This is a great record, I’ll die on this hill! It’s easy to look back on this through the lens of how lame their subsequent records are, or to pass judgment on the entire album based on the hit single which sounds like it was written for little kids. In actuality, Coldplay came with a dreary pop sound that was also catchy and refreshingly straightforward in 2000, in contrast to the art school pretense of R*diohead. Or perhaps I was just in the unique position of having the chance to hear the full CD in a friend’s car before “Yellow” wore out its welcome on the radio (I think we skipped it on first listen anyway). Listening back to their early brand of downcast mope-rock, best exemplified on tunes like “Don’t Panic,” “Sparks,” “Trouble,” “High Speed,” “Spies” or “Parachutes,” it’s difficult to imagine these blokes ever aspiring for the charts, The Chainsmokers, or Gwyneth Paltrow.

• 180g black vinyl pressing
• 20th anniversary edition
• printed inner sleeve
• original release year: 2000
• music label: Parlophone 2020

reviewed by departmental dan 11/2020