Coldplay: Days 0-4

    So if you are reading this, you probably at least saw that the entry before is titled "Coldplay: Day 13," which doesn't make a lot of sense. I decided a month or so ago that I wanted to go through and listen to the entire music catalog of Coldplay (as found on Spotify), in order. Despite being a fan of Coldplay for around 12-13 years now (about half my life), I realized that I still have never listened to a good chunk of their music. So I began this project a little while ago, and then a few days ago when I was working on this (i.e. listening to music), I realized that I wanted to document this journey a little bit, and so decided to write a blog. So I did my first write-up for the songs I listened to a few days ago, and then while moving forward, I'm also going to do a retroactive for the first 12 or so days. To be clear, a "Day" does not mean I am doing this project every day. It just means times I sat down and listened to a chunk of songs. Looking back, I estimate it took me about 12 times of listening before I started this project, so there will probably be three or four retroactive posts covering 12 days.

By Raph_PH - ColdplayBBC071221 (53 of 53), CC BY 2.0, 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=119914546

    So yeah like I said, and by way of introduction, I am a 25 year-old Coldplay fan (from Utah, USA), who has been listening to them since I was tween or early teen. Coldplay is not my favorite artist, but definitely in my top 10. My first experience with them was songs like Clocks, Viva La Vida, and Paradise (I have a random memory of someone singing Paradise in my 7th grade choir class for our choir final), and I have liked them basically ever since hearing those songs. I have continued to listen to them ever since and still love the new music they put out (I haven't listened to Moon Music though, I'm saving it for the end of this). Looking through their Spotify catalogue, I would guess that before starting I hadn't listened to maybe 40% of their songs. This includes all remixes and live versions. The music I had listened to least was their first two albums, although there are other albums that I have never listened to all the way through before. When I decided to start this blog, I had just finished up the A Rush of Blood to the Head era, so the retroactive will go to that point. Lastly, looking up Coldplay's discography, I see there's a few limited edition EPs or live albums that aren't found on Spotify. Unfortunately, these won't be included in this project.

Alright so now I'm gonna get started on the music. The very first single, Brothers & Sisters surprised me in how energetic it was. It went harder than I expected. Along with that, knowing what I know about Coldplay now, it feels poetic that their very first song ever (at least according to Spotify), contains the lines "Brothers and sisters unite \ It's the time of your lives \ ... \ Gotta spread love around \ Gotta spread it around" I feel like Coldplay has made unity and love between all humanity one of the main themes of their music so it's cool to see how this is how they've always been. Also this song was released the same year I was born, which I think is fun. The other two songs were more what I was expecting, sort of slow, soft-rock, meandering ballads which as I came to learn, was the standard Coldplay output for several years.

The Blue Room EP was next, and I was excited to listen to this one. For some reason one memory of Coldplay that has stuck with me is seeing that distinctive EP cover on like the iTunes store or something and wondering about it, but never listening to it. Anyways, despite the cool cover, this EP isn't anything too special, in my opinion. It contains more of the typical slow, soft-rock music like I mentioned. One notable thing though is this EP is the first instance of the song Don't Panic appearing in their discography. Overall, I listened to Don't Panic three times, since it appears here, on Parachutes, and in its own single release. I do enjoy that song. I love the line and melody of "We live in a beautiful world," and that soft, driving beat. Another one that I liked was See You Soon. Sort of a nice nostalgic, acoustic song. Lastly another Parachutes song, High Speed appears on here, and that one's not bad either, so maybe I was a bit too harsh in saying this EP isn't special.

Songs Listened To:

Brothers & Sisters, Easy To Please, Only Superstition - April 26, 1999

The Blue Room (EP) - October 11, 1999