Coldplay: Like or leave, and WHY

[holden]

Okay, so i'm interested in your thoughts on Coldplay as a band. Clearly they are being hyped big-time, and also bashed quite regularly. Why's this?

My thoughts:

First heard "Yellow" in 2000 and thought, "that guy sounds a lil like Dave Matthews". But i saw a performance on television and decided to buy "Parachutes". Mind you, the phrase "one-hit-wonder" was being applied to them, and at least in the US, they hadn't caught on yet. Well, i really enjoyed the empassioned vocals, guitar builds, and even the naivete of the album...heck, they weren't much older than i was, and i was impressed.

Fast forward to 2002: "A Rush of Blood to the Head" is released, to near-universal acclaim. And why not? It was catchy as heck. Hits galore. And, i'll maintain that their sound had matured from the first album. The first song on the disc, "Politik" is so noisy and insistent, "Daylight" has almost an Eastern music feel, and the sound overall is more varied. Never mind that "Clocks", "The Scientist", "In My Place" and "God Put a Smile on your Face" became radio hits...all the tracks were solid. From there, the band began to suffer the hype: "Best Band", "Successors to Radiohead", "The New U2", etc. No band can sustain all that without a backlash. Of course, marrying Gwyneth Paltrow doesn't hurt your publicity or gossip fodder, either.

Now, "X&Y" is out and is also being either highly praised (see Blender's review) or called "sleepy and more of the same". I'll admit, preview single "Speed of Sound" was so close to "clocks", it didn't bode well for growth. Nor did i enjoy the first listen. However, i kept it in the stero, listened to it on drives to work, and it has really grown on me. It takes more effort than the other discs. Lots of subtle synth sounds. Huge basslines. Even the lyrics that are admittedly a little trite/silly in spots, are infectious and emotive.

So, if you've actually attended a gig or listened through the album(s), what do you think of the music itself? No fair saying "i don't like them cos their hits are sappy" or "Dang, how did Chris Martin get Gwyneth?!" Why the backlash, dirts? Are my ears deceiving me?

holden