X&Y

I kept Parachutes and A Rush Of Blood To The Head in my car CD player for 6 months apiece without ever getting bored of the wonderful tunes. This album will be exactly the same I have no doubt.

You will already have made your mind up about Coldplay by now. This album won't change it one bit either way. 16 Million people bought the last album and I expect them all to pick-up this next slice of beauty.

However, this all changed when I saw the Coldplay set on Live8 a few weeks back. I had of course heard of the band (and sadly knew more about the fact that the lead singer had a baby with Gwyneth Paltrow, and they had named the baby 'Apple'...). I found I was moved by the lyrics, and felt I must buy the album. I am so glad that I did.

I'm not very good at all the jargon that goes with album reviews I read in newspapers. This is a beautiful album, and surprisingly uplifting. I play it when relaxing, when the kids are screaming and driving me mad, when I need a lift as well as when I'm slowing down. It's great, buy it. I did!

It's unmistakeably Coldplay but with a richer sound. Also, it does take a long time to really love this album, and slowly I'm starting to get there. The irresistible bassline when Square One builds up to a pace, of course the stunning Fix You, the sublime Talk (and yes of course it steals a Kraftwerk riff - something the band acknowledge in their sleeve notes!!!), the grower Swallowed In The Sea and the mellow Til Kingdom Come. There are one or two bits of filler in here (I don't like the title track, the ballad by numbers A Message) but ultimately this album will never receive the long term accolades years later due to the hype that preceded it. Not the greatest album ever made but I don't think the band ever really set out to do exactly that. Given the money they've made over the last three years, to turn out such a focussed and (on the whole) superb album is a testament to their musical ambition. Something that makes a change from the swamp of "get rich quick" musicians nowadays.

As others have hinted, on first hearing perhaps only 2 or 3 songs will catch your ear - For me it was "Square One" and "Fix you". At first I grew concerned that this might be an album just to cherry-pick tracks off - but then the thought that a Coldplay album wouldn't have any longevity began to plague me and I went back and did what the Chris and the lads wanted us to do - Listen to the WHOLE album. So I did.... and did again.....and again. What started out as a labour of love on my part soon blossomed into a love affair and then an infatuation that is not likely to dissolve easily.

So, don't pay too much attention to the serial knockers who have plainly been saving up their unwarranted bile for the last 2 or 3 years to serve up cold and not very convincingly. This is an easy album to turn ones nose up at if you've got a very dull or rusty axe to grind. But you don't have to buy into that "Fair Trade" thing or start sponsoring animal welfare charities, or whatever to enjoy this music. My ears don't tell me lies - they convince me time and time again that Coldplay are one of the few current active song-writing groups who make music that I could live with 24/7. It may be glib to say so but their music is truly becoming the soundtrack to many of our lives....

So go on, take that step of faith and invest in what was thought to be their "difficult 3rd album". You may have tired of "Yellow" by now - I have a feeling that you won't be tiring of this slow burning beauty for many years to come.