Coldplay are undoubtedly one of the biggest bands of the 21st century. Perhaps of all time.
Formed in 1997 under the name Starfish (a thankfully short-lived moniker), they’ve sold 100 million albums, become the sixth-most awarded music group in history and have made three of the 50 best-selling albums in the UK. And they’re still going now: their 10th album, Moon Music, is set to release on October 4 and will undoubtedly be a chart smash.
Will such a massive back catalogue, choosing which songs rank among their very best is a tall order, but in the name of science, we’ve done our best.
8. A Sky Full of Stars (Ghost Stories, 2014)
To see this performed at a concert – complete with a twinkling vista of light-up wristbands – is to see magic at work. With the talented Avicii both producing and recording the piano parts, this is a song that’s bursting at the seams with EDM-inspired synth (a rarity for the orchestrally-inclined Coldplay) and blessed with lyrics that are designed to be belted out in a stadium (both in concerts, and, as many football fans will attest, during matches). It’s as dance-heavy as the band have ever been, and maybe the most fun.
7. Charlie Brown (Mylo Xyloto, 2011)
Put aside any thoughts of the Peanuts character (more’s the pity): this take on Charlie Brown sees Coldplay delve headfirst into a jubilant guitar anthem that’s awash with the sound of twinkling riffs and carefree summers. Happy and upbeat, it’s also blessed by a tearing guitar chorus that manages to distil liquid euphoria in a couple of bars: “running wild, glowing in the dark.” One to see live.
6. Paradise (Mylo Xyloto, 2011)
Where Chris Martin pulls his lyrics from is a mystery, but there’s no doubt that the meaningless (and yet masterful) words to Paradise are a stand-out. One of their Mylo Xyloto album’s highlights, it took its time getting to number one, but is now an undisputed Coldplay classic. All credit to Brian Eno for co-writing and producing this one, while also retaining that stadium-filling sense of grandness that has become the band’s signature. Add in some layered vocals and pile on the synth and what you get is a Grammy-nominated track.
5. The Scientist (A Rush of Blood to the Head, 2002)
So sad. But so, so good. Arguably the best tear-jerker they’ve ever done, The Scientist beautifully layers spare piano chords over Martin’s anguished lyrics as he attempts to use mathematics to figure out where a relationship went wrong. Naturally, the experiment fails to yield any results: an exercise in futility.
“Nobody said it was easy,” he cries at one point, as the song builds to a devastating car-crash crescendo of emotion. A real emotional rollercoaster this, especially preceded as it was in the album by the marginally more cheerful Clocks.
4. Fix You (X&Y, 2005)
Like many of the best Coldplay songs, Fix You starts slow – Martin’s voice, a bit of church organ – but builds to a glorious crescendo, weaving in synth, harmonies and an overenthusiastic drumkit.
Apparently written for Martin’s then-wife Gwyneth Paltrow after the death of her father Bruce, Martin has since called it “probably the most important song we've ever written”. And its hard to deny the soaring chorus – or Martin’s earnest lyrics, coaxing the grieving addressee forward with words of encouragement and love.
3. Yellow (Parachutes, 2000)
Cast your mind back to 2000: Britpop was in the charts, and a relatively unknown band called Coldplay released their first album.
Grand and (most importantly) markedly different, it was packed with all the hallmarks that would go onto define the band. And the stand-out was of course Yellow. Martin’s soaring choirboy vocals; an intense, euphoric chorus; soaring guitar licks that underpin the entire thing. The lyrics, while cheesy, stay just on the right side of cliché; is it any surprise that the song is still cited as one of the best Coldplay tunes of all time?
2. Clocks (A Rush of Blood to the Head, 2002)
The piano riff that made history, and cemented Coldplay’s status as one of the best bands around. Built around a series of cascading bars, the first few seconds are instantly recognisable and marked the start of the band’s stratospheric climb to fame.
Packed with emotionally vulnerable lyrics dissecting the collapse of a relationship, it was apparently influenced by Muse and only made their 2002 album at the last minute. We’re glad it did: packed with bombast and roaring piano underpinned by an angry bass, it’s Coldplay at its very Coldplay-iest.
And the winner is... Viva La Vida (Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, 2008)
Just listen to those strings and tell me there isn’t some sorcery at work here. Viva La Vida’s urgent, driving beat, complemented by a soaring string section, works perfectly with Martin’s sweeping lyrics, which weave in allusions to the Bible, the classics and a mysterious fall from grace on the part of the protagonist. “I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing”, he sings the start of the chorus: the cue for us all to join in.
What’s it about? Who really knows, but damn, doesn’t it feel good to sing along. Watch this in concert and see 15,000 fans chanting the lyrics to feel its full power.
