X & Y = OH MY GOD A DAMN GOOD ALBUM! (X&Y - Coldplay)

Member Name: DanielKemp

Product:	X&Y - Coldplay
Date:	19/06/09 (86 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The production is second to none, structurally the band's songs have never been better

Disadvantages: Some may consider it to be too similar to their previous album

Coldplay - X & Y (2005)

Producer: Danton Supple, Ken Nelson, Coldplay

Square One
What If
White Shadows
Fix You
Talk
X & Y
Speed of Sound
A Message
Low
The Hardest Part
Swallowed in the Sea
Twisted Logic
Til Kingdom Come

For Coldplay's third album, X & Y, the band stuck to the tried and tested formula of their second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head. So that big expansive sound is back and in many ways this is a re-run of their sophomore effort.

Although, there have been a few changes to the way the band works, the most noticeable change is that X & Y places much more emphasis upon the use of electronic equipment, rendering Coldplay more than just a simple four-piece band.

The opening Square One has a very relaxed ambient introduction. A few seconds in, Chris Martin's distinctive higher register breaks through the dense atmospherics and Johnny Buckland's agile riffs end up coiled around his words. Martin has certainly never sounded any better than he does here, truly upping his game as a vocalist. In comparison to other Coldplay opening tracks, it thrashes both Politik and Don't Panic with its superiority.

White Shadows is one of the band's most intense recordings. Buckland's recurring guitar riff sounds as if it has come straight from outer-space and Will Champion's violent percussion presents a momentum which doesn't cease until the song ends. The chorus is wonderfully produced for that epic and uncompromising sound, while Martin is certainly no slouch as a lyricist, "Maybe you'll get what you wanted? Maybe you'll stumble upon it?" Maybe I will and I think I just did!

The band had originally wanted to record Fix You on a church organ, but as Martin wasn't able to gain access to the instrument, he instead opted for a keyboard which his late father-in-law had given him. Like you noticed. Fix You is a beautifully serene recording, until it explodes into a reassuringly positive guitar-led anthem half way through its running time. The lyrics won't win any awards, but they serve their purpose well within this minor classic.

Talk was the third single to be released from X & Y and is built around an easily identifiable riff from the Kraftwerk song, Computer Love. While the original riff was played on keyboards, Coldplay has translated it well for use on Buckland's guitar. Will Champion's drumming is very standard and metronomic, but I get the feeling that was the point, as the song is made memorable not by anyone else's involvement other than the contribution made by Buckland.

Speed of Sound was the lead single from the album and it is a fine one at that. Stylistically, it sounds far too close to Clocks from their previous album to be deemed original or innovative, but as a superior rendition of one their prior album's best loved tracks, it does very little wrong.

The structure of X & Y is heavily indebted to that of A Rush of Blood to the Head. The most convincing bit of evidence to further this idea is that it has an acoustic ballad half way through, a la Green Eyes. The song on X & Y which I am talking about is titled A Message. I am a big fan of Green Eyes, so I am more than delighted with the effort which has been put into A Message, which certainly lives up to Green Eyes' reputation. To be fair though, A Message differs from its older brother in that it explodes into an electronic orgy of sound half way through.

Despite it being listed as a hidden track, Til Kingdom Come closes the album in the best way of any Coldplay album yet. The song was originally meant to be recorded with Johnny Cash, but unfortunately he passed away before the opportunity had been made possible. It sounds like no other song in the band's catalogue, with the production placing great emphasis on Martin's vocals and the acoustic guitar, in a style not dissimilar to some of Cash's own work. Martin sings, "For you I'd wait 'til kingdom come. Until my days, my days are done. Say you'll come and set me free. Just say you'll wait, you'll wait for me!" I'm a sucker for love songs which are pulled off this well, which brings me nicely to my next point - Til Kingdom Come is the best song on X & Y.

I couldn't really say that X & Y is an inferior album to A Rush of Blood to the Head, but I'd be hard pressed to say that it is a superior effort. As I said at the start of my review, it is essentially A Rush of Blood to the Head - version II, but the expert use of electronic equipment is enough to say that they've carried enough fresh new ideas through to have developed further with album number three.

8.5/10

Daniel Kemp

Read more reviews at www.danielkempreviews.co.uk

Summary: Coldplay's third is definitely worth buying if you have ears!