The opening heavy bass beats in the solemn first track, “Politik” and the last seconds of the piano solo of the melancholy finale “Amsterdam” merge a compilation well-deserving of its “Best Alternative Album” Grammy in 2003. Each song ear-catching and different from the other, Coldplay’s “A Rush of Blood to the Head” weaves a beautiful tapestry that is partly sad and tender, partly blissfully upbeat. Hopefully at this year’s Grammys, one of its best singles will earn formal recognition in addition to its past top-40 radio fame.
The alternative band’s most recent CD is a welcome break from he current trend of “cash-money-hos” worship the industry is cranking out these days, and even from the teen-angst whines of many young groups in Coldplay’s genre. Chris Martin, leading the vocals and on the piano, shows off more of his talents this time around than in the successful Grammy-winning album “Parachutes” (2001). Capitol Records knows this goldmine hasn’t been drained.
The album cover and insert art is done in all black, white and gray, containing only two simple photos of the band and a stark cover illustration, but don’t be fooled; the music is as colorful as any Van Gogh. With a broad vocal range faintly reminiscent of Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke’s, Martin sings poetically about concepts such as love just as passionately as he does about the sun in a track fittingly titled “Daylight.”
Maybe his soft, breathy voice has something to do with his recent marriage to actress Gwyneth Paltrow.
The lyrics of “A Rush of Blood to the Head” – the entire album, not just the namesake track that appears on it – are deep and penetrating. The are so eloquent are that one can’t help being curious of the inspiration to star tracks such as “In My Place” and “The Scientist,” a heartbreaking ode that hints at a mysterious mistake in a past relationship. “The Scientist’s” backwards-playing music video received a Grammy nod for Best Short Form Music Video.
While some of the lyrics are so abstract and seemingly personal to the band that they beg for elaboration (“Come out in things I said/ Shoot an apple off my head / A trouble that can’t be named / A tiger’s waiting to be tamed” in “Clocks”), any listener with an imaginative vein won’t mind this exercise in creativity.
Rolling piano accompaniment and an enchanting melody define “Clocks,” a track which shines above the rest and is worthy of its Grammy nomination for Best Record of the Year. After hearing this one, the rumor that circulated radio airwaves last March that Elton John spontaneously took the piano bench at a Manhattan bar to play this hit isn’t hard to believe. Though the songs are emotionally entrenched, Martin doesn’t sound like he harbors the rage expressed by some of his contemporaries in rock; his vocals are soulful, sweet, and scream-free.
Martin and company will take the listener on a fascinating – and possibly introspective – journey with these 10 tracks, many of which can also be heard on the band’s new “Live 2003” album and DVD, a collection of live tour recordings. “A Rush of Blood to the Head” is still an unforgettable album that should hold Coldplay in the top tier of alternative music.
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