For a group of musicians to truly show their skills, they must step out of their everyday form and create something different. “A Rush of Blood to the Head,” the new album from Coldplay, shows the steps of progression that they are creating for themselves. Several songs make this a standout album while defining the new sound on it, as opposed to Coldplay’s first album, “Parachutes.”
The first track, “Polotik,” has a very orchestrated sound and a simple drum pattern. This song takes small breaks between the continuous sounds of strings and drums to let Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay, set the mood for the entire album with the demanding sentence, “Give me real, don’t give me fake.” This sense of finding truth appears in the album at least 90 percent of the time.
Another song that may spark interest was the sixth track, “Daylight.” This song shows the creativity that both the band and the producers put into this album. The bass player, Guy Berryman, takes the lead of the instruments prior to the first course and lays the framework to a great sound. Martin’s singing goes in the same ebb and flow style of the violins and cellos in the background. This song, overall, sounds great.
Just when you thought the acoustic sound of a guitar was nowhere to be found, the good old five-string comes back into existence on the seventh song, “Green Eyes.” The soft and mellow beginning and end of this song are accompanied with great lyrics about returning back to love. The middle of the song is fast paced and adds contrast to all three aspects of the song.
One song that totally steps out of the typical Coldplay style, then the ninth track, “A Whisper.” The elaborate design of instruments that this song embodies makes it the one complete tune that truly shows the total progression of this band since their last album.
The final song, “Amsterdam,” sounds like a cry for help, with touching lyrics like “Come on, my star is fading/I see no chance of relief/and I’m dead on the surface/but I’m screaming underneath.” Coldplay allows their musical influences to come alive on this track as well. The first 13 seconds sound like a song that Pink Floyd would have done on the 1971 album “Meddle.” Then the next 3:46 sounds like a mixture of the Beatles’ “Goodnight,” “Let It Be” and “The Long and Winding Road.” The rest of this track is all Coldplay. This song is a great culmination of the entire album and a good way to end it.
The rest of the album sound virtually the same as the songs of the band’s debut album, “Parachutes.” “In My Place” sounds like a new version of “Trouble” from the previous album.
On a scale of one to ten, I give this album a 7.9. This album has the power to be something special, but the repetitive sound and lyrics take away from being able to actually hear an overall difference in their sound.
