Track Listing

1. Square One
2. What if?
3. White Shadows
4. Fix You
5. Talk
6. X&Y
7. Speed Of Sound
8. A Message
9. Low
10. Hardest Part
11. Swallowed In The Sea
12. Twisted Logic
13. (Hidden track: 'Til Kingdom Come)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #995 in Music
• Released on: 2005-06-06
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Coldplay were faced with a difficult choice as they set to work on X&Y. They could either follow Radiohead’s lead and use their enormous success and financial security as a springboard to a brave experimental future--or they could play it safe, repeat the tricks used on the 16 million-selling A Rush Of Blood To The Head, and consolidate their position as one of the biggest bands in the world. In truth, despite the Tetris-inspired artwork and presence of teaser track "Talk"--which steals its melody line from electro-futurists Kraftwerk’s gorgeous "Computer Love"--X&Y is more the latter than the former. Fans will be delighted by "What If?", a piano elegy that takes flight on strings, and slowly builds towards a Beatles' "A Day In The Life"-style climax, while the likes of "Fix You" and hidden track "'Til Kingdom Come"--originally written for country hero Johnny Cash--proves Martin’s skill for simple, affecting songwriting remains intact. One development, however, comes through the judicious inclusion of some rather pleasant synthesiser work--see "White Shadows", where Martin gently beseeches "Come on love, stay with me" over a gentle Eno-esque keyboard wash. Fair enough: the experimental albums can come later. --Louis Pattison

 

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Album Description
Coldplay's massively anticipated new album, X&Y, is the follow-up to 2002's 16-million selling A Rush of Blood To The Head and includes the single "Speed of Sound". X&Y was recorded at studios in the UK and has been produced by Danton Supple (Morrissey, Elbow), Ken Nelson (Badly Drawn Boy, Kings of Convenience) and the band themselves.

Tracks include:

"Square One":Probable single. Built around a subtle electronic drum beat reminiscent of Brian Eno or Berlin-period Bowie, the song builds into a huge chorus featuring massive guitars and organ. Like Radiohead's "Paranoid Android", it sounds like their most ambitious and possibly best song yet.

"What If":Starting with a simple piano, a fragile-sounding Chris sings, "What if you decide/You don't want me there by your side... in your life". This album's "The Scientist".

"Talk":A possible B-side to the first single, "Talk" takes the riff from electronic music legends Kraftwerk's "Computer Love" and builds a completely new song. It keeps the mechanical beat of the original but adds a huge guitar and dancefloor filling bass-line. Stadiums won't be big enough to contain it.

"'Til Kingdom Come":This was written for Johnny Cash, but he died before he could record it. Coldplay's version is a sweet Dylan-esque folk song on acoustic guitar. "For you I'd wait til kingdom come/Until my days, my days are done." Chris vows.

"X&Y":The dreamy, synth-heavy song features the chorus, "You and me are floating on a tidal wave together/You and me are drifting into outer space." Beatles-style strings suddenly appear towards the end, and the anthemic singalong "woo-hoo-hoo" outro is set to become the sound of the summer festivals.

"The Hardest Part":A classic Coldplay love song about loss and heartbreak, in which Chris sings, "The hardest part was letting go, not taking part."

CD Description
Third studio album from the all-conquering UK indie quartet. 'X & Y' took over 18 months to record, but the sessions provided Coldplay with 'Speed Of Sound' - their first US top ten single. This album is a natural progression from 2002's 'A Rush Of Blood To The Head', and was produced by the band in collaboration with Danton Supple and Ken Nelson.

Customer Reviews

Probably... the best Coldplay album yet
I have now owned this album for some time, hence the delayed review. That's probably a good thing for prospective purchasers as this is certainly a steady grower. Whilst I immediately loved Speed of Sound and Fix You as singles, the album didn't impress terribly on the first few listens. Whatever you do, though, do not be put off by some of the negative reviews on this site as the writers concerned are clearly fans of other musical genres which Coldplay obviously don't fit into. If you appreciate the song-writing craft then you will certainly find plenty to enjoy on this. That said, there are 1 or 2 tracks which I can't help skipping - they're just a little on the bland side. Fear not, however, there are some truly great songs here - Fix You, What If, Speed of Sound, Swallowed In The Sea and the title track spring to mind. The album is on the whole very well produced and not overdone in my opinion as others have suggested. The guitar playing is as tasteful as ever and the vocals are delivered with passion and sincerity. Coldplay are one of the very few bands around these days that write quality music for the masses. I find their material surprisingly uplifting and a welcome change from all the current retro bands who are writing material we've all heard before. This is an essential purchase.

hauntingly beautiful, surprisingly uplifting
Now I'm a full-time Mum and "don't get out much", I find myself in an '80's void, tending to buy only the albums I missed out on buying in my late teens and twenties. Sad, but true.

However, this all changed when I saw the Coldplay set on Live8 a few weeks back. I had of course heard of the band (and sadly knew more about the fact that the lead singer had a baby with Gwyneth Paltrow, and they had named the baby 'Apple'...). I found I was moved by the lyrics, and felt I must buy the album. I am so glad that I did.

I'm not very good at all the jargon that goes with album reviews I read in newspapers. This is a beautiful album, and surprisingly uplifting. I play it when relaxing, when the kids are screaming and driving me mad, when I need a lift as well as when I'm slowing down. It's great, buy it. I did!

Alright, so it's not quite OK Computer.....
Those of you who haven't listened to this album just yet are in for a real treat!

As others have hinted, on first hearing perhaps only 2 or 3 songs will catch your ear - For me it was "Square One" and "Fix you". At first I grew concerned that this might be an album just to cherry-pick tracks off - but then the thought that a Coldplay album wouldn't have any longevity began to plague me and I went back and did what the Chris and the lads wanted us to do - Listen to the WHOLE album. So I did.... and did again.....and again. What started out as a labour of love on my part soon blossomed into a love affair and then an infatuation that is not likely to dissolve easily.

So, don't pay too much attention to the serial knockers who have plainly been saving up their unwarranted bile for the last 2 or 3 years to serve up cold and not very convincingly. This is an easy album to turn ones nose up at if you've got a very dull or rusty axe to grind. But you don't have to buy into that "Fair Trade" thing or start sponsoring animal welfare charities, or whatever to enjoy this music. My ears don't tell me lies - they convince me time and time again that Coldplay are one of the few current active song-writing groups who make music that I could live with 24/7. It may be glib to say so but their music is truly becoming the soundtrack to many of our lives....

So go on, take that step of faith and invest in what was thought to be their "difficult 3rd album". You may have tired of "Yellow" by now - I have a feeling that you won't be tiring of this slow burning beauty for many years to come.