Parachutes

Performer: Coldplay
Engineer: Chris Allison; Ken Nelson
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Coldplay: Guy Berryman, Jon Buckland, Will Champion, Chris Martin. Producers: Coldplay, Ken Nelson, Chris Allison. Recorded between November 1999 and May 2000. PARACHUTES won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. Personnel: Chris Martin (vocals); Jon Buckland (guitar); Will Champion (drums); Mark Pythian (computer). Audio Mixers: Chris Allison; Michael Brauer. Recording information: Matrix (11/1999-05/2000); Matriz (11/1999-05/2000); Orinico (11/1999-05/2000); Orinoco (11/1999-05/2000); Parr Street (11/1999-05/2000); Part Street (11/1999-05/2000); Prinoco (11/1999-05/2000); Rockfield Studios, Monmouth, Wales (11/1999-05/2000); Studios, Rockfield (11/1999-05/2000); Wessex (11/1999-05/2000); Wessez (11/1999-05/2000). Photographers: Sarah Lee; Tom Sheehan. In 2000, a small wave of British pop bands clearly heavily influenced by Radiohead's brand of anthemic mope rock arose, with Travis, Muse, and Coldplay at the forefront. Coldplay are the most clearly Radiohead-like, compared to the poppier Travis and the more electronic-oriented Muse, and their US debut, the 10-song PARACHUTES, should appeal to any fans of OK COMPUTER or THE BENDS who found KID A too weird for their tastes. (Coldplay even swipe a song title, "Don't Panic," from Douglas Adams, as Radiohead did with "Paranoid Android.) The soaring yet depressing single "Shiver" is a masterpiece of swelling emotion, and the fact that the other nine tracks, even the instrumental fragment of a title track, sound like variations on its theme is more a matter of conceptual and musical unity than a lack of ideas. This album deserves the hype it got on release.

Rolling Stone (10/26/00, p.111) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...Straight-ahead, melodic Brit pop that strives for 'significance' with a capial 's'....[The album] rises above its influences to become a work of real transcendence..." Spin (1/01, p.73) - Ranked #19 in Spin's "Top 20 Albums of the Year [2000]" - "...[They] hoist their blue guitars and tug on Radiohead's cape....evoking the forgotten shoegazers like Ride....Chris Martin makes early-'90s nostalgia seem like the next frontier." Q (10/01, p.73) - Ranked #21 in Q's "Best 50 Albums of Q's Lifetime" Q (1/01, p.91) - Included in Q's "50 Best Albums of 2000" - "...[The] soundtrack to cheap vino-and-fag sessions..." Alternative Press (12/00, p.94) - 4 out of 5 - "...Shimmering guitars haunt tormented tunes, dark gravel growls vie with Thom Yorke-y high notes....songs dawdle out of either a gentle whisper of sound or an awesome blurge of noise..." NME (Magazine) (12/30/00, p.77) - Ranked #6 in NME's "Top 50 Albums Of The Year" - "...Effortlessly moving and hugely popular at the same time..."

In 2000, Coldplay emerged seemingly out of nowhere to become a worldwide smash with their debut album PARACHUTES and hit single "Yellow." While oft lumped in with the Britpop crowd, they favor a more thoughtful, melodic, Travis-esque piano-centric pop approach than arena-rock chest-beaters like Oasis. Led by charismatic frontman Chris Martin, the band expanded its horizons (and its fanbase) throughout the aughts, while remaining true to its basic form. One of the only British rock bands of their era to make a major impact on the US charts, Coldplay prove that simple, memorable, straightforward pop-rock can still be striking even in the post-everything 21st century.

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