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With early chart-topping hits that attracted listeners from all around the world right away, Coldplay began building their global profile in 2000. At the start of the new millennium, the band became well-known. Over the next few years, the British band rose quickly from upstarts to international pop-rock powerhouses. Their emotionally driven tunes and catchy choruses became the soundtrack to everyday life, audible on car radios and stadium speakers alike.
Whether it was a little get-together at home or a major public event, their music became almost inextricably woven into popular culture during the 2000s. They were one of the most famous and well-known bands of their generation as their fame increased with each new record.
Few people could have predicted that Coldplay would swiftly rise to prominence as one of the greatest bands in history when they initially burst onto the scene at the turn of the century. With nine studio albums published in less than 25 years, all of which have been at the top of the UK chart, they are also among the most enduring.
Worldwide, Coldplay has been one of the most successful bands for over 20 years, thanks to the combination of an attractive set of songs for all ages. With its typical mix of grandiose melodies, romantically charged writing, and highly emotional singing, the group has conceived an everlasting and deeply personal album.
No wonder that the band could give emotional lyrics a musical form, like in the case of songs like the sorrowful anthem Fix You, and the melancholic, The Scientist.
Besides being just songs, it is music that accompanies you throughout the day, even after you have heard the last note. It is the music you have while you feel happy, sad, and when there is healing.
The main reason behind Coldplay's continuous prospering is that they can produce the music that is the perfect match of not only beautiful and easy to comprehend but also the one that is of the highest quality.
The gift of not only creating music that is pleasing both to the ear and touch the masses but also music of very good standard is the core of their continuing success.
Disclaimer: This article contains the writer's opinion. The reader's discretion is advised!
Here are the top 10 Coldplay songs of all time
Deciding on the best 10 Coldplay tracks of all time is a very difficult job, taking into consideration an exhaustive and deeply emotional catalog of the band. Throughout the years, Coldplay has presented a variety of songs that range from quiet ballads to songs with the grandeur of a stadium, each song being a mark of their development as artists and the way to connect with their audience on a very personal level.
It might be a booming choir, the softest but touching lyric, or an unforgettable piano melody, but all these things are the ones that will cause Coldplay's music to remain in the memory of the listener for a long time. Below is a list of the pieces of music that have not only been the backbone of their career but also have been there to inspire the global crowd.
1) Speed Of Sound
When Coldplay released their third album X&Y in 2005 and labeled Speed of Sound as the main single, that was a significant moment in the band's career. The song, driven by its atmospheric production and a high-pitched and very easy-to-sing-along chorus, found its rhythm in Kate Bush’s excellent 1985 track Running Up That Hill.
It was later disclosed by Chris Martin that Bush's pioneering sound and his daughter Apple served as sparks of inspiration during the crafting of the song.
Upon its delivery, the single scored a big commercial hit, peaking at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, thus becoming the band’s best U.S. single so far. This was the second time that a British act did so, with Coldplay being the first U.K. band to do so since the Spice Girls in 1997. It appeared that the song was quite popular among the adult pop and alternative radio audiences.
Although Speed of Sound was everywhere and topped many charts, was nominated for two Grammy Awards, cracked the BRIT Awards for Best British Single, and even won Best Song at the MTV Europe Music Awards, Chris Martin later said that he was not satisfied with the final recording.
He admitted that the band never really succeeded in capturing the nuance they were aiming for in the studio, which is the main reason for him not being sure if they should include it in live performances. Still, the song is a fan favorite and a defining moment in their early 2000s catalog.
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2) Don't Panic
Starting Coldplay's first album, Parachutes, with a gentle, atmospheric confidence, Don't Panic set the mood for the band's early work, reflective, melancholic, but optimistic from the beginning. Although it has become linked for many fans with the album's success in 2000, the track's origins lie back in 1998, when it was played at the band's inaugural show in Camden. A more unpolished take had already been released on The Blue Room EP, but it provided an early indicator of what to expect.
Don't Panic also represented one of the few occasions on which guitarist Jonny Buckland contributed vocals to the song, singing in the second verse and imbuing the song with an even more intimate sense.
Even though it wasn't a lead single worldwide, the song still contributed significantly to the band's ascension, aided by Tim Hope's creative paper cutouts music video, which infused a dreamlike, animated beauty that connected with listeners and further widened its appeal.
As an opening track, it didn't simply start an album; it ushered in an entire new emotional terrain that Coldplay would proceed to tread for years to come.
3) Midnight
The task regarding their next album was like giving the serene, introspective direction a go following the overly showy, extravagant character of Mylo Xyloto. Nonetheless, at the same time, they could not help but still, create big catchy melodies and craft songs that were pop-savvy to the core.
Thus came to be Ghost Stories by Coldplay in 2014, an album that didn't seem that full of substance at first glance, but if one peeled off the surface, they would find a trove of sophisticated pop, some of which could have been sad, yet not throwaway.
The first, not necessarily the lead single, but the mood creator, was Midnight. It was a mixture of dark and somber qualities, and also was a bit of a genre-undefined track embracing folk, ambient, and electronica simultaneously.
Chris Martin resorted to a vocoder for his voice in Midnight and, thus, he managed to give the song a ghostly, futuristic voice, which was far removed from the band's famous clap-along, stadium-pleasing anthems.
Even the song's outlandish sound seemed to strike a chord with electronic music titan Giorgio Moroder, who turned it into a clubbing anthem, meaning that Coldplay's business of stylistic fusion and emotional truth was still there.
4) Talk
When speaking of the pioneers of electronic music, very few names have such an impact and influence in the field as Kraftwerk. They are known for their groundbreaking sonic innovations and for keeping their catalog unavailable, their music can only be heard from them. The German band seldom allows others to rearrange their music.
But in a rare occurrence, they gave Coldplay the green light to use the melody of their 1981 synth-driven Computer Love track for the 2005 single Talk. The electronic fabric, however, was chucked by Coldplay who performed the riff with guitars and arena-rock instruments, putting it in a different context yet keeping its melodic soul.
Remarkably, the permission, according to reports, was granted not by the main character of the band, Ralf Hütter, who, interestingly, kindly accepted the fact that the band had taken the trouble to ask for a permission but it was the man behind the memorable hook, Karl Bartos, a former band member, who was the originator of the melody.
Although Talk was not as successful as Fix You or Speed of Sound, the new version got into the top 10, a very impressive result considering that the majority of fans had already accepted it from the evergreen album X&Y.
5) The Scientist
Released in Coldplay's creative peak early in the 2000s, The Scientist is a mournful reflection on regret and the desire to correct past errors. Released as the second UK single and third US release off their award-winning 2002 album A Rush of Blood to the Head, the song is about a desire to turn back time, summarized in the constant refrain to "go back to the start."
What distinguished the track, though, was its innovative music video, which plays out in reverse, tracking the consequences of a fatal car accident backward to its source. To achieve the illusion, lead singer Chris Martin learned to phonetically sing the lyrics in reverse and made sure his lip movements synchronized with the reversed footage.
The video was directed by experimental British director Jamie Thraves and was received with widespread critical approval, winning three MTV Video Music Awards for Best Direction, Best Group Video, and a Grammy nomination for Best Short Form Music Video.
Commercially, The Scientist was a UK and Canadian top 10 record, and a staple on US alternative radio. Its depth of emotion and presentation breakthrough cemented its place in history, as Rolling Stone would later include it among the 100 greatest songs of the 2000s.
6) Yellow
It is quite a surprise that the song Yellow of Coldplay had played a decisive role in them becoming a part of the mainstay in the music industry. The song’s title did not come from an intricate metaphor or a big idea, it was almost certainly by chance. Chris Martin disclosed over the years that Yellow does not have any particular meaning to him, and there have been times when he invented various origin stories just to avoid questions from the interviewer.
But when the word caught on, the band started to shape the song’s lyrics based on it. It is worth mentioning that the tune came to him while he was sitting outside on a calm, starry night, which ignited a feeling inside Martin.
When released, Yellow was popular among many, thus, it landed at the 4th spot on the UK singles chart, and also into the top 10 on the US alternative radio chart, while it climbed up to the 11th spot on the adult pop radio format.
Not only was the song in the charts, but it was also nominated for two Grammy Awards, including Best Rock Song. The music video, which was directed by James Frost in collaboration with Alex of The Artists Company, focused on the song's raw emotional core with one uninterrupted sequence of slow motion depicting Martin walking along an English beach rainy at dawn, murmuring the song which turned out to be the band’s defining early anthem.
7) In My Place
Years after the band had completed their first album, Parachutes, a track that did not quite fit at the time had been relegated to the shadows, later reappearing to influence the music of their second effort. In My Place, which would become the biggest single from A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002), actually derived from the previous Parachutes writing sessions but was set aside at the final cutting.
During the production of their second album, the song unexpectedly emerged again from its sleeping status, and its emotional impact prevented it from being left off the album. Chris Martin subsequently mused on its significance, calling it an exploration of the circumstances we're born into, the parts we play, how we look, and the way we're supposed to live our lives.
In some sense, the tardy addition to the setlist imbued the song with a greater sense of purpose, of capturing that personal and philosophical tone that would characterize Coldplay's future development.
8) Clocks
In Clocks, which took shape almost at the end of A Rush of Blood to the Head recording with its mesmerizing, cascading piano motif, now considered among the most memorable in pop music, it captures both beauty and urgency at the same time. The lyrics had a hint of a hurry caused by existential matters, which also mirrored the quick pace at which the track was done.
Chris Martin let out that the song was indeed a bit of a musical child of his to be Muse with whom they have shared the same trademark of tight, energetic ambient sound. The single, although it only ever made it to #29 on the Billboard Hot 100, had fallen on the ears of American audiences and became a chart success on alternative and adult pop radio.
It also had the honor of finding a place in the film trailers, television spots, and commercials, becoming a staple of the music industry. The song's cultural influence turned out to have exceeded the chart performance. The single contributed to A Rush of Blood to the Head's breakthrough in the United States, where the album rose to #5, and that was Coldplay’s first top 10 record.
Clocks episode was the victorious one that knocked the door of the Grammy Awards for the Record of the Year and was the album’s third single to be released in the UK and the second in the U.S. thereby underlining its historical significance as the band’s early career defining moment.
9) Paradise
Starting with glimmering synths and rising optimism, one of Mylo Xyloto's most uplifting songs didn't exactly explode onto the charts, it softly insinuated its way into fans' minds at first, offered up as a bonus track on album pre-orders before it rose to the very pinnacle of the charts as the official second single from the album.
As opposed to an overnight sensation, its ascent was earned, like slow-burning embers that finally flared into complete brilliance. A repeat partnership with Brian Eno, whose touch is everywhere on Mylo Xyloto's sound, the track weighs his dreamy textures against Coldplay's all-too-familiar emotional center.
It's a masterclass in how to marry atmospheric experimentation with arena-friendly scale, creating something intimate and stadium-sized at once, without ever tipping over into bombast.
10) Viva La Vida
Coldplay's Viva La Vida is about a former king who has been removed from power, reflecting on his lost rule, which he compares to layers of religious and historical references. As for the song’s title, it refers to Frida Kahlo's painting, which means "Live the Life", and it adds a twist to the theme of decay.
Propelled by strong strings and a regular beat, the song was a massive success, going straight to the top of the charts in both the US and the UK and winning the Grammy for Song of the Year.
Besides that, there were two music videos released to accompany the track, one by Hype Williams that showed the band against a distorted image of Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People, and the other by Anton Corbijn that depicted Chris Martin as a lost & wandering king.
Coldplay's discography reflects a band constantly evolving, moving from intimate, melancholic rock to grand, genre-blending anthems.
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