Coldplay
X&YTHE LOWDOWN Getting a handle on the personality of their third album, X&Y, wasn't easy for Coldplay. Producers were changed. Multiple variations on the same songs were recorded. And the tone went, says frontman Chris Martin, from initially ''sounding like we were driving a Bland Rover'' to something that was too experimental and electronic, before settling in on a formula that just sounds like good old Coldplay, albeit with more exciting dynamics. But, says guitarist Jonny Buckland, ''there's probably darker material on this than on previous albums.'' That might come as a surprise for anyone who was expecting 13 odes to the joys of fatherhood (Martin, after all, now has a 1-year-old daughter with wife Gwyneth Paltrow).
Though some tracks deal with frustration and lack of communication, the group has elected the album's most gloriously upbeat track, ''Speed of Sound,'' as the first single. It recently debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 8 — the first top 10 bow for a Brit band's single since the Beatles. Another tune, the unusually jangly ''The Hardest Part,'' is ''kind of a tribute to R.E.M. In fact, our whole record is basically a tribute album to certain people,'' Martin says.
Indeed, there's one track that's a little Beatlesque; one or two others that vaguely recall Lennon, the solo years; and another that's a little bit Echo & the Bunnymen. ''We've stolen from [Echo] already. That's a hangover from the last record,'' says Martin. ''We also have allowed influences to come through from Kraftwerk, of course, and Bowie — even the Cult. I wish we had time to rip off that song by the Killers, but it's too late.''
And Martin won't bristle if you compare X&Y to U2's anthem-packed The Unforgettable Fire. ''I love the idea of lots of people in a big place singing the same thing,'' he says. ''U2 are the best band of all time at that. That's what we're striving for in 50 percent of our songs, and the other 50 percent are more introspective.''
MOST LIKELY TO... See X&Y become the all-out blockbuster that U2's newest album was supposed to be, but wasn't quite.
Release date June 7
(This is an online-only excerpt from Entertainment Weekly's May 27, 2005, issue.)
