A Rush of Blood to the Head

Performer: Coldplay
Producer: Ken Nelson; Coldplay
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Coldplay includes: Chris Martin (vocals); Guy Berryman, Jon Buckland, Will Champion, Phil Harvey. Recorded between 2001 & 2002. "Clocks" won the 2004 Grammy Award for Record Of The Year. A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD won the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. "In My Place" won the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. In 2000, Coldplay appeared seemingly out of nowhere and immediately advanced to the head of the Britpop class in the UK, while easily outdistancing the likes of Oasis and Blur in terms of US popularity. The most striking thing was that they did it with zero attitude and unassuming, melodic tunes humbly presented with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of memorability. That trend continues on the band's second album, A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD. There's little stylistic alteration from PARACHUTES here, which is just fine, considering how enormously and instantly appealing that style is. While Travis, Elbow, and other entrants in the Britpop sweepstakes offer a not dissimilar sound, none can communicate with the honest immediacy and directness of Coldplay. Part of the key, apart from melodies so ridiculously catchy as to make Belle & Sebastian sound like Public Image Ltd., may be their working-class sense of all-for-one proletarianism (though not in the breast-beating Oasis manner). Even on "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face," when Chris Martin goes so far as to offer a few boastful phrases, the ultimate sentiment that comes across is the refrain "your guess is good as mine."

Rolling Stone (12/26/02, p.103) - Included in Rolling Stone's "50 Best Albums of 2002" Rolling Stone (9/19/02, pp.97-8) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...A nervier, edgier, thoroughly surprising album....the band has figured out how to let loose and rock out...[it's] first-rate guitar rock with some real emotional protein on its bones." Spin (1/03, p.72) - Ranked #26 on Spin's list of 2002's "Albums of the Year" - "...Harder and darker than 2000's sweetly naive PARACHUTES....gorgeous arena pop." Q (12/02, p.65) - Included in Q Magazine's "50 Best Albums of 2002" Q (9/02, pp.198-9) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...This is pretty much the apotheosis of post-Radiohead guitar-rock, a collection of vastly moving songs that will render stadiums as intimate as bedrooms..." Uncut (1/03, p.97) - Ranked #67 in Uncut's "100 Best Albums of the Year" Uncut (9/02, p.116) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...the best British rock album since OK COMPUTER...acomplished, original and majestic..." CMJ (9/2/02) - p.6) - "...There is a cavernous beauty to this album's melodic depression that can't be denied..." Mojo (Publisher) (p.54) - Ranked #100 in Mojo's "100 Modern Classics" -- "[T]his surely ranks as the most intimate arena rock yet wrought." Mojo (Publisher) (1/03, p.76) - Ranked #31 in Mojo's "Best Albums of 2002" Mojo (Publisher) (9/02, p.94) - "...fragile love songs with a hint of the metaphysic...Coldplay still sound like they care about what they're doing." NME (Magazine) (8/22/02, p.42) - 9 out of 10 - "...An album of outstanding beauty, an organic, wholesome work..."

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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