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.  

So I look in your direction (Coldplay) #453 - 455

Coldplay Shiver/ For You/ Careful Where You Stand (Parlophone, CDR6536, 2000)
Coldplay Talk (radio edit)/ Sleeping Sun (Parlophone, CDR6679, 2005)
Coldplay Prospekt's March EP (Life In Technicolor ii/ Postcards From Far Away/Glass Of Water/Rainy Day/Prospekt's Mark, Poppyfields/Lost+/Lovers In Japan/Now My Feet Won't Touch The Ground  (Parlophone, 2647372/5099926473727, 2008)

Owning up to liking Coldplay is almost a guilty pleasure. 

Yeah - okay - I like Coldplay. I have all their CDs and that includes some live ones that are less than essential. I can even name three members of the band (Guy something, Jonny Buckland and Chris Martin - the fourth member alludes me though).

There - I've said it.

Chris Martin seems like a genuine bloke, writes well, sings well, and he records for Parlophone!! Nuff said.

Shiver is a great song that has managed to remain in the live set over the years. 

Talk and Life in Technicolor ii are also up tempo Coldplay songs with heft. I like them. Yes, I do!

The guitar from Jonny is a Coldplay trademark and when it's used well the song is (usually) a cut above the rest. That's certainly the case in those three A sides.

Hidden gems: the B sides to Shiver were not on the parent album (Parachutes). Sleeping Sun was also not on XandY. Most of the Prospekt's March EP was also not included on Viva La Vida.

So you definitely get value for money with Coldplay CD singles. 

Any hidden gems though? The raft of songs on the Prospekt's EP are gems. Only problem is, because of the various snippets and styles, they all kinda roll into a seamless whole rather than their separate parts. That's cool though - means repeat plays bring out a load of little hidden nuggets.

Blame it upon a rush of blood to the head (Coldplay)

Radio 2 is a great British institution and a national treasure, but it's not infallible.

On April 1 (ha ha) they published a top ten greatest albums of all time list using a listener's choice method.

What a joke it turned out to be (not a merman to be seen - sorry, obscure Hendrix allusion)

Here's the fool list

1 Coldplay Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002)
2 Keane Hopes and Fears (2004)
3 Duran Duran Rio (1982)
4 Pink Floyd The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)
5 Dido No Angel (1999)
6 The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers (1971)
7 The Pet Shop Boys Actually (1987)
8 The Beatles Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
9 U2 The Joshua Tree (1987)
10 Queen A Night At The Opera (1975)

Okay, so let's spose for a minute that it wasn't an April Fools' joke: it's nice in a way not to see the usual suspects in the top ten but is anyone with a musical brain listening to Radio 2 anymore?  Pet Shop Boys? Duran Duran? Keane?

Dido??

What the...??

The absentees are what intrigue me. Americans for one - no American bands or singers make the list. None nada zip zilch.  Even given the British bias there is still no room for Stone Roses, Van Morrison, The Clash, or David Bowie to name a few. They have all been steady performers in various top tens over the years but not for Radio 2 listeners? I don't believe it.

Rolling Stone magazine makes a habit of doing top ten best of all time lists. Here's their latest one taking in the 1950s to the 2010s.

1 The Beatles Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
2 Beach Boys Pet Sounds (1966)
3 The Beatles Revolver(1966)
4 Bob Dylan Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
5 The Beatles Rubber Soul (1965)
6 Marvin Gaye What's Going On (1971)
7 The Rolling Stones Exile On Main Street (1972)
8 The Clash London Calling (1980)
9 Bob Dylan Blonde On Blonde (1966)
10 The Beatles The Beatles (1968)

Only Sgt Pepper makes the Radio 2 poll!

In comparison, here's a Rolling Stone taking in 1967-1987 best of list

1 The Beatles Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
2 Sex Pistols Never Mind The Bollocks (1977)
3 The Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street (1972)
4 John Lennon Plastic Ono Band (1970)
5 Jimi Hendrix Are You Experienced? (1967)
6 David Bowie The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust (1972)
7 Van Morrison Astral weeks (1968)
8 Bruce Springsteen Born to Run (1975)
9 The Beatles The Beatles (1968)
10 Marvin Gaye What's Going On (1971)

Still only one of that list makes the Radio 2 poll - yup - Sgt Pepper's.

I know these lists aren't to be taken too seriously but how can an album consistently named the best album ever (at least by Rolling Stone from 1967 when the magazine began, until now) suddenly at the whim of radio 2 pollsters slip to number 8 behind Dido?

The end of Radio 2 as we knew and loved her? I suspect so.

As to Coldplay being judged the best ever? I like the album (like). It contains some excellent songs, which it would because Chris Martin is a good (good) songwriter and an emotive singer.

When you try your best but you don't succeed (Coldplay)

Two new albums under high rotate in Casa Wozza are new releases by Snow Patrol and Coldplay.

I have been a fan of both bands from release one and word "GO".

Each have managed to get themselves offside with the music press by selling gadzillions of units. Somehow that equates to mundane music in some people's eyes.

I must admit it took me a while to actually buy Parachutes, the first Coldplay album (and Songs For Polarbears, the first Snow Patrol album).

Parachutes was extremely popular and that always makes me a little suspicious - I don't like jumping on a bandwagon and I do have some aspects of the music snob - loving bands that no one else has heard of.

But I saw the first two Coldplay CDs in Tower Records in Bangkok and relaxed. I shouldn't have worried (or listened to the music snobs). Both albums are superb.

I also go against most critics position on X and Y - their third album. It's actually my favourite album of theirs and reminds me of driving around southern England in 2006.

The new one, Mylo Xyloto, has been on high rotate since I bought it. Purely because nothing seemed to stand out for ages. With repetition has come some clarity and some finer appreciation of the work, but it's not shaping up as their best work by a long chalk.

And what a crap cover. There is a strong self destructive streak in the band that emerges from time to time and never more obviously than with this shokingly pathetic cover. What the hell were they thinking?

Ditto x10 for the latest Snow Patrol album. It's okay and better than A Hundred Million Suns which was pretty dire. Looks increasingly like the band peaked with Final Straw and Eyes Open.

Gary Lightbody has a great voice but for some reason - too much success maybe - he doesn't seen willing or able to write those great melodies that were on those two albums. A case of McCartneyitis?

I've had Fallen Empires (how very apt) on rotate in the car and so far zilch. But I will persevere and I live in hope.

Meanwhile I was thrilled to find out in a Mojo interview that Chris Martin's favourite Coldplay song (more accurately he was asked for the song he'd written that he felt proudest of) is the same as mine from X and Y - Fix You.

Ten stops and home

Christine recently asked me to make a list of albums/new sounds for her to check out. When we were in the late 70s she'd send me cassette tapes of her current listening (Clash, Pistols, Steely Dan, Zappa were all in there) so this is my similar 2009 report back via the blog. So here goes - a very subjective list that I need to introduce with an explanation of my taste (Jacky would laugh about now and say what taste).

Here's a sweeping generalisation for you - it is my belief that everyone's dominant musical taste can be traced back to two different sources (just as apparently my personal DNA can be traced back to one of 7 women). These two sources are The Beatles (the sunny pop side of the musical street)and The Velvet Underground (the darker alternative). It's easy to test - which of the two do you like best? Go to your collection right now - how many Beatle albums to VU? There's your answer. Thereby you can then take your favourite band or singer of all time - let's say it's...oh I don't know - Jim Croce for example and see that your taste traces back to the Beatles. If it's Captain Beefheart your taste traces to The VU. Simple huh.

Clearly from the title of this blog alone it's obvious where my taste lies, therefore my Christine list is influenced this way. Now I know she has a bit of a thing for Nick Cave (VU) and The Killers (Beatles) so she (and anyone else reading) needs to keep my propensity for Beatles inspired pop in mind.

Here are ten of the best I've heard recently (some of these date back 5 or so years but you may have missed them). These are all UK bands too - I'll get to the best of the rest in other posts.

1 and 2 One of the best bands I've heard in recent years is Hard Fi - either of their first two albums is a great place to start - 'Stars of CCTV' or 'Once Upon a Time in the West'. On my recent trip to the UK I picked up a DVD/CD of remixes called 'In Operation' (3 pound from Fopp) but that's not the best place to start. If you are unmoved by 'Cash Machine' - the first song on 'Stars..' - then you can stop reading now.

3 A lot has been made of Artic Monkeys and I admit to being a late comer. I really like the second album 'Favourite Worst Nightmare'. The first one is fine but the second is like their twenty-second if you know what I mean.





4 My children laugh at my enjoyment of Coldplay but I'm sticking by them (the last one was patchy). Possibly overlooked in their canon is 'X & Y' but of the four albums I downloaded as the soundtrack of my recent plane trip to the Uk - this was one (Hard Fi and the next album were the others).






5 and 6 I love later period David Gray. The first four albums are patchy - and not in the style of the last four. So I'd recommend 'Greatest Hits' as a place to start - and his last album 'Life in Slow Motion'. His songs always make me very nostalgic for life in the UK.

7 For more slightly quirky pop try The Coral. Their most accessible album for me is 'The Invisible Invasion'.








8 A future guilty pleasure will be The Feeling. Their first album is better than the second - 'Twelve Stops And Home' is chockablock with fabulous pop songs, catchy hooks all over the show.







9 and 10 - I've listened to the two Kooks albums a lot and recommended them to friends before - the first one is called 'Inside in/Inside Out' and the second is 'Konk'. Both great British pop music. They remind my of + Special Guests.

I'm only scratching the surface here I know - more in future goo goo j'goobs.