My Coldplay Top 15 Countdown
It's hard to believe Coldplay has now been around for 20 years, the same amount of time U2 had been around when Coldplay first showed up in 2000. In that time, Coldplay went from being another post Oasis/Radiohead Britpop band like Travis and Starsailor, to being the biggest band in the world who's popularity and commercial clout exceeded that of Radiohead and Oasis, at least in the United States. By the end of the '00s Coldplay was basically the millennial version of U2 and like U2 they were seemingly beloved by everybody until people got tired of them. Yet, like U2 Coldplay remains one of the biggest and most visible bands in the world and can sell out arenas anywhere they please.
Coldplay was one of the few acts in the new millennium that could unite the fractured music listening audiences that were growing apart and becoming more niche driven every year. Coldplay were one of the only acts that everyone, young and old, boy and girl, even black and white, could agree on for a short time in the 00s. This was more impressive considering that rock music as a whole has been in a commercial decline ever since the new millennium started. Or course calling Coldplay a rock band sometimes feels generous, because even though they are a band who use basic rock instruments, they rarely "Rock Out" and instead they deliver sweeping ballads, mid-tempo love songs and atmospheric mood pieces over 95% of the time.
I also get the feeling that Coldplay got so big for much of the same reasons that The Foo Fighters got so big during the 00s. Rock was losing its mainstream cache and many bands seemed to come and go so quickly in a flurry of hype that there were fewer and fewer rock bands you could rely on. Coldplay, like the Foo Fighters, were extremely reliable in the new millennium in that they always delivered a new album every 3 years, which always spun off about 3 hits. They were not the most experimental or risk-taking band around, but that was also part of the appeal. Coldplay's albums are all different from one another, but they all still sound very Coldplay at the end of the day. What I'm trying to say is that Coldplay is a very good band who became one of the biggest bands in the world more by default due to a lack of competition.
For myself Coldplay, like The Foo Fighters again, were one of the few Alternative Rock bands I consistently enjoyed and listened to during the 00s and early 10s. Once Clocks roped me in around early 2003, I was a dedicated follower of Coldplay buying their albums as they came out and placing their songs on countless mix tapes, mix CDs, iTunes playlists and Spotify playlists. Yet in recent years I have drifted away from Coldplay a bit as there is now a lot more newer music that is grabbing my attention compared to the '00s. I still like Coldplay but I'm not clinging to them like I was back in 2006.
That said, even if I have drifted away from Coldplay a bit in recent years there's no denying that they meant a lot of me for a large chunk of time. Therefore, I have a lot of memories, emotions and nostalgia wrapped around Coldplay and their music. As I said in my last article the group's 2000 debut album Parachutes is not a particular favorite of mine and therefore I have included no songs off of it on this list. Parachutes is the one Coldplay album where the Radiohead comparisons feel apt, because it feels like a diet version of The Bends and I'd rather listen to The Bends instead. Starting with their next album though, A Rush of Blood to the Head, I'm onboard the Coldplay bandwagon 100%. A Rush of Blood to the Head sounds similar to Parachutes on the surface, but it's better in every way and it remains in my top 10 favorite albums of the 00s. As a result, A Rush of Blood to the Head has the most songs on this list, which is 5 total (A solid third of this countdown.)
While they never quite topped that album again, Coldplay pretty much had my full attention for the next 10 to 12 years. Some of the albums were better than others, but every single one of them had at the very least a few songs I would latch on to and listen to on a regular basis. Also, in the era of Nickelback, Puddle of Mud and Emo, Coldplay kept Alternative Rock radio listenable for me throughout most of the ‘00s. This was back when radio was still everything and I was a dedicated listener, so Coldplay dominating rock radio actually went a long way to endearing them to me even more back then (again much like The Foo Fighters.) So, after a Rush of Blood to the Head I have at least 1 if not 2 songs from all the albums that followed on this list. I don't think Coldplay ever got bad like many claim they did, I just think people got tired of them like U2 and that's not really the band's fault. If anything, I want to go back and re-listen to their more recent material again, because I'm sure I will end up finding a few more hidden gems this time around.
As I always like to say before every countdown this list is not definitive. In fact, I know I have left off a lot of people's favorite Coldplay songs. What's funny is some of the bands most beloved material such as Yellow, The Scientist and Fix You, don't do much for me, while some of their deep cuts and lesser known singles appeal to me a lot more. I seem to gravitate towards a lot of the Coldplay singles that charted much lower on the Alternative Rock chart such as Hurts Like Heaven, Life in Technicolor II and God Put a Smile on Your Face. Still even the Coldplay singles that were not personal favorites of mine were still better than 80% of what was on the radio during the ‘00s. Anyway, let's jump back into the Bush and Obama years with Coldplay! (And something worth mentioning is I can see both Bush and Obama liking Coldplay together and in fact I think they both do. I definitely know Obama likes Coldplay.)
15. Paradise
This one took a minute to really grow on me. It wasn't bad but I was not blown away by Paradise either when I heard it on the radio the first few times. Eventually I started warming up to it and then learned to kind of love it once I heard the album version. For you see the radio version cut out the guitar solo at the end, even Alternative Rock radio did this not just the pop and light rock radio stations, and in my opinion cutting off that guitar solo neuters the whole song. That guitar solo is the true climax of Paradise both musically and emotionally and it's beautiful. I only want to hear the full-length album version of Paradise thank you, the radio edit is a hard pass for me!
14. Lovers in Japan
This was the last single off Viva La Vida and most people don't remember it now as a result, but it's been one of my favorites since I first heard it after buying the album. I seem to like some of the lesser known final singles off the Coldplay albums as you'll come to see. This one, like the title track to Viva La Vida, was catchy and pop, but it also had a bit of driver and momentum to it as well that I found very appealing. When I saw Coldplay perform live in 2009 their performance of Lovers in Japan was one of the highlights of that concert. The production on Lovers in Japan is also immaculate. You can say what you want about Coldplay, but their production is always lush, dense, beautiful and ear grabbing. It's honestly one of the best things about them.
13. A Sky Full of Stars
The only song anyone really remembers off Ghost Stories and it doesn't sound at all like the rest of the songs on that album. This was Coldplay's collaboration with Avicii who was hot off his global chart-topping smash Wake Me Up. In a lot of ways, A Sky Full of Stars sounds like the spiritual sequel to Wake Me Up. That said, when I had my wedding and the DJ played Wake Me Up it filled the dance floor, but at my friend's wedding one year later when the DJ played A Sky Full of Stars it emptied the dance floor. It's honestly kind of perplexing because both songs are cut from the same cloth and both are very danceable, but it was another example of how people were getting tired of Coldplay. I also don't remember hearing A Sky Full of Stars much on rock radio as really only pop radio latched on to it. Still the music video to A Sky Full of Stars has over 500 millions views on YouTube so there are people who liked it!
12. Adventure of a Lifetime
The lead single off the group's 2015 album was probably Coldplay's biggest hit on both rock and pop radio since Paradise in 2011. The guitar on it is catchy and memorable though it reminds me a bit of Groovy Train by the Farm, which is an early 90s Madchester song that was only a hit in the U.K. I would not be surprised if Coldplay was familiar with Groovy Train and took that main riff for Adventure of a Lifetime. Either way it proved that Coldplay were still pretty great at churning out likable pop/rock songs that were meant for radio play 15 years into their career.
11. Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown feels a little too over produced at first. There's one effect in particular that sounds like someone making weird noises in the background which is kind of off putting upon first listen. Yet, the more I heard this one the more I liked it, which seems to be par for the course for me when it came to the group's 2011 album Mylo Xyloto. At first, I was not too in love with the album, but over time it's become one of my favorite albums by the group. This one has some pretty guitars on it and moments that truly do soar and Coldplay are good at soaring pop anthems. I also remember this was the theme song for the world cup the summer of 2012, or at least I heard it play over commercials for the world cup over and over again at work, because I could hear the TV's at the bar from the front desk at the Courtyard Marriott. So yeah, this one reminds me of working at Courtyard and soccer.
10. In My Place
The first single off In My Place passed me by until I heard the album later thanks to Clocks. Here Coldplay is a little more stripped down then they would become later on, but the production and playing is more interesting and layered here than it was on most of Parachutes. Coldplay doesn't rock out much, but they sure come up with some really pretty chiming guitar licks and In My Place has one of their best.
09. Hurts Like Heaven
Hurts Like Heaven was the final single off Mylo Xyloto and no surprise it was my favorite song on the entire album. On this album the group dived into dance music a bit and to me this was the their most successful foray into making a dance song for that album. The production is overstuffed but works here the best and keeps you engaged throughout. Hurts Like Heaven keeps plowing ahead so fast it can leave you breathless. There are some really good guitar solos on here as well. This one is not only catchy & well produced but pretty fun as well.
08. Life in Technicolor II
When I first heard Viva La Vida there was a short intro called Life in Technicolor and it has now words and it was just over a minute. I remember liking the guitar on it a lot and thinking it was a wasted opportunity that they didn't flesh out further into a full-fledged song. Well apparently, Coldplay agreed with me because they ended up putting out a supplemental EP to Viva La Vida a year later that not only had some songs that were better than what made the album, but a fully fleshed out pop song version for Life in Technicolor. When I saw them live in 2009, they opened with the short version of Life in Technicolor and then they finished the concert with Life in Technicolor II. I also remember hearing Life in Technicolor in the 2008 Olympics coverage as well. Coldplay songs seem to go really well with sports montages!
07. God Put a Smile on Your Face
The final single off Rush of Blood to the head and a personal favorite. In general, most of the first half of that album is great! One of my favorite chunks of music from any album in the 00s. As I said about In Your Place, God Put a Smile on Your Face shows how much Coldplay has grown since their debut but still sounding a little more intimate and stripped down compared to what was just around the corner. The drumming does propel this forward the guitar parts throughout add a real nice touch this song.
06. Viva La Vida
Coldplay's big # 1 smash that I knew they had in them. Viva La Vida represents the exact moment Coldplay was truly the biggest band in the world and at the peak of their popularity. I remember everybody really liked this song, though not everyone liked the album interestingly enough. It was usually the older women who knew Coldplay through the light rock stations, but didn't realize that Coldplay albums overall sound closer to Radiohead than say Train. Still, Viva La Vida is a catchy song with a soaring chorus and I especially love the vocal harmonizing at the end by the drummer, which helps Viva La Vida soar even higher. It was nice to just have a rock band at #1 again for a brief moment and for that band to actually be good as well.
05. Daylight
One of things I love about Rush of Blood to the Head is the heavy use of strings throughout the album. Those strings, along with the piano throughout, helps A Rush of Blood to the Head achieve a subtle type of beauty that reminds me of classical music. Daylight in particular has a lot of strings as a counterpoint to the guitar and it feels timeless in the same kind of way the best classical music is timeless. It's an utterly gorgeous song that really does make you believe the clouds are breaking and the sun is shining down upon you.
04. Talk
When I first heard X&Y this song grabbed me on first list due to that guitar riff. This is a rare Coldplay song where a crunchy guitar riff is holding the song down. Granted Talk is still just as atmospheric and spacey as the rest of X&Y but it has an edge to it that is rare for a Coldplay song. That edge reaches its peak in a rare guitar solo that actually rocks and takes the song up a notch as a result. I wanted Talk to be a single as soon as I heard it and eventually it was single # 3 but it's not as remembered as Fix You or Speed of Sound which is a shame because this is one the best and most memorable songs they ever did.
03. Warning Sign
Warning Sign is the moment the student becomes the teacher. Radiohead was a major influence on early Coldplay, especially on their debut album Parachutes. Radiohead are still an influence on A Rush of Blood to the Head, but with Warning Sign Coldplay made a song that can easily stand toe to toe with anything Radiohead has ever done in terms of beauty and melody. Again, there is a subtle use of strings throughout Warning Sign, which gives it that timeless classical flair while still keeping things firmly in the pop/rock realm. Anyone who listens to Coldplay beyond their radio hits usually falls in love with Warning Sign eventually and it's easy to hear why. This is easily Coldplay's greatest deep cut to the point that it honestly should have been a single if you ask me. It's a song that sounded great in 2003 and still sounds as great now. It's not flashy or overly poppy, but if you give it some time Warning Sign will slowly but surely find it's way into your heart and soul.
02. Speed of Sound
Clocks is what got me into Coldplay, but Speed of Sound is what turned me into a dedicated fan. While I grew to love all of A Rush of Blood to the Head, I really wanted Coldplay to expand upon the sound they had uncovered with Clocks and that's exactly what Speed of Sound did. I loved this song as soon as I first heard it and I knew right then and there I was buying X&Y the day the album dropped. This was also the moment my brother became a Coldplay fan, which is also when he started getting more into Alternative Rock that I liked, especially from the 90s. This is when our tastes in music, which had been so different for so long, started to come together and Coldplay was one of the few modern acts we both really liked at that time. This stands as my second favorite Coldplay song, but it's # 1 for my brother. The atmospheric production and the piano riff are so transportive it feels other worldly, which I love. This is a clear case of loving a song the moment you hear it and never having that love really wane or falter in the years since. For 15 years and counting I have loved Speed of Sound and I think it's still easily one of the best songs of the 00s.
01. Clocks
Speed of Sound turned me into a dedicated Coldplay fan, but Clocks had an even bigger impact. This was the first time since transitioning over to Grunge and Classic Rock in late 2001 and early 2002 that I was loving a new song by an act who came out after the 90s. Besides 90s acts that were still going in the 00s like The Fighters or Green Day, I was feeling very underwhelmed with both modern rock and top 40 pop music that was on the radio in 2002 and early 2003.
Then Clocks arrived.
Clocks felt like an experience more than a song. Like Speed of Sound it was transportive and other worldly and I wanted to get lost in the world it was creating every time it came on VH1 or the radio. Clocks fit well enough into both pop and rock radio without ever sounding quit like anything else at that time either. I was reminded of this last year when I was at physical therapy and they had a Maroon 5 Pandora station on and it was playing Train, Nickelback, John Mayer, Five for Fighting, The Fray, Jason Maraz and other light rock acts of the era. It reminded me why I did not care for that era at all, but in between all that Clocks came on and it reminded me why Coldplay and that song specifically stood out so much and felt a step above most everything else on the radio at that time. It was a revelation for me and as cheesy as it sounds it saved modern music in my eyes to the point that I didn't give up completely on post 90s music like I was about to at that time. For years this remained my #1 song of the 00s though now something by Britney Spears or Silversun Pickups probably has the top 3 locked down. Nonetheless I still love this song and cherish it. Clocks represents an important moment for me as a music listener and for getting me connected back to modern music again and I can't thank it enough for that.
