Coldplay has been one of the bigger bands of the moment. Up until this point I had resisted paying attention to them, although I do have “Clocks” on my iTunes. I heard more of front man Chris Martin’s marriage and his odd choices for baby names than I did his music to this point. However after having to listen to a Coldplay song each month, for the past seven months and your coworkers raving about how good they are, you give in.
I have to say I was very surprised at how good the musical composition was. Based around Martin’s piano, the songs have a very melodic flow to them. This however is also the weakness of the album as it seems to lack any real energy. The entire album keeps a consistent flow from start to finish and let’s just say I would not recommend operating heavy machinery while listening to “X & Y.” The entire album feels like one long love song. I can easily see Martin standing over his daughter singing songs such as “Fix You” as a lullaby.
Choruses of strings are found in the background of most songs which can only be a plus. The hypnotic guitar riffs complement Martin’s voice perfectly. The drums were recorded in such a way so that you can hear the drum stick strike the cymbal making it another instrument instead of just some background noise buried underneath the rest of the band. Put together, the music seems to reverberate off itself in such a way that seems to create the effect of surround sound even with a pair of headphones. Besides some great song writing, the mixing seems to be the real strength of “X & Y.” This is most evident with the songs “What If,” the title track, “X & Y,” “Swallowed in the Sea,” and “Twisted Logic.”
Overall, Coldplay’s latest release “X & Y” was a well written, well performed, and well produced album. It proves why there has been so much buzz over this band for the past few years and has certainly piqued my interest in some of their earlier work. I have been informed that their first album, 2000’s “Parachutes” and 2002’s “A Rush of Blood to the Head” are better albums then “X & Y.” If this proves to be true, I have truly been missing out on some of the best music of today. |