"Parachutes" is a really astonishing debut album from the British band Coldplay. "Parachutes" is best described as a mood piece--mellow, melodic, acoustic guitar, mopey at times but ultimately convinced that "Everything's Not Lost."

Coldplay's sound is a mixture of shimmering guitars, keyboards, and Chris Martin's incredible voice. His voice is probably the cause of the many Thom Yorke, Fran Healy and Jeff Buckley comparisons--like those three singers, he makes very effective use of his falsetto. His voice just crackles with real emotion. They have a great tendency to pair rhythm acoustic and lead electric guitars, which produces a very specificly textured and meshed sound.

All the tracks on the album are worth a listen. Highlights include the sublime "Shiver" (truly swoon-worthy), "Yellow" (simply romantic), "Trouble," and the last track, "Everything's Not Lost."

Highly recommended to fans of Travis's "The Man Who" and Radiohead's "The Bends." Coldplay shares a general musical aesthetic with those two bands, but they also have their own sound and musical project. Listen to the sound clips, and you'll see how Coldplay is both familiar and unique. You won't be wasting your money if you pick this album up.

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I first bought this cd last summer because my friends and i enjoyed listening to "Yellow" after a crazy night of partying...I never thought i'd be purchasing a cd that would soon become one of my all-time favs. From start to finish its a very complete cd with many strong attributes and high points especially for a debut album. THe sky is the limit for Coldplay...heres a track by track analysis

1.Don't Panic 5/5 - beautiful two and half minute long intro song

8.High Speed 3/5 - decent song but u still couldnt come close to calling it filler

You may not agree but ive listened to Radiohead extensively and coldplay may be similar but they blow Radiohead away. "Parachutes" and "A Rush..." just did alot more for me then any of Radiohead's efforts.

Bottom line is...Go pick up this album

We are all used to hearing one band or other be touted as the "latest and greatest" thing on earth. The more you hear the use of the label, the less attention you tend to give. However, the English band Coldplay are much more than the moniker suggests.

With "Parachutes", Chris Martin and his bandmates prove to be more than a Radiohead wannabe. His voice only bears a passing resemblance to Thom Yorke's own. With songs like "Shiver" and "Yellow", he doesn't lose hope that his love will be returned....someday. "High Speed" and "Don't Panic" lets the listener in on the universal secret: Life can be made better.

Being an eager music fan, I know that there are always new bands coming out, and the inevitable comparisons will be made. With this CD, Coldplay show that they have a future. Run, don't walk, and pick up this CD. The mellow vibe on this album guarantees that you can pop this into your CD player, and flow along.

With the close of 2000 only a few days away, we take a look back at the music that really stood out this year. Well...ummmm...there really wasn't much to tell you the truth. American teens glued to MTV's TRL sat back and swallowed quickly-cliched, false-angst rap-rock and friendly bubble-gum pop. Radiohead released the excellent avant-garde "Kid A" but unfortunitly lost many fans because of their new sound. Eminem shocked audiences to the core with rhymes that make 2 Live Crew look like pre-schoolers.

And then there's Coldplay, one of the newest imports from the UK, and thankfully, they give people a wonderful close to an otherwise dissapointing year.

Although their sound is much a like "Bends"-era Radiohead and fellow Brit-rockers Travis, Stereophonics and Badly Drawn Boy, Coldplay is more apt to draw similarities to Jeff Buckley and accoustic Pink Floyd, with vocals that would make you think if Thom Yorke and Dave Matthews could somehow have a child together. Twenty-two year old vocalist Chris Martin conveys the emotions of a racked young adult trying to find meaning in a cruel and unknowing world. With lyrics like: "I awake to find some piece of mind/I said how do you live/As a fugitive," goes one song; "So I look in your direction/But you pay me no attention," goes another. Yet Martin and crew refuse to take you down a dark, brooding, depressing road, but instead, they fuse Martin's lyrics to beautiful melodies of slack guitars, wailing strings and sturdy beats.

The introduction song "Don't Panic" is an excellent example and sets the overall mood to the album. With its continuous beat and guitars that sound as if they were drifting along an ocean current, provided with Martin's intimate vocals, the song is as comforting as it is wandering, trying to find something better somewhere out there. The Jeff Buckley-esque "Shiver" continous that mood, shifting more emphasis on quick guitars and harder beats.

"Spies" is music that is pure atmosphere and haunting. With its wailing guitars, rolling keys and drums that come and go, the thin line between Radiohead and Coldplay are slightly blurred, yet don't somehow connect together. Thanks to Martin's lonely vocals set in the backdrop, you begin to realize that this band has a sound of its own right. With "Yellow," the band snaps out of its sour mood to wonder happily at the distant stars on a clear night.

If anything, Coldplay is excellent mood music coming out of the most cliched piece of rock: bass, guitar, drums, etc. But instead of making regular rock songs that grow tiring after two listenings (like the bland, tiring songs of the Counting Crows or Lenny Kravitz) Coldplay is embarking to experiment with their instruments, to see what kind of new sounds can come out of something played and worn out. As a result, the following music is for moods and scenery. It's the music for driving along the coast on a wintery day, (keep in mind I'm from Northern California) waiting to see what's going to be behind the next bend. It is simply 40 minutes of bliss.

Coldplay have a very bright future. With their originality and close lyrics to the heart, I'm sure that in future years you'll be hearing more from these guys. Afterall, Spin and Rolling Stone named it one of the best albums of the year.

Like many people I was totally blown away by the Coldcut single 'Yellow',which must rank as one of the singles of the year. If you like Radiohead or Jeff Buckley,than I'm sure you'll really enjoy this c.d.The music is fairly low-tempo,student art rock from the U.K.There are just ten tracks on the c.d. and none of the tracks could be described as album fillers.Unlike many groups this c.d. is just 41 minutes long-so listening to the whole c.d. isn't the sort of chore you have with so many rap artists,who make c.d.'s so long that it is really difficult to get familiar with the songs. Coldplay's sound is not very original and there are no surprises on the c.d.But the songs are strong enough to be compared with any group.The first song 'Don't Panic' is a gentle mid tempo song with excellent rhythm,be it drumming or guitar.The chorus tells of how 'We live in a beautiful world'which sets the mood of the album off on a cheerful note.It is this kind of sentiment which has had many people comparing Coldcut to Travis-I think the comparison is well justified.Track 2 'Shiver' is one of the highlights of the c.d.,it was an early single.It is driven by some excellent guitar.There is no doubt the lead vocalist has a voice of great versatility and range,but one of the few drawbacks is that he sometimes mimics Jeff Buckley.And on this song the resemblance is uncanny.I think his voice sounds better when he isn't being so clearly influenced by another vocalist.Track 3 'Spies' is a more sombre song,but is excellent.Initially driven by an acoustic guitar and a beautifully echoed electic guitar chord on the chorus.Track 4 'Sparks' could easily have been on the Travis c.d. The Man Who...It is another excellent acoustically driven song.Than we have the sublime love song 'Yellow'.'Trouble' sees Coldplay using a piano for the first song-Excellent vocals on the song and a real potential hit single.The title track only lasts for about 30 seconds and divides the c.d. for the closing 3 strongly Radiohead influenced songs.If Thom Yorke can produce 3 songs of similar quality on there next c.d. we'll be in for something special. Coldplay's c.d. is a must purchase c.d. for any one who likes some of the groups I mentioned during the review.I totally believe it will be a contender for any top 10 album of the year list come December.