British rock band Coldplay faced immediate commercial success with the release of their debut studio album Parachutes in 2000. During the process of the creation of their second studio album A Rush of Blood to the Head, the band incorporated the electric guitar and piano to a greater degree than they had on their first album.

The first song on the album “Politik” is lyrically meant to be a general reflection of the state of the world at the time of the album’s creation. The song has a duality between loud pulsing portions and quiet calm portions in order to portray the idea of obscured chaos in the world which for the refrain directs the listener to “Open up your eyes”. The song eventually reaches a dramatic conclusion with the song no longer focusing on any political idea, instead eloquently through vocals calling out a message about love, as the instrumental components of the songs reach an assembled sonically complete form which they had not yet reached previously in the song. The song overall presents a new, untraditional Coldplay song through the variation throughout the song.

The second song on the album “In My Place”, begins with a booming drum beat, but quickly the guitar comes in with a catchy happy melody. The song’s vocals build up to the chorus which has one of the most memorable chorus’ off the album through the catchy melody of the vocals. The song in general eventually builds to a sonically beautiful final form through the vocals overlapping the guitar melody from the intro and post-chorus of the song. The song provides the listener with a classic fashion gorgeous ear-worm typical of the band after the untraditional listen of “Politik”.

The third song on the album “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face” is an interesting song through the difference between the expected simple love song based on the title and the actual song which lyrically and vocally has an almost resentful mood presented by the speaker. Lyrically the song analyzes how small the line between being morally right or wrong is. Despite the vocals being the most interesting component of the song, instrumentally the song is interesting through how the song grows and changes as it continues, and the layer of complexity the various guitar riffs add to the song. Overall, it is a very unique and memorable song from the album.

The fourth song on the album “The Scientist”, one of the largest hits off of the album, is structured as a classic ballad through the backbone of piano with vocals. This structure as a ballad perfectly fits the song's vocals conveying the message of regret and the desire to be able to return to the past. The chord progression of the piano and emotional yet soft intonation of the vocals support the song’s introspective, regretful mood. The final moments of the song with the isolated vocals calling out solidify the song as one of the most beautiful and memorable tracks from the album.

The fifth song on the album “Clocks”, another large hit off the album, provides a classic piano intro through the catchiness of the quick arpeggios of the piano. The piano’s part is the standout aspect of the song as its most recognizable component. The piano’s entrances and exit ts throughout the song cause engagement from the listener in the song as they pay attention to the piano, causing the build of the song into the piano suddenly raising in pitch in addition to the other musical components growing in intensity to be a stand out moment on the album. Overall the piano part is one of the single most recognizable and memorable parts played by an instrument on a song off the album.

The sixth song on the album “Daylight” is a unique song off the album due to its overall soundscape being quite dark and menacing, largely supported by the intonations of the vocals. The chorus is a stand out aspect of the track through its memorability through its sudden growth of the scale of the song and the change of the intonation of the vocals compared to earlier in the song. The song is overall a standout track off the album through its quality of darkness while keeping the catchy and listenable quality of the songs from the rest of the album.

The seventh song on the album “Green Eyes” is a very stripped back traditional love song through for the majority of the songs length consisting solely of acoustic guitar and vocals. A song like this functions well at this point in the album and has a heart warming and happy quality.  When the song does eventually grow it consists of adding drums and a backing guitar. While not one of the most memorable songs off the album, the song definitely serves its role well.

The eighth song on the album “Warning Sign”, similar to “Green Eyes”, is a direct love song. While in a similar fashion it is also still a good listen due to it being done well, it is different in the instrumentation as rather than being stripped back it has a full sound achieved through the electric guitar which has excellent tone and provides a great base for the song. The song’s chorus is one of the stand out choruses from the album through the beauty in its vocal delivery. The conclusion of the song through the vocals slowly and quietly drowning, and suits the song particularly well.

The ninth song on the album “A Whisper” serves as an energy booster in contrast to the previous two songs, but unfortunately it is relatively repetitive. Despite this, the guitars are a stand out aspect of the song which despite additionally having much repetition, change as the song progresses making the song have a musical aspect which engages the listener.

The tenth song on the album “A Rush of Blood to the Head”, vocally is a stand out track on the album, due to the emotion and strength of the vocals on the climatic chorus of the song. Lyrically, the song summarizes the album's idea of the contrast between chaos in the world and the simple image of love presented by many songs. The guitar perfectly compliments the vocals throughout the track. The song overall serves as a dramatic penultimate track of the album.

The eleventh and final song on the album “Amsterdam”, is a brilliant end to the album. The majority of the song functions as a ballad in which vocals melodically trade off with the piano, only fully coming together during the chorus. The song throughout this portion encompasses beauty through simplicity as despite it only being piano and vocals both components are exceptional, making it a pleasant listen throughout. Additionally, backing vocals on the chorus only add to the beauty of the song. The single aspect of the song that stands out beyond all else  is the final minute. In a sudden manner around a minute before the song’s end, the guitar, bass, and drum all suddenly drop into the song and the vocals and piano gain a sudden volume they lacked previously in the song. The final minute is a full minute of all the components leaving everything on the table, making the build up to it of the rest of the song, or album for that matter, completely pay off. The payoff of the final minute is brilliant and ends the album in the best possible way.

A Rush Of Blood to the Head is overall a brilliant album through not abandoning the aspects of their first album that gained them acclaim, yet pioneering a new sound for the band giving the album its own identity separate from the first album. Tracks like “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face” and “Daylight” have a dark sound and lyrical content which would not have been expected of the band in contrast to the great, but relatively straightforward, love songs that had gained them fame, such as “Yellow”. Even on tracks that are not necessarily exploring anything dark, the album still manages to create its own sound through the tendency for songs to build and change as they progress. The piano in particular as an instrument very much gives its own identity due to the many songs of the album that, at least for a portion, are musically completely structured around the piano. The guitar also plays a large role on the album as when songs eventually have a pay off during the chorus or at the end it is the guitar that leads these moments. It is also worth mentioning that the guitar tone throughout the album is exceptional. Lyrically speaking, the album still mostly talks about love in a very general and unspecific sense (i:e “I miss you”), but uses it to make a point through contrasting it with the perceived chaotic state of the world. The album additionally in a commercial sense manages to produce the hits of “The Scientist” and “Clocks”, which are two of the biggest songs by the band ever. Perhaps the single best aspect of the album though is the intro of “Politik” and conclusion of “Amsterdam” which in an exemplary manner pull in the listener and then eventually conclude the album. Any band should inspire to make their intro and outro songs as perfect in their role as these two songs. In conclusion, A Rush Of Blood to the Head is an album which produces eleven memorable and excellent songs, which excellently contrast each other, making the album a great listen.

Favorite three tracks: “Politik”, “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face”, “Amsterdam”

Score: 9.5/10