Coldplay's X&Y Reveals The Formula For Making a Great Rock Album
X&Y by Coldplay
The maturation of Coldplay from Radiohead's earnest younger brother to pop/rock behemoth has been pretty evident to anyone following their career thus far. Their debut, Parachutes, was an album that developed in soft-focus, all bleary-eyed instruments and Chris Martin's pained mewl of a voice. The follow-up, A Rush Of Blood To The Head was a bit more immediate. It gave the first hint — with songs like In My Place, Clocks, and Politik — that the band was capable of writing anthems. They were evolving from slightly mopey pop to a more expansive sound.
The band's third album, X&Y, is the next phase of this musical maturation. All the elements that made Coldplay loved by millions are here: Chris Martin, while not a lyrical giant by ANY stretch of the imagination, has a way with melody and his voice is expressive, even when you're not exactly sure what he's talking about. And while there are a decent amount of ballads here a la Yellow and Trouble, the band also takes steps to embrace a more upbeat, anthemic sound. X&Y isn't perfect, but, for me it's the first "immediate gratification" Coldplay record, which doesn't necessarily mean it's better than the previous two albums, there's just a bit more in terms of pop smarts and ear candy.
Several songs on here take their cues from Clocks, which became the band's breakout single and won them a Grammy for Record of the Year. The skittering Talk is one of the more obvious descendants. Although Chris' vocal is buried somewhat in the mix, a guitar figure snakes in and out, and the song is boosted by a bit of an electronica element — most likely emanating from the Kraftwerk sample that this song contains. First single Speed Of Sound apes Clocks more explicitly, with the chorus of the newer song using a melody very similar to the verse melody of the older song. While normally I would frown on the act of self-plagiarism, they do a good job with Speed.
White Shadows boasts a very Edge-like guitar part along with some very upfront percussion. This song stops just a couple of BPM short of the dance floor, but it adds another dimension to the Coldplay sound, and it fits right into the 80's dance/new wave renaissance going on right now. The album's opening track, Square One, opens with an airy/eerie blast of synths before insistent drums kick in and Martin unleashes the greatest white-boy falsetto this side of Barry Gibb. Low brings back the falsetto for a slightly less exciting turn, although the other band members kick into extremely high gear musically on this uptempo track, probably the most "rockin'" on the album.
The problem for me actually lies when they slow down the tempo slightly. Not to say all of this album's ballads are no good. What If starts out as a simple piano ballad before turning into a super-anthem. It's McCartney-esque in its simplicity, but dammit if I don't hear this song and envision 2 million lighters waving in the air. On the other side of the street, the title track is a total snooze, and A Message, despite a valiant effort from the band members on the instrumental tip, is basically the third song on the album with a melody similar to Clocks. Swallowed In The Sea is another miss. Martin, while an emotive vocalist, is occasionally prone to sounding like a dying cat when singing, and this song's melody does him no favors. It's one of several train wrecks that threaten to derail the album, along with the almost unlistenable dirge Twisted Logic. The final track (either originally written for or written as a tribute to Johnny Cash) is Coldplay's attempt at country, and it actually sounds pretty decent. It keeps the album from ending in a total "what the hell was that?" flameout.
Ultimately, X&Y is probably what you would expect as the next step for Coldplay. While they don't fare as well with the sincere ballads that have become their trademark, they do turn out a handful of atmospheric, uptempo numbers that take them in a slightly more aggressive direction that they've been known for so far. While it might be a little premature to call them the true heir to U2's "Best Band in The World" title, X&Y shows that it's a mantle that the band is capable of acquiring — sometimes, anyway.
