkok); X&Y from Fives; the rest are from The Warehouse or JB Hi-Fi in NZ.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Don't Panic; Yellow (Parachutes)

Gear costume: Trouble (Parachutes); Clocks (Rush of Blood...); The Hardest Part (X&Y); Viva La Vida; Paradise (Mylo...); A Sky Full Of Stars (Ghost Stories)

Active compensatory factors: I'll make apologies for the glut of Coldplay on this entry, but no apologies for actually liking Coldplay, especially those early albums.

I was on holiday and in transit via Thailand when I bought the first two CDs. There had been a bit of fuss made about the band post Rush Of Blood and so I snapped them up (399 baht each - I left the price sticker on the back).

I still think these are superior pop albums. The band sounds fully formed on Parachutes and that first track, Don't Panic, is an instant introduction to the band's quality of singer, song and musicianship.

I also love Chris Martin's positivity: we live in a beautiful world! That's nice to hear isn't it, rather that we hate you and everyone else!

The second album is almost like Vol 2 of the debut - although, I don't find it as strong overall - Parachutes is such a cohesive vision, but Blood has some terrific songs on it.

The live album from 2003 captures them at an early peak - featuring as it does just the songs on those sparkling first two albums. 

X&Y is one of my personal favourites because I associate it with happily driving around Essex while we lived in England. 

Fix You is of course the BIG moment on this one but because I have heard the album so much the song recognition quotient is higher than for the subsequent albums.

Viva La Vida and Mylo Xyloto are also linked in my brain - mainly because they reacted to the comparatively rockist X&Y by trying new ideas for music - some of which come off, but it's a bit hit and miss for me and I'm not personally invested in these albums as much as I am the first three.

I also find the album titles pretentious (too cryptic and obtuse) and the covers bad beyond belief. Self-sabotage? Wouldn't put it past them.

And so to the last two studio albums I own of Coldplay's*. I was still on auto-pilot with the band - buying each release as it came out.

Ghost Stories is a much more laid-back affair after the bombastic Xylo. It starts with a couple of noodling songs that don't leave much of an impression and then...it sustains that mood and I start to get it and enjoy it. 

Ghost stories right? Late evening into night songs. As such they are perfectly enjoyable exercises in mood creation.

The live version from Los Angeles, 2014 is a worthwhile addition. Cynics will say it's the studio album with crowd noise but I like the more intimate live situation rather than the pasted together studio version. Take as exhibit A the live version of A Sky Full Of Stars.

And so to 2015's studio album - A Headful Of Dreams. I know this one got mixed reviews on release. When I bought it back in 2015 I played it once and filed it away. My basic thought at the time was - another so so Coldplay album.

It's definitely bouncier than Ghost Stories but I think it's a bit of a retrenchment exercise ultimately. There's nothing startling about the songs - they are all good to very good Coldplay songs but all the guest stars don't really move me, nor does the attempt to capture the 2015 pop vibe (I'm not a Beyonce devotee).

So, at this point I stopped buying Coldplay albums, having felt that I've heard everything I have wanted to hear from the band.

Where do they all belong? *A case of diminishing returns towards the end means I have ceased buying anything post A Head Full Of Dreams.