The appeal of English band Coldplay has grown massively since they came together in the mid-1990s and their standing should outweigh that of any pop pretenders.
It is really annoying when people hark on about bands and then in the same breath they mention Take That or Girls Aloud. People wake up, these are not bands, these are groups. Girl or boy groups – it does not matter, they all sound the same anyway. Bands play instruments, their members jump around the stage like crazed assassins and bands usually appear in magazines such as Q, Kerrang or other good band-orientated publications. Bands shape music and in fact most of them have been so influential that they have not only shaped and influenced music but they have been seen as icons for generations to come – just look at the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, or even Coldplay.
Whilst Coldplay may not be to everyone’s liking they have produced many really influential sounds and won countless awards for their music, both at home and abroad. In the early days this indie / rock kind of band were seen as very cool, mainly amongst university students, as they produced rather downbeat sounds such as ‘Yellow’ or ‘Helicopter’ and others similar. Of course there were very popular tracks but you could not help but feel sad when listening to them and surely that cannot be good. Admittedly though, it seems that most university students like many of the records that induce that sad feeling, with Radiohead & The Smiths very well known for the more depressing sounds. Maybe it is just a student thing then?
Over time though Coldplay reinvented their sound and went on to produce classic albums such as ‘A Rush of Blood to the Head’ & ‘X&Y’. Although the former of the two may well be considered to be the better offering, these two albums really shot the group to global stardom off the back of their successful 2000 release ‘Parachutes’. Coldplay had arrived in a worldwide sense after these and now they even do very well in America, and as those in the industry know, the American music market is the real musical cash cow.
Nowadays, you can see Coldplay almost everywhere: concerts, events, festivals, TV, internet. There is just no escaping from Chris Martin and his boys. The fact that they have been around for some years now is most certainly a display of the staying power and worldwide appeal that they have. Long may it continue, and surely they are a more credible option than the cheesy pop acts.
This is a guest blog by Jamie, Jamie writes about Coldplay for
