X&Y

Untitled

X&Y is the third studio album by English alternative rock band Coldplay, released June 6, 2005 in the United Kingdom via the record label Parlophone. The album, which features influences of electronic music, was produced by the band and British record producer Danton Supple. British record producer Ken Nelson was supposed to produce much of the album, however, many songs written during their sessions were ditched due to the band's dissatisfaction. The album's cover art is a combination of colours and blocks, which is a representation of the Baudot code.

The album has been considered a landmark achievement of the band, topping many charts worldwide, including the United Kingdom and United States, the latter being their first. With accumulated sales of over 8.3 million units, X&Y is 2005's best-selling album worldwide. Reviews for the album were mixed; many of the critics felt X&Y fell shortly to the standards of its predecessor, A Rush of Blood to the Head. The album has spawned the singles "Speed of Sound", "Fix You", "Talk", "The Hardest Part, "What If", and "White Shadows".

Background

In March 2004, Coldplay announced some details in working of X&Y. Initial plans were to stay out of the public eye throughout the year. Vocalist Chris Martin said, "We really feel that we have to be away for a while and we certainly won't release anything this year, because I think people are a bit sick of us." This plan, however, was not due to the pressure their second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head, had induced but they were trying "to make the best thing that anyone has ever heard".

In the fall of 2003, Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, and British record producer Ken Nelson had started recording demos while in Chicago. The band then entered into a London studio in January 2004.

Recording

The band spent 18 months in working the album. The released album is the third version which the band had produced during their late sessions, and some even have considered it as their fifth album. The band was not satisfied of the outputs at their initial sessions with Nelson, who produced the band's previous two albums. The initial release date was 2004, and the band had to delay the album to January 2005. But as the new target date was approaching, the band again discarded songs, which they deemed "flat" and "passionless". Sixty songs were written during these sessions, 52 of which were ditched. The band started rehearsing the songs for a planned tour, but felt the songs sounded better in live compared to their recorded version: "We realized that we didn't really have the right songs and some of them were starting to sound better because we were playing them than they did on record, so we thought we better go back and record them again." Guitarist Jonny Buckland has said that the band had pushed themselves "forward in every direction" in making the album, but they felt it sounded like they were going backwards to their earlier works.

In search of perfection, Coldplay had to "step it up a few notches and work hard at it to get it right". The band chose Danton Supple, who mixed the bulk of A Rush of Blood to the Head, to oversee the production of X&Y. When January went, the band had to finish the album; they were conscious of the pressure as "expectations for the record grew larger" and "completing it became tougher and tougher". Finally, the band was settled with the song "Square One", which Martin has described it as "a call to arms" and a "plea" to each of them "not to be intimidated by anything or anyone else". Once finished, the band felt like they could do their own songs and do not have think of anyone else's demands. During this month, the band was into the final weeks of the production and had put the finishing touches of the tracks.

Drummer Will Champion later admitted that the band was not in a rush in completing the album "because the prospect of touring again was so daunting that we felt we should take our time, and also we wanted to make sure that it was the best it could possibly be". The band had no deadline, according to him, which caused them to feel not pressured of finishing something. Once a proper deadline was imposed onto the band, they became more productive than previous sessions. At this juncture, the band had written "about 14 or 15 songs". Martin added that the reason why they ended up late was they "... kept [adding] finishing [touches to] the record until it was way too late ... [they] don't listen to it at the moment, because [they had] just find something to go back and change."

Cover

The album's cover art was designed by graphic design duo Tappin Gofton (also known as Mark Tappin and Simon Gofton). The image, which is visualized through a combination of colours and blocks, is a graphical representation of the Baudot code, an early form of telegraph communication using a series of ones and zeros to communicate. The code was developed by Frenchman Émile Baudot in the 1870s, and was a widely used method of terrestrial and telegraph communication.

The alphabet of the code is presented in the liner notes of the album, and if applied to the code of the cover image, reveals "X&Y". The final page of the booklet contains the slogan "Make Trade Fair", the name of the international organization which Martin is supporting to. The band dedicates the album to "BWP" that is presented also inside the liner notes; it stands for Bruce W. Paltrow, the late father of Martin's wife, Gwyneth Paltrow. All singles released from the album feature their titles in the same code on their respective covers. Martin sometimes wears coloured tape on his hands while on stage, as a reference to the album.

Music and lyrics

Coldplay has cited various influences in the album. The European electronic music pioneer Kraftwerk is evident on the song "Talk", which samples its synthetic hook from 1981's "Computer Love". Also present is 1970s electronic music from the likes of English musician David Bowie and Brian Eno. Coldplay received permission from Kraftwerk to use the main riff from "Computer Love" for the track "Talk", while Eno played backing synthesizer on the track "Low". The first single, "Speed of Sound", also takes inspiration from the drumbeat of English singer-songwriters Kate Bush's song "Running Up That Hill". According to Jon Pareles of The New York Times, the band attempts to "carry the beauty of 'Clocks'" across the album, borrowing some of its features to songs like "Speed of Sound".

Lyrically, X&Y made an apparent shift from its predecessors. On their previous works, Martin sang mostly in the first person "I", but moves to the second person "you". Accordingly, the songs on the album are reflection of Martin's "doubts, fears, hopes, and loves" with lyrics that are "earnest and vague".

Release

X&Y was initially targeted for a 2004 release, although early news reported it would not until 2005. But because of personal preferences, songs recorded in several sessions were scrapped and had pushed the date to January 2005. However, the new date just went by and the band had to set another schedule. By January, the album remained untitled and target release was between March and April 2005. By early April, the band had finalized the track listing of the album. Eventually, the album was released on June 6, 2005 in the United Kingdom via record label Parlophone. It was issued on June 7 in the United States by Capitol Records. The album has been released with the Copy Control protection system in some regions.

The album contains 12 tracks and an additional hidden track, "'Til Kingdom Come". It is omitted from the track listing on the album sleeve, but listed as "+" on the disc label and inside the album booklet. It was originally planned for American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash to record it with Martin, but Cash died before he was able to do so. The song "Talk" appeared on the main track listing, although it was thought to have been downgraded to as B-side for the album's subsequent single releases, after it leaked online in early 2005.

Promotion and accolades

Although around three months advance from the album release, Coldplay have performed several of the songs in some of their live performances. The band made a headlining performance at public radio station KCRW-FM's annual A Sounds Eclectic Evening, staging five songs from X&Y and some of their old favourites. For the song "The Scientist", Martin sang one of its verses backward, a technique he learned in shooting its music video.

The album has four main singles that were released internationally: "Speed of Sound", "Fix You", and "Talk" in 2005, and "The Hardest Part" in 2006. A fifth single, "What If", was released in June 2006 to radio stations in France and the French-speaking portions of Belgium and Switzerland. A commercial CD was also released in Belgium and features the same B-side as "The Hardest Part" ("How You See the World" recorded live at Earls Court), which was released in other European markets as well as Japan and Australia. This single features the "Tom Lord-Alge Mix" of "What If" as the A-side which differs from the usual album version. Finally, in 2007, "White Shadows" was released as a single in Latin America, to coincide with the band's 2007 Latin America Tour. This also complemented the special "Tour Edition" of the album that was released in these regions.

The album earned the band several awards. In 2006, it won the Best British Album accolade at the BRIT Awards, and International Album of the Year at the Juno Awards which Coldplay shared with American hip hop group the Black Eyed Peas.

Critical reaction

The album's reviews were mostly positive upon release, particularly from mainstream media, but some critics have stated that the album had fallen well short of the standards of A Rush of Blood to the Head, X&Y's predecessor. Coldplay has also received criticism for the similarities between the lead single, "Speed of Sound", and "Clocks", one of the band's most popular songs to date. Others have noted the obvious similarities to the Irish band U2's sound that can be heard throughout the album.

Kelefa Sanneh of Rolling Stone magazine was less contended with X&Y, writing it "is something less exciting" compared to A Rush of Blood to the Head that "was a nervy bid for bigness". Sanneh notes that the album is "the sound of a blown-up band trying not to deflate" and "a surprising number of songs here just never take flight". Despite such, he compliments the album for featuring "lovely ballads that sound, well, Coldplay-ish". Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic counter-argues, saying that "it's a good record, crisp, professional, and assured, a sonically satisfying sequel to A Rush of Blood to the Head", stating it as "impeccable" and "a strong, accomplished album". However, Erlewine has sentiments to Martin's songwriting, commenting that the album reveals his "solipsism is a dead-end, diminishing the stature of the band". Alexis Petridis, in his March 2005 review for the British newspaper The Guardian, had mixed feelings. Petridis praised some of the album's songs, writing that they are "mostly beautifully turned"; however, he panned at the lyrics, claiming "they are so devoid of personality that they sound less like song lyrics".

Commercial performance

X&Y was a commercial success in Europe. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, with accumulated first week sales of 464,471 according to charts compiler the Official UK Charts Company. This made Coldplay's third consecutive number-one debut. The album went as the second-highest debut in the British chart history. To date, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has certified the album eight-times platinum. The album placed at number nine on the list of United Kingdom's 20 biggest-selling albums of the 21st century, published by the British trade paper Music Week.

The American press have considered X&Y a landmark achievement of Coldplay. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 737,000 copies despite the highly competitive retail week. The album gave the band their first US number-one album by debut, and its initial sales surpassed the band's previous album releases; Parachutes amassed over 6,500 copies in its debut and A Rush of Blood to the Head with sales of under 141,000. X&Y went as the second best-selling album in the United States, behind American rapper 50 Cent's second album The Massacre, which sold over one million units in its first week of release. X&Y also emerged as the biggest-selling debut under rock genre. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has since certified the album three-times platinum for accumulated shipments of over three million units. Altogether, the album emerged as 2005's best-selling album worldwide, accumulating over 8.3 millions units despite the aggregate three percent fall of sales due to digital and physical piracy.

Track listing

All songs written by Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Chris Martin, except where noted.

Main CD

1. "Square One" – 4:47
2. "What If" – 4:57
3. "White Shadows" – 5:28
4. "Fix You" – 4:54
5. "Talk" (Berryman, Buckland, Champion, Martin, Hütter, Bartos, Schult) – 5:11
6. "X&Y" – 4:34
7. "Speed of Sound" – 4:48
8. "A Message" – 4:45
9. "Low" – 5:32
10. "The Hardest Part" – 4:25
11. "Swallowed in the Sea" – 3:58
12. "Twisted Logic" – 5:01
13. "'Til Kingdom Come" – 4:12 (hidden track)

Bonus tracks:

14. "How You See the World" – 4:04 (Japan bonus track)

• "Twisted Logic" is actually only 4:26 long, followed by silence until 5:01. The iTunes version of the track omits the silence.

Tour edition DVD

To coincide with Coldplay's tour of Australasia and Latin America, the album was re-released in those territories as a "Tour Edition", which also includes all the b-side tracks and music videos of X&Y's singles on a bonus DVD:

Audio Only Section:

1. "Things I Don't Understand"
2. "Proof"
3. "The World Turned Upside Down"
4. "Pour Me (Live @ the Hollywood Bowl)"
5. "Sleeping Sun"
6. "Gravity"

Audiovisual Section:

1. "Speed of Sound" (video)
2. "Fix You" (video)
3. "Talk" (video)
4. "The Hardest Part" (video)

External links

• Official site
• XFM Album Playback with Chris Martin and Johnny Buckland
• Yahoo! Music Interview: X&Y From A To Z