A Rush of Blood to the Head

From AwardAnnals

Reviews

Amazon.com

Coldplay required a lifetime to make their wonderfully assured debut, Parachutes. But it took less than two years for the moody British quartet to deliver a masterful follow-up. As a band, Coldplay have advanced to a stage where they outshine nearly every one of their rivals in terms of imagination and emotional pull. A Rush of Blood to the Head is a soulful, exhilarating journey, moving from the cathartic rock of “Politik” to the hushed tones of “Green Eyes” without once breaking its mesmerizing spell. Singer Chris Martin takes his voice on soaring flights, reaching places only Jeff Buckley previously dared to go. And the music is nearly flawless, a persuasive cross between Pink Floyd and the Verve. Even if they haven’t come up with another “Yellow,” you would be hard-pressed to care. This is exquisite stuff. —Aidin Vaziri

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On Coldplay’s A Rush of Blood to the Head, the melodic excellence of Parachutes remains, as does the delicate soulfulness of Chris Martin’s voice. But now different styles are approached, as the band develop even further beyond their debut album (and the numerous Radiohead comparisons that dogged them at first). “God Put a Smile upon Your Face”, for instance, has a thumping voodoo quality, while the hypnotic “A Whisper” has a wild vocal arrangement recalling Jefferson Airplane. Beyond this, each of the 11 tracks—from the literate power ballad “In My Place” to the 60s-style mantra “Daylight”—are given room to breathe, gradually reaching an ecstatic crescendo where Martin and that huge Coldplay piano ride over a pulsing rhythm and orchestrations that are powerful but never overblown. “Give me real, don’t give me fake” says Martin in the opening “Politik” and it’s an appropriately uncompromising demand, for A Rush of Blood… is without doubt the most heartfelt and emotionally liberated album to top the charts in ages. —Dominic Wills