It wasn’t that long ago that Coldplay was actually cool.
In 2000, the band had released a hauntingly romantic single called “Yellow” and an enigmatic, minimalist video that featured singer Chris Martin walking down the shore like a beach-town James Dean.
The group was the next small thing out of the UK, and there was no reason to think any Americans would embrace Coldplay, except for the pop snobs who already worshipped Radiohead, the Doves and Super Furry Animals.
But in the next five years, the coterie of fans who used to love “indie rock” saw the band swiped from them. The group sold 20 million copies of its first two albums, Martin married movie star Gwyneth Paltrow and suddenly Coldplay stood at the precipice of becoming the biggest rock band in the world.
On Tuesday, Coldplay’s third release, “X & Y,” is due in stores, and it’s already being anticipated as the record that will catapult the quartet into bona fide rock-star status. Their new single, “Speed of Sound,” entered the Billboard pop chart at No. 8, the highest debut by a British band since the Beatles.
For folks who love to burnish lovable, mid-list losers – like Wilco, PJ Harvey and Modest Mouse – into underdog idols, this is a problem. But it shouldn’t be.
The first step in solving your Coldplay problem is admitting that you have one. So we call upon you to admit right now that you like, and maybe even love, Coldplay – despite yourself.
What’s not to love? Chris Martin writes songs that are genuinely beautiful, without stooping to trite clichés. When he writes about love, he never forgets to inject a good amount of doubt into the equation, and that bittersweet quality fills his ballads with just as much longing as any Elliott Smith record.
There was a time when we didn’t lose our passion for bands just because they were successful. Sinatra, Elvis, Hank Williams, the Beatles – they were all massive, but worthy of respect. And nobody would hiss if they popped up on the jukebox in your local watering hole.
And what’s really, really surprising about Coldplay is that they’ve hit it big without turning themselves into a tacky, reality-show starring, pop-radio commodity. These guys aren’t Jessica Simpson, people. No Maroon 5, either.
Somehow, Coldplay has brewed its love of U2, Radiohead, the Smiths and Echo & the Bunnymen into something that appeals to people who don’t wear vintage Adidas or grow their sideburns bushy – in an ironic sort of way.
And just because New Jersey mooks and Long Island sorority girls will turn up to shriek for Coldplay when they play the Garden in August doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be there, too. It’s time to embrace their success – after all you’ll always have the Killers, Franz Ferdinand and Spoon to yourself … right?
Coldplay: Genius or sellouts?
Pro: Recording “Politik”
Con: Naming your kid Apple
Pro: Promoting fair trade
Con: Getting photographed plowing fields in South America
Pro: Say they want to be as good as U2
Con: Being touted as the next U2
CD Review
COLDPLAY
“X&Y”
* * * (three stars)
Capitol Records
With the release of their third album, Coldplay shatters their undeserved reputation as masters of melancholy with a disc that’s rich with anthemic, uplifting melodies that demand arena-sized audiences.
Radiohead wannabes? Hardly. On this album, it’s the band’s U2 influences – hinted at in earlier songs like “Yellow” and their epic “Politik” and “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face” – that get a workout.
Despite his Grammy-grabbing stardom and being a celebrity-husband to film queen Gwyneth Paltrow, singer Chris Martin sings with down-to-earth conviction. He’s still able to convey an innocent sense of wonder and even hesitance about the nature of love and life. That quality is obvious in his clear, forceful upper register on the very fine “Swallowed on the Sea,” “Low” and “Speed of Sound.”
While the album is good, it occasionally loses momentum when the band lays down the slow, dark introspective ballads. Goth fans will love it when Martin sings about how he messed everything up and is sad and really sorry in “Fix You,” but except for the number’s rocking bridge it’s a drag.
Download these: “White Shadows” and “Low”
– Dan Aquilante
