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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.
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It's a definite step backward from the passionate and substantial Rush of Blood toward the less mature Parachutes, somehow lacking something bigger.
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Too much here sounds like Coldplay-by-numbers, and the lyrics lack the deeper meaning the album seems desperate to provide.
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Blender[Coldplay] have made their masterpiece. [Jun 2005, p.112]
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At least 45 of X&Y’s 63 minutes finds Coldplay overdosing on pointless synthesizers in the name of “expanding their sound” while forgetting to write anything reflecting a decent hook.
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"X & Y" is easily Coldplay's most consistent album, albeit one that operates within restrictive boundaries of creativity.
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It’s an expansive and stupendously produced record with a handful of remarkable songs.
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Some may call it repetitious, but with songs so beautifully crafted, everyone should agree that X&Y equals A.
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Entertainment WeeklyThey're clearly trying very hard to grow, but sometimes all they have to show for it are tracks that require road maps. [17 June 2005, p.77]
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X & Y is uninspired adult pop that drops jaws only in its capacity to elicit yawns.
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MojoX&Y is awash with cliches, non-sequiturs, and cheap existentialism; at times it all becomes nigh on unbearable. [Jul 2005, p.97]
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X&Y is far from experimental, but it nonetheless showcases a band demonstrating distinctive signs of evolution.
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Confident, bold, ambitious, bunged with singles and impossible to contain, ‘X&Y’ doesn’t reinvent the wheel but it does reinforce Coldplay as the band of their time.
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Your level of interest in their music probably correlates with your willingness to be bored.
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This is not easy listening; on the contrary, it requires a real commitment from the listener. But it’s a commitment that’ll be amply rewarded.
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Like Coldplay's two previous albums, only more so, X&Y is bland but never offensive, listenable but not memorable.
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There is no doubt [Martin] has talent, but there are just too many retreads, too many regurgitated ideas, and no fire, no raw anger, no big hairy bollocks.
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For every moment of adventurousness, however, there's a dose of the Same Old Stuff.
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People will fall in love to this music, and Coldplay knows it.
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Q MagazineA substantially more visceral and emotionally rewarding experience than both its predecessors. [Jul 2005, p.106]
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A surprising number of songs here just never take flight.
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For the most part, the album's money shots -- the singsong guitar of "The Hardest Part," the eerie U2 evocations in the assured chorus of "White Shadows" -- are fleeting, strung together by unremarkable verses and remarkably generic lyrical sentiments.
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SpinBy ratcheting up their guitars and still singing about everyday themes, Coldplay are recasting their nerdy-student Britpop as Important Rock Music without sacrificing the homespun vibe that allowed Martin's fans to believe that he wrote a song for each one of them and called it "Yellow." [Jun 2005, p.99]
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The basic songwriting on show here is essentially the same as ever; mid-paced, desperately sincere and earnestly simple, decorated with piano and passionless falsetto, only now with more detours into maximalist, synth-soaked modern rock epics cut from the same cloth as “Clocks.”
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Only three songs really, truly deliver.
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They have chosen to opt for the standard formula: it's elegiac, mid-tempo, stadium-friendly ballads all the way.
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When he moans his verses, Mr. Martin can sound so sorry for himself that there's hardly room to sympathize for him, and when he's not mixing metaphors, he fearlessly slings clichés.
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Not great, a few catchy moments, certainly not god-awful, but just bland enough that after three listens, all life is drained from it.
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X&Y is well crafted and enjoyable, but it’s bloodless and distant. It feels manufactured, a piece of product in the march to become the Biggest Band in the World.
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UncutMake no mistake, X&Y is an exceptional pop record. [Jul 2005, p.98]
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Under The RadarMonochromatic and underwhelming. [#10, p.109]
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Unusually accomplished, fresh, and emotional.
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Precise, bland, and banal, their sensitivity emotionless and their musicality never surprising, they're the definition of a pleasant bore--easy to tune out, impossible to care for.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 574 out of 711
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Mixed: 75 out of 711
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Negative: 62 out of 711
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Aug 4, 2014
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Dec 15, 2012
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Dec 9, 2015