release date: Jun. 6, 2005
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Coldplay; Ken Nelson; Danton Supple
label: Parlophone - nationality. England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Square One" - 4. "Fix You" - 5. "Talk" (4 / 5) - 7. "Speed of Sound" (4 / 5) - 10. "Hardest Part"
3rd studio album by Coldplay, which in some ways even betters the 2002 album, but overall it's also a somewhat superficial release, despite some really fine tracks. To me, this is at the core of what they do so well: they repeat their well-known recipe, and add wider arrangements, but it's also an album that sounds more like Travis than any of their other albums. With this, Coldplay became one of the biggest bands around, playing concerts on filled stadiums all over the globe selling albums like hardly anyone else on the entire planet. I fully acknowledge the musical qualities of Coldplay's music, but imho, it's really only just above the mediocre as it's completely grey like a day with no colours. I rate it higher simply because it's neatly composed and arranged, and it appeals to great many people, and then it doesn't really sound distasteful - I just don't like the album all that much and I'm actually closer at handing it 3 than he added half star. This is the kind of music that both appeals to your five-year-old kid, your teenage daughter, your mom and dad, and your grannies. Kids and adults listen to it at school, at work, at the mall when shopping - it's music you cannot escape. And still, I won't recommend it. For me, this is the kind of music I avoided when as a teenager. Back then, it was music by the likes of Kim Wilde, Phil Collins, Pat Benatar... Music for the masses.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, The Guardian, Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]
