A Rush Of Blood To The Head

I will risk being called a math nerd but I need to use that side of the brain to try to show why the number of Coldplay listens on Spotify is so confusing. So - some simple math. On Spotify The Scientist has 1.2 billion - that's with a B - listens. That's more than 15% of the world's population. I can't believe more than 1 in 10 people want to hear this song. But wait - it's far worse! Spotify has only 200 million subscribers. So on average, each Spotify subscriber has listened to this song six times and if only 5% of subscribers (being 10 million which sounds way too high) actually like - and listen to - this song, then those soup lovers have listened to this 120 times each. Why would anyone do that? Who are these people? Do you know any? I know none of my friends listen to it. Ditto for my enemies. But those people must exist. There can't be just one Gen Yer playing it over and over 24 hours per day.

I’m sorry for judging you Coldplay. This is honestly a great album. There’s something about the writing and tone, simplicity and emotion in the lead vocals that really get you

I feel like a lot of people are overly critical of Coldplay, more so than they need to be. These seem to be the same people I get into arguments with about the importance of pop music. Anyway, this album reminds me of a very specific time in my life so I can't help but like it.

2.4 + Had a burned copy of this in 2002 when I was going through a tough breakup. Initially some of these songs hit well but after about a week the goopy sincerity and simplistic song structures and lyrics began to grate. This is a Paulo Coelho-esque, universalist, "we're-all-in-this-together" soundtrack, where the songs paint a very basic emotional landscape - vaguely sad, vaguely longing, vaguely hopeful - such that anyone can fill in the broad strokes with their own flourishes and colors. It's lowest common denominator music aimed at drawing a broad swath of listeners, likely those with less discerning musical palates who seek affirmation in music and eschew any challenge. I imagine it also helps if your English language skills are still developing - Chris Martin's voice labors deliberately through stanzas of simple words, enunciating every "F", "C" and "S." Here's another album that makes me question the premise behind this exercise - is this really an album to hear before I die??

I’ve never been a fan of Coldplay but also never really listened to them, so in a strange way was looking forward to this record to either surprise me or confirm my dislike of them. Good lord they are the most boring, whiny, self indulgent band of all time. I will never understand the appeal of this band

I remember watching a documentary once about how the Swiss army were working to develop bullets that caused less harm as they passed through people. The idea being that you could stop someone, but have less chance of fatally injuring them. Similarly, Coldplay have developed a brand of music so anodyne that it leaves almost no trace on the listener. I genuinely forgot it was playing at one point. Clearly they're earnest chaps, and mean well, but it's merely more evidence that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Overall I'd prefer to listen to this again than be shot (Swiss bullets or regular), but it's a closer call than it should be.

Coldplay gets a bad rap for being bland or corny but these songs are compelling enough to me that I enjoyed the album quite a bit! Varied songwriting and solid hooks that keeps the runtime fresh, exceptional production that plays to that songwriting, and a few hit songs to keep things fresh at the halfway point. My biggest problem, however, is the runtime. A couple of songs in the back half could easily be axed to allow for a more digestible album, but instead it ends up feeling a bit bloated and kills the momentum near the end. The CD era of albums is certainly to blame for this, but alas.

This is a great album. Coldplay’s overplayed hits & media personas may lead one to lose sight of their innovation and artistry. ‘The Scientiist’ is cleverly crafted and executed perfectly. The album’s concepts and sequencing are very well thought out - great opener with a touch of turmoil, plenty of soaring chorus builds bathed in reverb, and somehow the sparseness of the guitar makes it that much more impactful. On a personal note, I will never forget performing Green Eyes’ at my friends Rob & Peggy’s wedding.

Its alright, it goes on a bit, as i listen to it i can image in parallel worlds people in wandsworth necking white wine around the kitchen table and talking about that time they went to a live gig and in another chris martin counting his spotify royalties whilst idly penning a tweet telling other people how to live Tbf this was the album they made before falling completely into the chasm of being superstar nobs so most of the tracks are still very listenable...clocks, the scientist and in my place are all great songs but its hard for me to listen to it without going to a mental place where chris martin is a nob and coldplay are boring which is a shame as this and 9parachutes were great in their time.

I couldn't even make it two full tracks in. I wanted to give it a more thorough listen and lay out all the reasons why Coldplay is boring music for boring people, but life is too short to waste listening to Coldplay.

I'm biased because I'm a massive fan of the old Coldplay but I think this is a great album. The lyrics speak to me on a different level. The simplicity and tone of the music and vocals just hits the right spots.

One of my favorite albums of all-time. Finished right after 9/11, it truly reflects vulnerability and pain.

Made me wanna hug my dog and drive off a cliff. Pretty good.

Some great songs, but also a fair bit of filler. Struggled to make it to the end! Between a 3 and a 4, but as it’s Coldplay I’ll round down.

Maybe the best Coldplay album? I always forget how into them I was for those first few albums.

Highlights: God Put A Smile On Your Face, The Scientist, Daylight I've always thought of Coldplay as the alternate-universe version of Radiohead that continued to explore the Pablo Honey sound and style; and surely there is room for both versions. As such, I never understood the hate that Coldplay gets...They're one of the biggest acts in the world and every one of their albums top charts. For good reason, too; Chris Martin's instantly-recognizable voice is the backbone of every song, accompanied by Buckland, Berry, and Champion, every song feels bigger than the sum of its parts, but not overwhelming. God Put A Smile... is enrapturing and captivating, probably one of the band's strongest cuts, but then it's followed by The Scientist, which is almost as fantastic. Clocks and Daylight at the crest of the record keep the highs going...Near the closer is the title track which also serves as an apt description. Rush of Blood might be peak Coldplay, but it would be be a disservice to the listener to stop the journey here.

It's Coldplay. Bland and repetitive.

This album would be graded higher if people stopped hating on Coldplay for just being Coldplay; people are far too critical of them. Anyway, this was an excellent album, great vocals, lyrics, and instrumentals. They sound very unique and alot of the songs on the album are great. 10/10.

It’s fun hating Coldplay, so don’t tell anyone I actually, really rather enjoyed this.

I'm often conflicted when it comes to Coldplay's music. The songs are trite and sappy. They are pseudo-serious and irritating. That said, they are also undeniably catchy. Every song has a good hook. Many on this list love to hate Coldplay. And I can understand the aversion to music that is, at times, saccharine. I just can't seem to figure out if I, too, truly despise the band; or maybe I have allowed peer pressure to stop my feet as they unconsciously tap along to the songs. Dave Grohl once said that "the whole guilty pleasure thing is" ... well ... to paraphrase ... BS. Maybe he's right.

It was inoffensive. I need a 2.5 star option. This falls right at neither agree nor disagree.

I find the popularity of Coldplay's dull music kinda irritating. Has anyone ever said "I got into music and formed a band because of Coldplay"? But to it's hard to knock the accessibility of their songwriting and ignore some of the megahits on this album. 7/10

Chord chord chord chord chord chord chord chord chord chord chord man these guys really chord chord chord chord chord chord chord chord chord chord stick to what they know best and the melodies chord chord chord chord chord chord chord themselves are often quite pretty but the lyrics chord chord chord chord chord chord chord are the soul of jejunosity and Mr. Martin’s voice is nasal and whiny and always chord chord chord chord chord chord flat oh and ugh here comes the falsetto part chord chord chord chord chord chord chord chord chord again it all starts sounding the same and it’s really is quite a challenge getting through the chord chord chord chord chord chord chord chord chord whole album chord chord chord chord…

If Coldplay were a spice they'd be flour

Shite music for shite cunts

While I'm not a fan of what Coldplay has become, there's a reason they got to be so huge and this album is an absolute masterpiece. It's moody, has great heart and emotion, it's so easy to get into this and every song is a banger. There's a huge run of hits but even the tunes that didn't become radio hits are all great, Politik is an excellent opener. The band went on to lose the magic that made this album so fantastic, and their new tunes are all focus-group pop music to appeal to the masses. But despite the future that comes, this album stands on it's own and is worth five stars easily.

Coldplay might be boring but this is a good album

I guess I can see why they were so popular, its not music that will offend or challenge anyone. Not my cup of tea

I cannot believe this record is on here. It is the very definition of "fine". Absolutely no one NEEDS to hear this record before they die.

Not a fan. This is the kind of soft rock that plays in the background of an accountant’s office.

The hum of a ungrounded turntable is more interesting than than this tribble.

The band that put me off music and caused me to lose faith in the human race.

With this project I find it hard to break away from the nostalgia of albums I loved in younger years. Conversely it's the same to listen to music of bands I hate. I tried but it's still shit. The music is dull the lyrics are so ernest I want to barf . His vocals are those of a bored supply teacher. I hate this so much.

I think people know this album as the one with Clocks & The Scientist – I certainly did, and I won’t act like I’m not guilty of that. It's more than that; It’s an instant classic. In terms of sticking to a theme, expanding on that theme, and keeping both a vocal style & an instrumental style that hooked me in, I think the album as a full experience was as enjoyable of a listen as I’ve gotten out of any other album. If I’m being nitpicky about it, then… yeah, the album sticks to its theme really, really hard, but it doesn’t really feel repetitive to me, even though we’re dealing with a similar one throughout. Much like Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, it’s not a full 5, but it’s so close to a 5 for me that I think I have to rate it that.

Fuck the haters; the first four Coldplay records are all legitimately great and there’s a reason this sophomore effort sent them into the stratosphere.

Classic Coldplay album with great lyricism and wonderful production. Every track was fun for me. I love the mix of piano and guitar.

one of my favorite albums ever - a true masterpiece front to back. Amsterdam is such an underrated song. Coldplay's best album bar none, and one of the best of the last 25 years

Will always love this album

I've said it many times, and I'll say it again. Coldplay has 3 perfect albums, and this is one of them! Incredible songs all the way through, with lots of variation and genre blending. A thoughtful progression of tracks and sounds.

Barely a weak moment - a band at their peak. Politik sets the bar really high from the off and it flies from there for me. God put a smile on your face, Clocks, The Scientist, Warning Sign. A couple of weaker moments but it finishes on a total high with A rush of blood to the head being another standout track - an easy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Great album. The last one of theirs I really cared for.

Tranquil melancholy.

Det er rimelig nemt at hate på Coldplay, fordi de er blevet så store. Derfor overraskede det mig lidt hvor godt jeg kunne lide den her plade og hvor meget jeg er vokset med den her opgave. Stort set alle sange var fine og der er de klassiske bangers, som alle kender, The Scientist, Clocks, In My Place (Som jeg også spillede i band på gymnasiet) Den her plade gav mig plads til lidt refleksion omkring mine musikalske fordomme og det skal den sgu lige have tak for!

This is Coldplay before they started acting like ridiculous rock stars. The songs are tight and refreshing. The syncopation of Clocks is a standout and brought a wider audience to the band. Afterwards, Coldplay became self-absorbed, experimental (not in a good way) and phone-it-home dull.

I didn’t realise how many of Coldplay’s hits were on this album. Banger. 8/10

Hating Coldplay is NPC behaviour.

I expected Coldplay to be worse. They get a bad rap, but this album was pretty good. It doesn’t hold up as well as some other albums of the time, but it can still be enjoyed every once in a while. Not too original, but by no means is it a bad album. 3/5

You’d think an album called “A Rush of Blood to the Head” would be a little less fucking boring, but here we are. Coldplay has a deft ability to take Radiohead’s mope-core, wring out any sense of urgency and dial up the malaise a notch or so. The end result is an album that is likely to become the ideal soundtrack to your somnambulism.

For most artists, the album project has allowed me a deeper appreciation that I might have missed before. Unfortunately for Coldplay and their legion of fans that exist for some reason, I am becoming radicalized in the "Coldplay sucks" camp whereas I was indifferent before. Like the diehard fans, their music also brings me back to my childhood. However, it evokes memories of hearing this bland adult contemporary shit on the radio. I thought listening with fresh ears and an open perspective would allow me to understand what so many others love about them. I guess it's just a "you had to be in the fan club" kind of appeal, because in the words of Siobhan from Banshees, "You're all feckin' boring!"

The problem is, lots of people now realise that Coldplay are quite dreary. Dreary doesn't mean rubbish, but, to me, they had that thing: a moment of impact when they briefly seemed exciting, but then, a few albums in, it became clear that they were actually always pretty dull (see also James Blunt, Ed Sheeran). It's impossible for me to listen to this now without hearing the inherent dreariness. The most enthusiasm I can muster is that there are a few pleasing, less predictable chord progressions now and again. But I like my rock to have a bit of edginess and swagger. Call me shallow, but Coldplay are a big snooze-fest. 5 out of 10.

Coldplay is so boring. Don’t know how they got so popular

Gonna do some live notes on this one. First two tracks bore me. Was surprised to hear the third track, God Put A Smile Upon Your Face, sounded a little angular, there was a little edge in the bassline and guitar work. This song sounds like it could be a Stone Temple Pilots cover. The chorus is a little unimaginative though. Also, I have yet to hear any particular thought-provoking lyrics. The Scientist. Of course am familiar. This is the kind of basic, repetitive, overproduced global hit that turns my stomach. It doesn’t move me the way it thinks it will. I’m a little annoyed that 1001 Albums is making me listen to this tbh. I could have died without hearing this without issue. Also familiar with Clocks. It’s admittedly a cool walk down part on the piano on which the entire song is built. But damn, it just repeats forever. The bridge is not a big enough departure from the pattern. They built something cool from that repetition but after a couple times through, I’ve had enough. Speaking of clocks, this is 54 minutes of my life I won’t get back. Well, Daylight is different! Cool bassline in the verse. Then, are those strings tracked backward? Some cool stuff in the verses. 3rd track and this definitely the highlights of the album so far. Still surprised how bland and generic the lyrics are. I expected they’d be better from reading a few album reviews. Shrug. Lyrics are pretty subjective anyway. Green Eyes doesn’t blow my mind, but it’s nice to hear a different sound from them. Acoustic with country influence. Lyrics suck again though. Maybe I was under the wrong impression, I thought Chris Martin was supposed to be good lyricist. Sounds mostly trite to me. Warning Sign - in the first two minutes, the entire four-plus minutes of this song have bored the shit out of me. Whisper - OK, well they’ve found something cool here with the 3/4 time. So I’ve learned that there’s more to Coldplay than the antiseptic pop they got huge with. Again, some cool bass things and production giving it an off-kilter dreamlike feel here. So that’s a compliment, right? Rush of Blood - lyrically, I see the Johnny Cash and Nick Cave influences Martin mentioned to Spotify. But it’s too clean and shiny for the darkness it tries to convey. Amsterdam - well, going into it I’ve heard a few songs with the same title that are good. Can they pull it off? … more than halfway through and not looking good. … And no, nothing interesting here. While this track wraps up, I’ll confess I am not sure what it is that I have against Coldplay. I guess it’s that nothing moves me. Almost like it’s trying too hard to be more than it is. It projects a lot of emotional drama, but I don’t feel any of it. Perhaps my authenticity detector is picking up songs being written for popularity rather than for art. Sounds pretentious but just trying to verbalize the way I take in this band’s music. I will say there were three (God Put A Smile, Daylight, Whisper) tracks that make me appreciate them a bit more after this listen. Don’t mean to be harsh, this is a perfectly fine album, but unfortunately that’s all it is.

Maudlin claptrap from a sub par singer. A band for people who don't like music.

For me Coldplay is the U2 of their generation, and I like them just about as much. I just don't get them.

Coldplay is sort of my nemesis so I hate to say that while I didn't enjoy this album, I can understand why others do.

I'm still not a fan of Coldplay. Off to a great start...

Coldplay just sucks. Boring basic music for boring basic people.

Nobody must hear Coldplay. They're just there. Like magnolia walls. As an experiment if I have heard an album before I'll listen to it without the singles. Different Class by Pulp would be great album without the singles. This, well without the singles it's one star.

2-3. Very coldplay-y

Coldplay just headlined Glastonbury for a record fifth time, with one reviewer saying that it would be churlish not to enjoy their performance. Well, I’m that cold-hearted churl. I hate Coldplay. I hate their mind-numbing, faux-earnest, emotionally-manipulative songs. I hate that they normalised eschewing innovation and making unchallenging edge-free pop rock for the 21st Century. These days, they’ve realised that bands are no longer the moneymakers so they’ve switched to making “EDM” with emojis for song titles, which seems like the logical conclusion to their race to the bottom. Fuck Coldplay.

Please make it stop.

Ugh. The most nothing type of nothing music. Cod feeling cod emotion, awful awful awful. I call stuff like this music for people who don't actually like music

"1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" and you want me to waste precious minutes of my life listening to fucking Coldplay?! Are you fucking serious? This list sucks

An album full of hsbc adverts

Couldn't do it. Awful play

Bland music that makes millions of people who don't like music fall into some soma version of "happiness" I guess? Best Tracks: God Put a Smile on Your Face; The Scientist; Clocks;

Coldplay sucks

Phenomenal album. Coldplay is just really good, everyone puts in their fair share to make a great production, especially the vocalist. The variety of styles on this record is something to envy.

I’m seeing Coldplay next year and I don’t care they’re a good band… Well early Coldplay anyway. Politik is awesome, in my place is a good single, god put a smile on your face is amazing, the scientist is heart wrenching, clocks is a real anthem. The second half isn’t AS good but it’s still great daylight has these amazing strings, green eyes is nice and jangley, then warning sign is beautiful, a whisper is surprisingly rocky, the title track provides an amazing climax, without Amsterdam the album could’ve still ended perfectly but it’s inclusion does help the album get a 5/5

Includes the classics The Scientist, Clocks, and In My Place; very mellow even by Coldplay standards, but thoroughly enjoyable

Great album. Love every track. Amsterdam is a great way to end the album.

Sure, they've gone steadily downhill from this point, and sure, the band name alone comes loaded with negative preconceptions these days, but I'll go to bat for this album, no problem. It's their best by a comfortable margin. Anthemic, melodic, but also with a little bit of voodoo in the rhythms and guitar parts that really suits them. 13 year old me spent his pocket money on this. No regrets. No skips.

Clocks!

Even if you don’t know it you will Probly sing every song.

I get it. This one is polarizing. And Coldplay has gained a certain reputation as bland/whiny generic pop. I do not particularly like their albums after "A Rush of Blood To the Head". But...I am unreservedly giving this one a 5 without any shame. There is admittedly a nostalgia factor as this was part of my post college/pre-law school soundtrack when I was living in NYC with very little in the way of responsibilities and lots of leisure time. Probably the reason I'll give any Radiohead a 5 as well. But putting nostalgia aside...with the exception of Green Eyes (which is a regular skip for me), this album is excellent from start to finish.

General impression: still rules. The only Coldplay album you need. Detailed review: Given the way Coldplay’s career has gone, I sometimes expect to return to their early work and find that I’ve lost some esteem for it. Not the case. This is a truly excellent soft rock album whose main appeal is simply that it’s a collection of excellent songs. Good lyrics, good music, good riffs, clean production that stays out of the way. “Politik,” “Clocks,” “Daylight,” the title track, and “Amsterdam” are stone-cold classics, and the rest of the songs are almost as good. The album is introspective and moody, tinged with a tiny streak of wonder and hope. I love it at least as much as I always have. Deeper thoughts (context): On the production — I realized that my main issue with most things Coldplay have done since this album is the overproduction of their studio recordings. It’s like they got big, and got a taste of a big budget, and got in the habit of getting carried away in the studio. I wish they’d go back to a focus on good songwriting and little else. Score: 4.8 (5) Number of albums left to review: 960 Number of albums from the list I’d consider “must-listens”: 24 (including this one) Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 17

„A Rush of Blood to the Head“ von Coldplay ist ein Album, das von tiefen Emotionen und poetischen Texten geprägt ist. Die Band zeigt hier ihre Fähigkeit, sowohl kraftvolle als auch gefühlvolle Melodien zu schaffen. Jeder Song wirkt durchdacht, und das Album schafft es, eine melancholische, aber gleichzeitig hoffnungsvolle Atmosphäre zu erzeugen. Titel wie „The Scientist“ und „Clocks“ sind mittlerweile Klassiker, die sowohl musikalisch als auch textlich überzeugen. Mit eingängigen Gitarrenriffs und Chris Martins markanter Stimme ist „A Rush of Blood to the Head“ ein Meilenstein in der Diskografie von Coldplay und hat sich als zeitloses Werk bewährt, das die Band in den Mainstream katapultierte.

THIS IS GREAT. The best album of Coldplay ever ever

Coldplay are a bit of an easy target, what with Chris Martin being so irritatingly pretentious and utterly sold out at this point. But when this album came out, they were still on an upward trajectory and this was, in all honesty, an excellent progression from the groundwork laid by Parachutes a couple of years previously. There are too many excellent songs here to dismiss it as coffee table rock but it was starting to waver dangerously close. I must confess it has aged well and perhaps a 20 year break from it was what we all needed as it was just so ubiquitous at the time.

Still my favorite Coldplay effort.

This is a fantastic album. The sounds are varied, atmospheric, and interesting. My introduction to Coldplay was the song Clocks, which is on this album. The entire album is excellent start to finish, to the point where Clocks doesn't even necessarily stand above the other tracks. I don't care for much of Coldplay's discography, but I am very grateful for this album.

I thought this was a masterpiece the first time I heard it. I know a bunch of tunes are overplayed, but being tired of a song doesn't make it any less great. Of their first 3 or 4 albums I think this one is the strongest. This album contains some truly brilliant moments. Modern classic.

I’m a middle aged white guy. This is practically holy scripture.

yes

pero la reputisima madre como vas a arrancar un album asi. es perfecto, la obra maestra de la carrera de coldplay

Tope de gamuza de Coldplay

I have this CD in my collection and I thinks it’s probably Coldplay’s best album. In relistening to it, at first I was meh about about. I didn’t think it aged well. But deeper into the album, it really hits a groove. Lyrically and musically. Definitely worth multiple listens

Very much of its time and also timeless. This might be the best album that came out of the post 9/11 world.

Very easily a 5-star album. Every track is good. Interesting that "God Put A Smile Upon Your Face" was the last single to be released and that it didn't do so well - that might be my favorite song from the album. I also like Politik, Daylight, and Warning Sign, which are not among the highest-played tracks.

Early Coldplay will always be the best Coldplay. I can't wait to have this on vinyl.

They make good music.

Not a huge fan of Coldplay's more recent lean toward pop, but this older one is a fantastic album.

Masterpiece

A very very good album. Beautiful lyrics through and through, although I did find Daylight to be very repetitive. Some nice variety of songs, overall good listening experience. Torn between a 4 and 5

UCL represent! Wtf Coldplay actually used to be really good. To me this sounds like an alternative reality where after releasing The Bends Radiohead decided - instead of getting all weird - to go really accessible and try to get chart success. It may be a really safe album but there’s some really great songwriting on here.

Outstanding sequel to an outstanding debut. Coldplay haters can suck it.

I know it’s cool to hate on Coldplay, and post-this album I’m right there with you. Their past 20 years of output has been almost universally mid to bad, and I’m sure their mediocrity must haunt their dreams as they sleep on piles of money. But this album is a genuine high point. Admittedly, I am biased if for no other reason than I was 21 and in college when it came out. But I argue that it stands proud as a indie pop/rock masterpiece.

good

Like it.

Clocks is one of my favorite songs of all time, I could listen to it on repeat all day. This album has a similar vibe throughout that I really enjoyed.