Coldplay: An Unconventional Success
Oscar Rendon | St. Louis, MO | June 3rd, 2020
For the past two decades Coldplay have managed to do what most artists can’t and that’s continue to grow their success. Coldplay is the band that shouldn’t have made it by all accounts and statistics people can throw at you. The reason for the bands success has nothing to do with talent, because as we all know if that were the case every band in the world or at least almost every band in the world would have the same success as Coldplay. When grunge and hard rock were becoming more prominent in the music scene Coldplay took a hard left the opposite direction. Maybe it’s the quarantine but I decided to listen back to all of Coldplay’s albums from start to finish in order of release and what I discovered was that when everyone else in the music industry fell to trends and temporary success Coldplay stuck with their songwriting roots. Yes, they added more contemporary synths, guitars and electronic sounds as the years went by but you know it when you hear it that Coldplay is all original and cheesy (in a good way). This may be my own personal bias towards the band but every record they’ve put always felt like it was Coldplay. No one has ever come out and said they had sold out and changed their sound, yes they grew to be a massive band with hit after hit but only a few of those hits were played in TOP 40 radio, even their latest album hasn’t garnered that TOP 40 radio spot but you know where it has? Alternative Rock stations.
Coldplay aren’t like many artists, certain artists today you hear and go “oh that’ll be on TOP 40” and every other station and that’s it. The songs are more memorable than the artists. Coldplay on the other hand are just as popular as their music. So much so that the other day I was listening to a song from some indie rock band and a guitar riff pierced my ears because suddenly I was reminded of Coldplay. Their music is cinematic in a way. I picture scenes in my head like a movie that go with the music and you get that feeling inside of euphoria. So, now it’s 2020 and you think of Coldplay. What do you think of? You think of the collabs with Jay-Z, Beyonce, The Chainsmokers and many others and you forget that they did all that without changing who they were, their writing style or how they produce music. Yes, the sound has evolved and yes the music has matured and become more universal yet still intimate. It’s why they’ve lasted for 2 decades still the same 4 guys, no replacements or subtractions. I recently watched their documentary ‘A Head Full of Dreams’ and through everything what I saw was a passion for music they still carry. Maybe I am biased and maybe they aren’t for everyone at least thats what people say because they heard “Yellow” one too many times and think thats all they are but I know, I know they are the same band that wrote “The Scientist” and also “Champion”. Take some time to listen to their songs and you’ll notice it too.