With the recent release of Coldplay’s ninth album, Music of the Spheres, today we go take a dive into their back catalogue and review all nine albums of their discography…
Mylo Xyloto (2011)
Celebrating its 10th anniversary recently, Mylo Xyloto, Coldplay’s fifth album, sees the band explore a more pop and electronic sound compared to their previous albums. For this album the band fully embraces the concept of ‘stadium rock grandeur’ – big loud pop songs intended to be played to a live audience. Prime examples of this are tracks like Paradise, Hurts Like Heaven, and Every Teardrop is a Waterfall. The sounds and instrumentation are also louder, and feel more alternative and electronic.
The instrumentation on the album is the defining highlight, with some fantastic new sounds sprinkled throughout the album’s 14 tracks. Hurts Like Heaven has a brilliant backing drum beat combined with some groovy guitar riffs that sail through the air. Paradise is a classic Coldplay anthem with a big chorus and bigger instrumentation of synths, strings, guitar and piano. Charlie Brown has another excellent lead guitar riff leading the song. Every Teardrop is a Waterfall has an infectiously catchy guitar riff that builds to a gorgeous crescendo with some fantastic drum work. Major Minus is an angry, aggressive track with a deep bass line that feels in place on A Rush of Blood to the Head. Princess of China, the duet with Rihanna, is an interesting experiment in electropop with a rather touching storyline. Don’t Let It Break Your Heart is a fantastic electronic rock song, even if somewhat overproduced with instrumentation.
Unfortunately, as is standard with several Coldplay albums, whilst the instrumentation is good, the lyrics and songwriting are not. The Nineteen-Eighty Four inspired theme of a bunch of young rebellious artistic kids against an Orwellian society just isn’t very engaging or interesting, especially since it has been covered before by many artists. The lyrics and songwriting, upon examination, are also thin, cheap general clichés about love, life and positivity that have little impact on the listener. Furthermore, there are a few too many tracks on this album, at 14, with some tracks better off being excluded. (To be fair, however, three of these are brief instrumental interludes). These are mainly the quieter acoustic ballads that feel bland, like Up in Flames and Up with the Birds. The album title is also ludicrous.
Mylo Xyloto is a good electropop rock album from Coldplay with some excellent sounds and instrumentation. Unfortunately, it is also let down by average lyrics and songwriting and a derivative central concept and theme. Nonetheless, the album is overall an interesting and enjoyable listen for casual audiences.
Favourite song: Every Teardrop is a Waterfall
Rating: 6/10
Ghost Stories (2014)
Strange, somber, and unusual. These are the words that can be used to describe Ghost Stories, Coldplay’s sixth album.
For this album the band explored a softer ambient, electronic and acoustic sound, based on the experiences of lead singer Chris Martin’s separation from his wife Gwyneth Paltrow. The result, both lyrically and musically, again is a mixed bag with some tracks working better than others. Lead single Magic is a catchy tune with a brilliant drum beat sound in the background. Midnight is incredible in its sound production and is an album highlight. Oceans is a soothing and hypnotic acoustic ballad about love and loss, perfect for a late night listen. A Sky Full of Stars is the commercial ‘loud’ song (compared to the other tracks) that wouldn’t feel out of place on the band’s other albums. O is a fantastic, graceful album closer with a beautiful hidden track. The rest of the album, however, is unfortunately unmemorable and forgettable, with some questionable musical choices, especially on Ink.
With the exception of A Sky Full of Stars, very little here is intended for the commercial market here, and the band must be commended for pursuing and exploring a very different sound compared to their previous works. The artwork, marketing and videos for this album are also beautifully crafted. Overall however, as a whole the album feels incoherent and underwhelming. The overarching themes also aren’t very engaging or captivating, compared to their previous works. Chris Martin and the band could have developed a deep album that explored the traumatic consequences of separation and divorce. Unfortunately, this isn’t it.
Favourite song: Midnight
Rating: 5/10
A Head Full of Dreams (2015)
After the sombre and muted sounds on Ghost Stories, Coldplay returned a year later with A Head Full of Dreams – an album that could not be more diametrically opposed and different to their last record. This is an endlessly positive, bright and loud album about discovery, exploration and relationships. As a pop album, there are also an endless amount of collaborators here, which include Beyonce, Tove Lo, Noel Gallagher, producer Stargate, and even President Obama. The sounds here are also somewhat similar to Mylo Xyloto, except that the lead and bass guitar are used less regularly, being replaced with synths and electronics. Sounds exciting right?
Unfortunately, whilst there are some good tracks and interesting sounds on this album, this is a ‘pop’ album that does sound like a thousand other songs played on your commercial radio. This will sadly disappoint fans of Coldplay, like myself, who prefer the rock and experimental sounds of their previous and forthcoming albums. The lyrics and songwriting, again, are a disappointment – endless drivel about miracles, stars, angels, birds, and how beautiful life can be if we explore the world.
Singles Adventure of a Lifetime and Hymn for the Weekend are typical commercial Coldplay songs about “feeling alive again” and “getting drunk and high“. Everglow, a subdued piano ballad about love and loss, is excellent and an album highlight. Fun, the collaboration with Tove Lo, is an enjoyable listen with some good percussion sounds. Kaleidoscope and Color Spectrum are experiments that unfortunately fall flat in their attempt to move the album away from the regular pop songs. Army of One and Amazing Day again are enjoyable listens but have little depth or substance in terms of story or lyrics. Up & Up finishes the album with an entertaining guitar solo from Noel Gallagher, but again with empty lyrics about positivity.
A Head Full of Dreams is an album that has endless optimism, big and loud sounds, and some interesting instrumentation. Unfortunately, it is also generic, bland, hollow and boring, with sounds and themes that have been done many times before. If you’re looking for a good Coldplay pop album, give Mylo Xyloto a listen instead.
Favourite song: Everglow
Rating: 3/10
Everyday Life (2019)
Experimentation. It is a theme and influence that always been prominent in Coldplay’s discography, and makes their music interesting for their audiences.
On Everyday Life, the band pursues this theme vigorously and emphatically. The result is an album that is their most creative, unorthodox and experimental since Viva la Vida in 2008. There is an extraordinary range of music on this album, both lyrically and thematically. The overarching theme and ideas for the album seem to be the highs and lows of ‘everyday life’ in humans, and seeing the daily joys and struggles that we all face. Supplementing this are themes of religion, humanity, unity, hope, racism, war, and pain and loss. Thus there is quite a lot of ground to cover in 53 minutes. The results, as ever, are mixed.
The first half, Sunrise, begins very well. Sunrise is a beautiful and soothing orchestral opening track with some gorgeous strings. Church is a fantastic relaxing song with some great orchestration and vocals in English and Arabic. The gospel songs, Broken and When I Need are Friend, are excellent examples of the band’s creativity peak at work. In contrast, Trouble in Town, which highlights the police brutality in the US, never really lifts of the ground in its message lyrically, despite a good crescendo from Jonny Buckland’s guitarwork. WOTP / POTP, an incomplete demo recording, is a strange inclusion that really should have been omitted.
The second half, Sunset, is another subdued affair with moments of power and intensity. Guns is a brilliant fast-paced acoustic track that demonstrates its madness with intense vocals and profanity. Orphans, the albums lead single, unfortunately comes off as the commercial ‘stadium anthem’ of previous works with its ridiculous ‘woo woos’ designed to annoy the casual listener on the radio. The acoustic melodies of Eko, Cry Cry Cry and Old Friends are another delight for easy listening, even if the lyrics never fully take off. “بنی آدم” is another very strange experiment that falls flat. Finally, Champion of the World and Everyday Life are uplifting and hugely enjoyable, but ultimately forgettable songs.
The album’s highlight, by far, is Arabesque. Its brilliant raw sounds of guitar, brass, and saxophone combine perfectly with Chris Martin’s vocals, creating a very powerful and effective song about human unity. Plus there is an incredible saxophone solo from Femi Kuti and a climax that is one of the band’s best in a long time. Same f*cking blood!
Everyday Life is a creative and interesting experiment. It is an admirable direction and effort for the band with some very interesting sounds and production. Whilst some of the album’s ideas and sounds work well, the results are uneven with some questionable thematic choices. Yet there are some excellent tracks here that make the album a worthwhile listen for people wanting something more obscure and deep.
Favourite song: Arabesque
Rating: 7/10
Music of the Spheres (2021)
Oh dear, how the mighty have fallen.
Unfortunately, Music of the Spheres is not the wonderful cosmic journey of sound through that eager fans have been anticipating and waiting for this year. Instead, musically, lyrically, and thematically, this album is a disaster. By trying to replicate the commercial success of their previous ‘pop’ albums, Mylo Xyloto and A Head Full of Dreams, Coldplay’s music and lyrics have been dumbed down to the level of a five year old child. The sci-fi concept of a galaxy of imaginary planets and stars sounds shallow and desperately derivative, whilst the use of emojis as titles of the album’s tracks is blatantly absurd. The music, unfortunately, isn’t much better.
A lot of the album is boring, monotonous and uninspiring, like the modern pop garbage that is regularly played on the mainstream radio today. It almost feels like the band, stung by the commercial failure of their last album, Everyday Life, are desperately trying to stay commercially successful in today’s pop music industry. Higher Power, whilst pleasant enough, seems like an attempt to replicate the neon synthpop sounds of The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights. Humankind has some of the strangest and blandest lyrics on the album – “were capable of kindness, so they call us humankind”, and comes off as desperately hollow and dull. Let Somebody Go, a duet with Selena Gomez, sounds like an unused track from the recording sessions of Ghost Stories or A Head Full of Dreams, and feels somewhat out of place. People of the Pride wastes a good guitar riff with lyrics and music that goes nowhere. My Universe is a classic example of “stadium pop Coldplay” designed rule the radio airwaves and Spotify streams. Penultimate track Infinity Sign is an interesting experiment, but is ruined by a football chant at the start.
The album’s only saving grace and highlight is its final track, Coloratura, which is a 10-minute space odyssey. Coloratura is an incredible listen, and unlike many of the tracks on this album, actually feels like a “space” song that is accompanied with some gorgeous orchestration of piano, guitar, electronica, and strings. I’m hoping this will be regarded as an orchestral pop masterpiece by the public in a decade or two.
Ultimately, Music of the Spheres is an album lacking in focus or direction thematically, lyrically, and musically. Too much of the album feels bland, monotonous and uninspiring, and has been covered before by the band or by other artists.
Favourite song: Coloratura
Rating: 1/10
Next review: The Beatles – Let it Be (2021 Mix)
Andrew Reviews 