10) Coldplay: 'Parachutes'

In all honesty, ‘Parachutes’, the debut by Chris Martin and the gang, is not their best work to date. In my opinion they went from strength to strength, first with their follow up ‘A Rush of Blood to the Head’ and then the truly awesome albums of ‘X&Y’ and ‘Viva La Vida’. Not only this, but they are also one of the best live acts I have ever had the pleasure to see. However, it was their debut which remains poignant and raised excitement of a, potentially, huge new global British band. As far as debut goes, it is incredible. Working perfectly in an accomplished yet very subtle way and perfectly produced.

Their indie rock inclinations are evident from the outset. Given this fact, it is not surprising that they have been consistently compared to Radiohead. On every release they have faced comparison and expected directions. Luckily, Coldplay never buckled under the pressure and rose from the looming shadow to carve their own path forward.

The overall sound here comprises of tormented tunes, dark gravel growls, shimmering distorted guitars, swirling percussion, and superb melodies consisting of dreamy and regretful lyrics.. These boys certainly know how to craft a perfect pop song and this was while they were still honing their sound.

The album raises depression and cheerfulness in equal amounts. The entire atmosphere created is dark and depressive; however, the conviction in their playing and lyrics give hope to see through the dark into the light.

‘Don’t Panic’ is an amazing opener; simple yet beautiful lyrics. ‘Shiver’ is a great rock track with superb guitar work and the more unusual time signature for a rock track of 12/8. ‘Spies’ is probably one of the darkest songs on the album but is spectacular and a great slower song. This followed up by the dreamy and wonderful romantic ‘Sparks’. Then we herald in the two monsters on this album ‘Yellow’ and ‘Trouble’. The former practically launched their career and the second is one of the most beautiful piano led ballads of all time, it always brings a tear to my eye when hearing it, even now. ‘Parachutes’ is too short to be considered a full length tune and merely serves as a connecting track to ‘High Speed’ which is a fantastic piece and some awesome bass work which really leads the way. ‘We Never Change’ reflects on faults of humans. It’s not really one I listen to very often from the album. ‘Everything’s Not Lost’ is epic in scale and is truly an awesome live song.