Coldplay – X&Y (2005/2016) [HDTracks FLAC 24bit/192kHz]

X&Y is the third studio album by British alternative rock band Coldplay, released 6 June 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. Development of the album was often troubled; the album’s original producer, 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 contains twelve 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 lead singer Chris 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 a B-side for the album’s subsequent single releases, after it leaked online in early 2005.

X&Y was released after a considerable amount of hype and was a significant commercial success, reaching the top spot of many charts worldwide, including the United Kingdom and United States, the latter being their first. With accumulated sales of 8.3 million units in 2005 alone, X&Y was the best-selling album released in 2005 worldwide. By 2011, the album had sold over 13 million copies worldwide.

Overall reaction to the album has been generally positive, though some critics cited it as being inferior to its predecessors. The album spawned the singles “Speed of Sound”, “Fix You”, “Talk”, “The Hardest Part”, “What If” and “White Shadows.”

After Radiohead stubbornly refused to accept the mantle of world’s biggest and most important rock band by releasing the willfully strange rocktronica fusion Kid A in 2000, Coldplay stepped up to the plate with their debut, Parachutes. Tasteful, earnest, introspective, anthemic, and grounded in guitars, the British quartet was everything Radiohead weren’t but what the public wanted them to be, and benefited from the Oxford quintet’s decision to abandon rock stardom for arcane art rock. Parachutes became a transatlantic hit and 2002’s sequel, A Rush of Blood to the Head, consolidated their success by being bigger and better than Parachutes, positioning Coldplay to not be just the new Radiohead, but the new U2: a band that belongs to the world but whose fans believe that the music is for them alone. To that end, Coldplay’s third album, X&Y — slightly delayed so it follows Rush of Blood by nearly three years, but that’s no longer than the time separating OK Computer and Kid A, or The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree — is designed to be the record that elevates Coldplay to the major leagues, where they are at once the biggest and most important band in the world. It’s deliberate and sleek, cinematic and pristine, hip enough to sample Kraftwerk and blend in fashionable retro-’80s post-punk allusions without altering the band’s core. Indeed, X&Y is hardly a bold step forward but rather a consolidation of Coldplay’s strengths, particularly their skill at crafting surging, widescreen epics. But if X&Y highlights their attributes it also brings Coldplay’s weaknesses into sharp relief. Forget the fact that they, by any stretch of the imagination, do not rock — rocking is simply against their nature. They are a meditative band, reflecting on their emotions instead of letting them go in a cathartic blast of noise and rhythm. This isn’t a problem — after all, there have been plenty of great bands that do not rock & roll — but their terminal politeness does cripple their music, preventing it from being as majestic as its aspirations. Coldplay is well scrubbed and well behaved, possessing a textbook education in classic rock and the good sense to never stretch any farther than needed. They are the perfect middlebrow rock band — clean, pristine, and rational, seemingly smart since they never succumb to pounding, primal riffs, but also not weird enough to be genuine art rock. It’s ambitious, yet its ambitions are modest, not risky, so their ambitions can be fulfilled without breaking a sweat. And since their sweeping yet subdued theatricality does recall the more majestic moments of Radiohead and U2, they have won millions of fans, but another crucial reason that Coldplay have a broad appeal is that lead singer/songwriter Chris Martin never tackles any large issues, preferring to endlessly examine his feelings. Like on Parachutes and Rush of Blood, all the songs on X&Y are ruminations on Martin’s doubts, fears, hopes, and loves. His words are earnest and vague, so listeners can identify with the underlying themes in the songs, and his plain, everyman voice, sighing as sweet as a schoolboy, is unthreatening and unassuming, so it’s all the easier for listeners to project their own emotions into the song. But for as impeccable as X&Y is — and, make no mistake, it’s a good record, crisp, professional, and assured, a sonically satisfying sequel to A Rush of Blood to the Head — it does reveal that Martin’s solipsism is a dead-end, diminishing the stature of the band. Where U2 is big in sound, scope, ambition, and intent, Coldplay is ultimately big music about small things, and even if X&Y is a strong, accomplished album, its limited, narcissistic point of view is what prevents the quartet from inheriting the title of the biggest and most important band in the world. ~~AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracklist:
1 Square One 4:47
2 What If 4:57
3 White Shadows 5:28
4 Fix You 4:54
5 Talk 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 4:31
13 Til Kingdom Come 4:10

Personnel:
Chris Martin – vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitar
Jonny Buckland – electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Guy Berryman – bass guitar
Will Champion – drums, percussion

Download:

mqs.link_CldplayXY20052016HDTracks24192.part1.rar
mqs.link_CldplayXY20052016HDTracks24192.part2.rar
mqs.link_CldplayXY20052016HDTracks24192.part3.rar

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