A deluge of tears to the eyes! (A Rush Of Blood To The Head - Coldplay)

Member Name: DanielKemp

Product:	A Rush Of Blood To The Head - Coldplay
Date:	13/06/09 (86 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very commercial, anyone can get into it, beautiful love songs, strong album

Disadvantages: Very commercial (again!), Some of the lyrics are occasionally non-sensical

Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002)

Producer: Coldplay, Ken Nelson

Politik
In My Place
God Put a Smile upon Your Face
The Scientist
Clocks
Daylight
Green Eyes
Warning Sign
A Whisper
A Rush of Blood to the Head
Amsterdam

If Parachutes showed us Coldplay the indie rockers, their second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head, sees the band take a more bold and widescreen approach to their song writing. Think of the Coldplay you see on this album as a more down-to-earth version of U2 and you will be going in the right direction.

I really want to talk about the singles first of all, because each and every one has been superbly thought out. They are even able to surpass the singles released from Parachutes, which is a substantial accomplishment in itself.

In My Place I always find to be very affecting; it makes me feel like weeping tears of joy and tears of sorrow simultaneously. The lyrics may be less than subtle in their supposed emotional resonance, but I couldn't care less. It's such a striking recording and all of the band's efforts just collide into this wonderful collage of sound. The chorus is thrilling and Chris Martin has never sounded in better voice, "How much longer must you wait for it? How much longer must you pay for it?" It just missed out on the number 1 spot - a crime I tell you!

The Scientist was the second single to be released from A Rush of Blood to the Head and OH MY GOD - it's so lovely! The lovely piano refrains provide the perfect shuttle for some of Chris Martin's best words on the album, "But tell me you love me, come back and haunt me!" The unforgettable lyrics seem to be about mourning the loss of a loved one. This is how I want all ballads to sound from now on!

Clocks is another fine single. I find it harder to identify with this song than I did with some of the other singles, but I think this is more to do with the slightly cryptic lyrics; it isn't something as clear cut as just another love song. Or maybe Chris Martin just didn't write very good lyrics for Clocks? Regardless, the music is very pretty and particular kudos goes to Jonny Buckland's impressive guitar playing.

The final single to be released was God Put a Smile upon Your Face. I personally find it more successful than Clocks, but to compare the two would be a little unfair. God Put a Smile upon Your Face is a part acoustic number and doesn't build up to a significant crescendo up until the chorus, whereas Clocks was less restrained and took pleasure in its dense volume from its opening seconds. I think that Will Champion's up-tempo drumming is worth a mention as it sets such a scorching pace, so that all the other members of the band have to play catch up.

Of course, if you find singles of such considerable weight on the first half of the album, you would be forgiven if you expected the second half to not quite be up to the same standard. But one has to be somewhat amazed that for its entire running time, A Rush of Blood to the Head manages to keep the momentum going.

It could be argued that the entirely acoustic Green Eyes is a retread of Yellow from their debut album, but such a claim would be an unreasonable one, as Green Eyes actually takes the band into new territory. There was nothing quite as tender and personal as Green Eyes on Parachutes. A love song from Chris Martin to his future wife Gwyneth Paltrow, he tells her that, "Honey you are a rock, upon which I stand... And honey you should know that I could never go on without you..." I wish that I had the talents to write such a song for that certain special someone.

I'm not sure if it is actually possible, but Warning Sign is even better than Green Eyes. It is certainly the finest moment of the album with the exception of the singles. I have no shame in admitting that the chorus makes me want to cry, "When the truth is that... I miss you!" It's amazing how something so simple can pack such a punch. Come the chorus the musicianship is nigh on perfection and the string arrangements bring such emphasis upon those few words that it takes my breath away. If you do just one thing for me, please go and have a listen to Warning Sign.

The album closes with Amsterdam: a gentle piano ballad which never feels the need to drastically up the volume or to resort to shock tactics. It's just a wonderful piece of music and is a thing of unrivalled contemplative beauty. Martin's delivery of the lyrics is very fragile and ultimately it makes for the ideal closing song to a largely faultless album.

I liked Parachutes, but I found that I love A Rush of Blood to the Head. The difference is that where Parachutes was a good album, this second recording is a great one. The band's song-writing has improved, Chris Martin writes some of the best commercial love songs of the past decade, but a special mention has to go to the production techniques which have been used very well throughout, which often make an already emotional bar of music (or lyric), simply devastating.

As far as second albums go, they don't get much better than this!

9/10

Daniel Kemp

Read more reviews at www.danielkempreviews.co.uk

Summary: A Far better album than Parachutes and a must buy!