Coldplay, X & Y is a great album! best yet??! With songs such as fix you, talk, message, white shadows just amazing! and what if ect... the list doesn't stop!

Coldplay X & Y is a great listen, and a great change to all that garbage you see everywhere else.

Though not as many on this album as on the bands superb "Parachutes" album, which was the best. Tracks like the inviting "Fix You", "Speed Of Sound", "Low", and my personal fave: the undeniably gorgeous "Til Kingdom Come".

Coldplay are a great band, but the X & Y album can be grating after a while.

A very good album, recommended when you want to chill, relax, escape the stress during the day. It's not just music, it's sound therapy. X & Y by Coldplay is one of the greatest albums of the year!

Coldplay, X & Y, a brilliant album from a band who refuse to drop their game.

Totally Amazing, nothing else can describe it!!

All that needs to be said, is that this is an AMAZING album.

I could not disagree with the other review of those masterful album anymore: Coldplay X&Y is one of THE must-own albums of the year. From space-epic opener Square One to stripped down hidden track Till Kingdom Come, Coldplay's 3rd offering doesn't fail to engage the listener.

Track by Track:
The aforementioned Square One is opens the album in a whirl of synths and misleading lyrics. Opening with synths and vocals, the first minute builds with drums before exploding into the chorus with guitars and bass line. From here on in the song doesn't drop, keeping the listener bouncing to the uptempo rhythm and guitar flourishes, until the very end, where the music drops to just vocals and guitar, leaving the listener with the tantalising lyrics:
"You wonder if your chance will ever come, or if you're stuck in square one."

Described by drummer Champion as "the flip side to [John Lennon's] "Imagine"", "What If" appears to be the first ballad of the album. The first half of the song certainly sticks with traditions: piano and vocals building with strings until the rhythm section join the song. However, the Chromatic, Beatles-esque ending ensures that the song ends in an entirely different genre than it started in. The lyrics are heartfelt and broad whilst staying intensely intimate: and this is where Coldplay are at their strongest, Martin's sweeping lyrics touching individuals as few other bands can.

Third song "White Shadows" showcases Coldplay's new direction: A rush of offbeat basslines and thumping drums that falls away into guitar licks and synths. Touted as a new single, the song is simaltaneously classic coldplay yet also refreshingly new.

Stand-out track "Fix You" is, quite simply, a marvellous track. Opening with hushed Organ and Vocals, the song lifts throughout, moving the listener with its calming message: "I will try to fix you." The song ends with four part harmonies, loud drums and a simple, Edge-Like guitar riff. The song sounds enormous and has already been established as a set closer: even being used to end their anthemic set at this years Glastonbury Festival.

Fifth track and possible future single "Talk" borrows its guitar riff from Kraftwerk's "Computer Love," but this in no way lets the song down, with Johnny Buckland shining throughout with some mighty, song toppling guitar lines. They're not particularly fast or intricate, but the sheer blend with the backing music means that this is irrelevant. At this point of the album it is beginning to sink in: this is superb stuff.

Surreal title track "X&Y" bears small resemblance to "A Rush Of Blood To The Head"'s "Daylight," eerie violin sounds dominating a structurally complex arrangement. However Martin accomplishes his usual trick in connecting effortlessly with his audience, making even the strangest of lyrics seemingly being directed at the listener: "You and me, are floating on a tidal wave - together..."

Critics of first single "Speed Of Sound" often lazily brand it as a rehash of "Clocks". From a musicians perspective, I know what they mean, the piano line being just one semi-tone apart from the second half of the (in)famous "Clocks" riff. However, once beyond this cynical view lies Coldplay's most accomplished single to date, a mesmerising maze of hidden detail and epic choruses.

Classic Coldplay track "A Message" could have quite happily fitted onto either of their previous albums. It is a simple and loving song, but its familiarity and slightly over-used lyrics make it the first moment of the album where the brilliance dips. Nonetheless, this song is still better than most other bands can achieve in this genre of music, and it is this sheer consistency that marks Coldplay above their competitors.

"Low", with "Fix You" is another highlight of the album, though for entirely different reasons. It proves beyond doubt that Coldplay's tag of being "boring" is completely inappropriate, with fast rhythm, frenetic drumming (particularly in the outro) and some extremely high pitched singing. (Listen dead on 5mins and you may just about be able to hear a high pitch wail from Martin...) It is a joyous track, with Johnny Buckland given free reign for his signature guitar licks.

Track ten, "The Hardest Part" has one of the most interesting openings of any of the songs on the album, with a slightly country-esque feel partnered with pained vocals and simple piano chords. But as Martin sings "I could feel it go down," the song does the opposite - lifting upwards as Coldplay so with such ease.

"Swallowed In The Sea" is another of Coldplay's traditional ballads, with a beautiful chorus towards the end. However, the song is let down by frankly terrible rhyming, (tree/me/see etc)and this takes effort to get past. Lyrics aside, the song showcases Coldplay's immense talents, and when contrasted with "Low" the bands cummulative abilities can be truly appreciated.

Track twelve and official album closer "Twisted Logic" is the most obviously political song on the album, with references to Political leaders tendencies to muddle around issues without getting anywhere. ("You go backwards again, you go forwards again...") The song is an angry one, particularly when compared to "A Rush Of Blood" closer Amsterdam, a subtle yet epic ballad. Dissonant notes and some distinctive vocals make this a brooding masterpiece, and one that refuses to be pinned down.

However, after this new-sound, Coldplay go back to basics with the Johnny Cash-flavoured hidden track "Till Kingdom Come." A simple love song, this hidden track echoes "Parachutes" with its bare-bones acoustic guitar and vocals, and is a quiet yet deeply moving ending to an intensely varied album.

Critics of Coldplay often label them as boring, one-trick-ponies only capable of producing slow ballads. On the evidence of this album, they couldn't have been more wrong. Simply put: "X&Y" is a work of genius.

Wow...what can I say about Coldplay, X&Y? I mean, exactly how does one describe something so mindnumbingly dull, so heart-stoppingly boring that it actually makes time travel backwards? I mean dull, bland, boring, life-sucking, attention-sapping, sleep-inducing, characterless, dreary, flat, lifeless, spiritless...all these wonderful words are have 2 things in common - they describe Coldplay's new masterpiece and they are all more interesting than any song contained therein.

The first time I heard the lead single, "Speed of Sound," I didn't actually realise it was new, so much does it sound like every other soul-destroying note to ever issue forth from the pedestrian hands/lungs of Mr. Paltrow & co.

The only hint of brightness in this inanimate, lumpen piece of monotone, snore-inducing droning is "Fix You", a song cribbed from "Grace Under Pressure" by the wonderful Elbow, and this will hopefully encourage some Coldplay fans out of their inertia to actually go find a decent band.