X and Y.

X and Y.

01. Square One
02. What If?
03. White Shadows
04. Fix You
05. Talk
06. X and Y
07. Speed of Sound
08. A Message
09. Low
10. Hardest Part
11. Swallowed in the Sea
12. Twisted Logic
13. ‘Til Kingdom Come

First off, I loved Parachutes. Secondly, I loved A Rush of Blood to the Head. And it was good to know that X and Y follows the sophomore album more than the debut…but at the same time, I miss the fact that Coldplay really were an indie band at heart. This album sounds mega. It’s big. And in some instances, it’s fresh. It’s lush. But at the same time, it’s really missing a heart of sorts. Parachutes had lots of heart. And it was cool. A Rush of Blood was mega in the sense that it was so much bigger. You had these gigantic aural soundscapes. X and Y isn’t all that impressive as an evolution of the Coldplay sound. But, at the same time, since all Britrock bands started doing the Coldplay thing (ala Athlete and a thousand other bands along with it), it’s good to know that Coldplay are once again at the top of the heap.

Where else would they be?

Coldplay haven’t really outweirded themselves as they did on A Rush of Blood. It’s been already known that they’ve lifted inspiration off Kraftwerk (whose songs I’ve never heard of in my life, so I can’t be bothered), amongst others. I find half the album good, and the other half, well…not quite good. But it’s all doable, and you know, you are going to buy this anyway, simply because it’s a Coldplay album. And Coldplay, friends, equals cool. I can’t say that you belong to a higher pantheon of society by purchasing a Coldplay album. You don’t really impress girls much. And you might come off as a bit pretentious to your friends. But take it from me, the master of pretentiousness…Coldplay are cool. Go tell your mums about it.

Ian’s favourite tracks (which he hopes everyone else will like, therefore not pigeonholing him as an army of one):-

Hardest Part
Swallowed in the Sea (has taken over from Fix You as my favourite track, basically because it’s so corny but sweet)
‘Til Kingdom Come (it’s intriguingly acousticfied)

Ian’s second batch of favourite tracks (aka mega-sounding songs):-
Fix You (it was on The O.C., but more importantly, it’s not bad at all)
Square One (I have to admit, it’s a cool opener)
What If?
White Shadows (attitude-laced).

The former list sound organic (think along the lines of Green Eyes). While the latter list continues the whole Coldplay gone mad idea. Please note that I think Speed of Sound is utterly plain.

So great. More rock music that’s taken an experimental edge (damn those Stereophonics). Music is either going mad, or retro (think U2 or Oasis).

Ah. Blog space filled.