2005 Todd Ten: Number 10 - Coldplay - X & Y
The game is simple. Describe your favorite records of the year, counting backwards.
Note to Adam: Dude, just stop reading now. Save yourself the trouble.
My tenth favorite record this year comes from a band that still seems to me like the little British band that could, but has actually become one of the biggest acts in the world.
Adam claims that they're basically cheesy power pop and that the lyrics don't make sense. And he's right. But they're still beautiful love songs. I don't think I'm so cynical that I can't dig the occasional beautiful love song.
Coldplay also holds a soft spot in my heart because they're one of the few bands I love that really made it. In the summer of 2000, I bought their debut album Parachutes on import and absolutely loved it. Later that year, frat boys every where were singing along to "Yellow." I didn't begrudge them for it either. They enjoyed the same high-minded lyricism and sweeping emotions that I did.
The new album isn't perfect, but there are more than enough standout tracks to keep it rocking my iPod all year long. I'm a particular fan of "Fix You" and "Swallowed in the Sea."
I love for Coldplay is all because of you. End of your senior year/my junior year, you convince me to go see them live at one of the clubs on Landsdowne Street. Best $15 I've ever spent and perhaps the best live show I've seen. Turned me from moderate dislike to a big fan.
The first time I heard Fix You, I had to pull my car over. It's one of those songs you just want so badly to be about you- not because you want to be broken, but because it makes it seem like maybe you could be whole in a way you didn't even know existed if the right person threw their arms around you. It's that kind of great.