Coldplay
X&Y
On Sale Now
For $13.20

One thing’s for sure --- you can rely on Coldplay to be Coldplay. Their highly anticipated third record, X&Y, have reaffirmed my penchant for wussy romantic idealist-stadium rock. I’m a sucker for this stuff even when it’s at its most saccharine and cliché. This is coming from a guy who likes Journey and put Keane on his top ten list last year, and has even slowly warmed up to Snow Patrol. Basically, if you’re already a fan of sappy Britpop, then you’ve already bought this record and for good reason because it doesn’t suck despite the recent backlash.

But it’s not necessarily an earth-shattering record either which is fine for some reason. Maybe I’m being more forgiving than usual or settling simply because it is easy on the eardrums, but X&Y is sweet, simple, and unabashedly tailor made for the Lloyd Dablers of the world. It’s not as grating despite lead singer Chris Martin’s predilection for self-help style choruses and the fact that they are clearly constructing this as their universal call to arms. Nearly every song screams out SINGLE and Coldplay have made no qualms about revealing their intentions to rock alongside the likes of their already established peers. Detractors of Martin and crew have long since proclaimed this band as a cheap, unholy amalgam of Radiohead and U2. And during the song “A Message,” in which Chris Martin reminds us that we “You don’t have to be on our own / You don’t have to go it alone,” it’s hard to argue seeing as how U2 have made similar proclamations themselves. But X&Y is the U2 record that everyone hoped Atomic Bomb would be. Coldplay have at last made an album that is a beautifully composed sonnet to the simple appreciation of love, home, and the internal struggle that everyone faces daily. This can be annoying on some levels especially if you’re looking for something complex. Martin’s voice still swoons and trails off into reverberated stupor, but on most tracks, it’s what starts the song. There’s no real threat of imminent danger or innovation here but I don’t know if Coldplay ever intend on reinventing themselves the way their influences did. In the meantime, X&Y is a listenable throwback to old-fashioned rock theatrics with songs that dynamically build towards liberation.

The influences/inspirations are evident from the Kraftwerk sample during “Talk” to the Bowie/Eno-era 70s new wave groove of “Low.” These tracks stand out as they do find Coldplay branching out ever so slightly, at least in the composition category. “Square One” comes equipped with a not-so-subtle coda bow to Pink Floyd but the best moments come courtesy of the impressive Jonny Buckland on guitar who is enjoying use of the delay pedal a’la The Edge. This is a formula that Coldplay confidently milks, but for some reason, they pull it off. “Swallowed In The Sea” takes a copycat metaphor and runs with it, sharing a common theme of loved ones lost and found sounding like a eulogy for relatives lost in a shipwreck. But your best bet (just like their breakthrough hit “Yellow”) is NOT to listen to these lyrics. The band does make a smart marketing move by not including a lyric sheet. You might find some of the daftest, lamest lyrics ever congealed onto record, beginning with the all-too-precious "You cut me down a tree / and brought it back to me." Martin needs to call in another writer perhaps (may I suggest Tom Stoppard or Conor Oberst?). Maybe being married to Gwyneth gives you the right to slack-off in the lyric department. Rhyming soon with balloon and spoon could come courtesy of newborn Apple.

But the effect of the record as a whole is never short of transcendent, especially when the vocals are buried on top of layers of hymn-like guitar and a pulsating rhythm section. Coldplay’s best moment, possibly ever, comes during the final climax of “Fix You” in which the band matches the sincerity only hinted at on A Rush Of Blood To The Head (which only contained a few good songs at best). It’s one of several epic moments found on X&Y where you just might even get some goosebumps. “When you try your best but you don't succeed” sings Martin, which could be a direct statement towards previous endeavors. But for the first time, Coldplay have truly succeeded at making a palpably warm record that consistently creates a mood that may be impounded from their musical peers, but they’ve honed their craft earnestly with nearly everything in the right place. For once, I am embracing the imitators instead of dismissing them, even if the lyrics could still make a deaf and/or blind man cringe in his arena seat.

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