[Jim Bon Jovi]

X&Y

K I’m writing this overall thing after going through it track by track and doing reviews. There’s a coupla things I’ll say. By the track writing you’ll probably see a change over the course of the record of my opinion. I think that’s mainly because I realised I was being really pedantic and holding it up to much higher standards than I would an album I’d picked up at random or based on a single or two. This is for 2 reasons. First I’ve been looking forward to this for so long that I had this hyped up to the point where I was expecting Morning Glory for this decade, secondly because it’s Coldplay and Rush of Blood and the resulting incredible stuff they’re went onto has set them up for much more scrutiny.

The 1st half I seem a bit disappointed because I was wanting to listen to this and go **** this totally blows my world or have a song make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. To be fair, the killers and Damien rice are the only records in the past 3 years that have made me go **** me and Coldplay’s the scientist did make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up the 1st time I heard it so I’ll give them credit for that.

Anyways I’m ranting on. What I’m getting at is that this is an incredibly good, well polished and realised album. 99% of the bands out there could release this and it would be regarded as the absolute pinnacle of what they’re ever capable of, be loved by critics and the public alike, as this is Coldplay, they have to withstand a lot more scrutiny and as you can see, even I’m guilty of that.

Long story short, it’s a brilliant album and you should be objective when listening because if I’d picked up Maximo Park’s album that was sitting next to this on the shelves but it was exactly the same I’d be phoning my mates right now telling them to get their ass over to Asda and pick up the record because it was incredible.





SQUARE ONE: The 1st thing you heard in Rush of Blood were the drums pounding out the beat and it sinks in immediately, this has volume swells and synth pads in the intro. Not that it’s a bad thing but a tune that grabs you by the balls from the go is always a bonus. That’s about the only fault I can find. The drum loop is fairly insignificant but still adds to the rhythm section in the verses. Chorus is good, not incredibly memorable but still really good non-the-less. Similar production to politik, lots of reverb and little guitar and synth parts in the background all adding to the sonic landscape and done a lot more subtly than Bloc Party. 8/10

WHAT IF: Starts off sounding like it’s going to be a morbid attempt to recreate Imagine. The lyrics sound pretty contrived and simplistic or lazy but coming from a writers’ point of view, to be genuinely sincere, you do write like that instead of trying to write some sort of poetry for art students to debate. This kinda sums up this album in one song, most bands couldn’t write a song anywhere near as finished and good as this if they tried but because it’s Coldplay and so much is expected, it just seems like a good song, on any other bands record it would be a standout track in my opinion. Maybe not the best choice for a 2nd track. 7.5/10

WHITE SHADOWS: Strong intro, Bloc Party meets the Killers. Great guitars all over this track. Their man manages to be very basic and use delay and reverb to fill out and fit the songs while remaining tasteful, something the Edge kinda left out of the equation. Great chorus IMO. Would be incredibly if Martin could scream or sing it the octave higher but as the critic said (which I’ll give him credit for) he does sing pretty close to the top of his register so sometimes that means when the song needs to go one better, he can’t and this is a prime example. The chorus is sung lower than the verses. Most objective folk probably won’t bat an eyelid but from a musicians point of view it just sticks out a mile away. Again I’m just nit picking on these songs, it is a brilliant song.. For people whinging about speed of sound being clocks 2, they’ve got the progression from the scientist in the outro J 8/10

FIX YOU: Stand out song. Brilliant progression, brilliant arrangement. Again the same “contrived easy lyrics” but they’re not really. Yellow had similar lyrics amongst lots of their other stuff. I know I already mentioned the progression but I absolutely LOVE the instrumental / 2nd half progression to the point that I’m going to nick it for one of my songs. Bah I’m actually considering giving this a 10, because after listening again it’s absolutely incredibly, easily the best track off the album and the best song that’s just stood out to me since The Street’s Dry Your Eyes. 9.5/10

TALK: Not weak as such, just not very strong compared to other tracks. Probably down to the really basic melody on the chorus (which is hard enough to make out in the 1st place, could do with the vocals higher in the mix) and the 2 chord (3 if you want to be pedantic) progression. Guitar lick is the best hook on the song. Middle 8 sounds like it’s going to lead to a great crescendo-ing ending, like Politik but it never really gets there. Still good, not great. 6.5/10

X&Y: Plods along nicely in the verses. Doesn’t really grab you in any way. You can tell it’s been wrote on a piano. Pretty much most of this record has but this just screams piano progression and not in a good way. Too many suspended and augmented chords to make it memorable in my opinion. The album is supposedly split into 2 sections (X&Y) which the only reason for this I can see is a line between the tracks on the back of the record but it does sound like it’s supposed to be the end of something, they just don’t really make it clear what that something is. 5.5/10

SPEED OF SOUND: Clocks mk2 apparently. To be fair the 1st time I heard the piano part I was like **** they could’ve at least done it on a guitar or something to make it not totally obvious they’d ripped off clocks but the more you listen to it, the more you see it as a separate song. Doesn’t grab you like In My Place did as the 1st single from Rush of Blood but it’s still a fantastic track. Great bridge and chorus. 9/10

A MESSAGE: Acoustic to begin with, nice. Nowhere near near as much acoustic guitar on this than rush of blood, which is a good thing. Doesn’t lead to them churning out drivel like God put a smile on your face. Kicks in with the delayed guitars and synths at the chorus making up the background noise. I like it. It’s a grower. 7/10

LOW: Kicks in from the intro (bout time guys J ) Could be seen as a bit of a throwaway track. This is mainly because the rest of them all build up from the very basics where as this is a lot more like traditional rock in its approach. Goes in the opposite direction from most of the other songs getting more spacey near the end. 6

THE HARDEST PART: Kicks in from the start too. Not as hard as Low. Nice bouncing along song with a great progression. Everything just seems to fit in like it was meant to be there. A great pop song and by pop I don’t mean he’s going to be busting moves like Justin onstage, I mean it’s a perfectly crafted 3 minute piece of music that people will want to listen to. Think Tom Petty with less guitars. 7.5/10

SWALLOWED IN THE SEA: Back to the usual formula, Synths and Martin himself to begin with building up, the melody on this is more grabbing than the other ones I’ve said are kinda throw-away tunes. The verse morphs into the chorus, which isn’t a bad thing. One of the memorable choruses on the record too. You can actually envisage the people singing along at Glastonbury when they stop and let the crowd keep singing. Seems kinda short but that stops it running on and just getting tired. 8/10

TWISTED LOGIC: Again another “finish” song that shouldn’t actually have finished the record. I dunno it just doesn’t do anything for me. Can’t see it getting played out live. Good time to have a fag or chat up the good looking bird standing next to you if they do. 5/10

HIDDEN TRACK (For you I’d wait????, Wait for me????): Not very hidden. Only takes about half a minute before it kicks in. Nice acoustic and piano verse. They just drive the song. Been listening to Paul Simon recently and listening to this I’m thinking, it’s Paul Simon back to basics, if you’re not acquainted with the basics of Mr Simon then this is a big compliment. Builds up nicely at the chorus. Just an absolutely fantastic tune, 2nd favourite on the record.