Rush Of Blood To The Head'' or ''Viva La Vida?'' Which is the better Coldplay album?

Rolling on stately rhythms of brooding grandeur, Coldplay made good on its initial promise with an outstanding sophomore album. A Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002) kept faith with the band's audience by further mining the lyric depths and sonic chasms heard on their debut Parachutes. Echoing the stark atmospherics of Pink Floyd and the emotionally unguarded vocals of Brian Wilson in his prime, Coldplay creates music of austere power throughout this album.

Singer Chris Martin's luminous falsetto achieves an aching poignancy on tracks like "Politik" and "Amsterdam," lending elusive colors to his elliptical lyrics. There's a majestic power to the band's stripped-down ensemble playing, whether they're unreeling a loping groove on "In My Place," weaving a swirling melody on "Clocks" or painting a bleak aural landscape on the title track. "God Put A Smile On Your Face" may be the album's high point - Martin's spiritual intimations mesh with the shimmering flow of the track flawlessly - amid the incisive playing and quiet intensity throughout.

If Coldplay’s first album “Parachutes” put them on the map, then their sophomore effort “A Rush of Blood To the Head” established for them their own continent. In the spring of 2003 I heard that Coldplay would be making a tour stop near my hometown.At that point I already owned a copy of “Parachutes” which I had talked a friend into buying for me (don’t ask me how, I guess I didn’t want it bad enough to pay for it myself). The main reason I wanted it and the only thing I really listened to on it was the song “Yellow”—probably the song that some would say Coldplay is most known for.

Needless to say I wasn’t too much of a fan by then but since big name acts like this rarely, if ever, came through my neck of the woods I figured I’d better go to the concert just to check it out. After I purchased my ticket I figured it might be a good idea to buy a copy of their new album since that was what they were touring in support of. I wanted to be able to seem cool and in order to do that I needed to be able to sing along to more than just one song.

I listened to the album a few times through and was gradually becoming more of a steady fan. But the real turning point for me was seeing them in concert. After that night I knew that from then on I was a Coldplay fan for life.

If you’ve ever seen this band live then you know exactly what I’m talking about. From their display of passion, intensity, and energy all the way to the amazing green laser that shone out and formed a kind of roof over the crowd’s head during the song “Clocks”, I was beaming from ear to ear the whole time. I’ve seen them in concert a total of three times now and their awesome live shows coupled with the fact that they simply make darn good music really makes these guys a force to be reckoned with in today’s music scene whether you love them or hate them.

Lots of bands like to claim that they have an “original” sound but more often than not I’ve found that the reality of the situation is that this is a total lie.In Coldplay’s case, especially with “A Rush of Blood To the Head”, true originality not only presents itself, it rams itself down your throat. Before this album came out and still to this day I have never heard an album quite like it (except for maybe elements of the band’s follow-up “X&Y”). -The haunting chords of the album’s opener “Politik”.

-The soft and sentimental chord progression of the amazing “The Scientist”. -The recognizable and catchy theme of“Clocks”.