"Parachutes" is the
debut album by UK alternative rock band Coldplay and was released back in July
2000. The album was the first step in making Coldplay one of the biggest
bands of the 21st century. This album won both a Grammy, a brit award and
has gone 9 times platinum in the UK at time of writing.
But what was the key ingredient
that made this album such a success? Well although this is a strong 10
track album. There are always songs on albums which stand out and maybe
one which is a trigger for amassing, in this case, fans in their
millions. That song was "Yellow". A singalong anthem
which an infectious riff. This is a joyous song from start to
finish. To date Coldplay have released 8 studio albums and the only
mainstay in their live setlist from "Parachutes" is
"Yellow". Sure the likes of "Trouble" and
"Shiver" get played every now and then. But "Yellow" is the
one which they just can't drop.
I think there are a few reasons
for this and let me just say it is not because "Parachutes" is a bad
album by any stretch. It's just the venues that Coldplay play now are way
bigger now and I don't think most songs on here are suited to headline festival
slots or stadium gigs. Half of "Parachutes" is like an acoustic
album with the likes of "Sparks", "Don't Panic" and the
short title track "Parachutes". Another reason these songs have
disappeared from the live set is that you just have to look at the standard of
songs Coldplay have gone on to produce. Not only that but I would say the
songs on later albums sound bigger and are more feel-good songs. Whereas the
songs on Parachutes can be quite understated and downbeat.
One song which has disappeared
from their live set but perhaps didn't deserve to be is the closing track of
the album "Everything’s not lost". This is a hugely relatable
song to pretty much anyone who has gone through a tough time at some point in
their life. It's a piano ballad with an absolutely mesmerising bridge,
with a fine guitar section and another sing along chorus. This is
probably my favourite song on the album, followed closely by "Yellow"
and then "Shiver".
Overall, while
"Parachutes" is not my favourite Coldplay album. It is still a
great album and well and truly got the attention it deserved at the time as
well as today. They could have easily become a one hit wonder with
"Yellow". But in 2021 they have proven time and time again that this
is not the case one bit.
Yonaka are a British rock
band based in Brighton consisting of Theresa Jarvis on vocals, George Edwards
on guitar, Alex Crosby on bass and keyboard and Robert Mason on drums.
They released their debut album "Don't wait 'til tomorrow" in 2019
and have been releasing singles off "Seize the power" this year in
the run up to the release of this project. I say project because although
all songs at the very least feature Yonaka. Rather than calling this an EP or
an album, they are calling this 8 track release a mix tape. Which to be
honest confuses me a bit, so I will tackle why first.
When I was younger, I used to
always make mixtapes and they consisted of my favourite songs recording them
onto blank cassettes. First point of confusion Yonaka here are on every
track with a few guests coming in and contributing to a couple of songs.
So, I decided to look up why some artists choose to call their releases
mixtapes and found that this is generally something rappers do.
From www.complex.com "it sends a signal to the fans and press to
bring a different set of expectations, and to lower the pressure a little
bit". Ok so maybe this release is a departure from their first album
but still a bit confusing. How many artists have changed their sound from album
to album? Answer: a lot!
But I would guess the reason
for calling it a mixtape is because although they songs have that common theme
running through the lyrics. The tracks themselves are different. If
I'm honest I don’t think they had to do this, look at albums like
"amo" by Bring me the Horizon or the latest Wolf Alice album
"Blue Weekend". Both these albums are so diverse, and I bet the
artists didn't even think about calling it a mixtape. What I am saying is
there is nothing wrong with artists coming out with diverse albums.
Especially when the content of the record is as good as what Yonaka have
produced here.
The record starts with
"Ordinary" which was the first track I heard by Yonaka and is an absolutely,
all out banger of a rock song. I love the way the song builds up and Theresa’s
voice sores in the choruses. It's completely majestic. This has my
vote for one of the tracks of the year. Obviously, this track made me
investigate the band further and I found more and more they are not just one
hit wonders. Title track "Seize the power" sees Theresa's
vocals delivered with more attitude at points mixed with more straight forward
vocals. It's almost like mixing Rage against the machine with Lady
Gaga. No bad thing and the end result is something fresh.
The way I see this release it
feels like different stages of anger throughout. The most ferocious of
all being, "Clique" which features Fever333. The swearing and aggression
of this track are unreal and not for the faint hearted or easily
offended. Again, that Rage against the machine influence come in.
Then in stark contrast to that "Anthem" which closes out the record
is a piano ballad finishing off with a string sectioned outro. Theresa
shows off her incredible range in this song and the band show off their musical
flexibility. "Call me a saint" and "Raise your glass"
also great tracks and "Greedy" and "Get out" certainly
fit nicely onto the record and far from reduce the quality of the output.
Overall, this is an enjoyable
record. I would have loved for it to be a full album (10 tracks plus) but
at the same time I'm just grateful this music is out there in the world.
Probably one of my favourite bands which I have only discovered this
year. It will be interesting to see if the next proper album will feature
any of these songs or if they are working on completely fresh output for their
2nd album proper.
A Rush of Blood to the
Head" is the second album by UK indie rock outfit Coldplay. The
album came out in 2002 meaning next year will be the albums 20th anniversary.
Since bands these days seem to celebrate an album, they made every year you do
wonder if Coldplay will follow suit with arguably one of the best albums in
their catalogue. Which is saying a lot. They are still going strong in 2021
having released 8 studio albums and toured the world many, many times over.
They are in the process of getting the new album ready for action with the
single "Higher Power" already out in the world.
But "A Rush of Blood to
the Head" will always be a special album for me. I would have been 18 when
it came out and while I liked their debut album "Parachutes".
"Rush of the Blood" was the album that really made me appreciate
Coldplay and started a journey which would be one of the few bands I would
really follow from early 2000s right through to present day. This was for
various reasons, several of the bands I was into back then split up after a few
albums. Some I felt the quality of their material diminished over time.
Also, my music taste has changed quite a bit over the years. But Coldplay has
always been a mainstay for me, and "Rush of Blood" was one of the
reasons why.
The album starts off with
"Polotik" with Chirs Martin on piano. But this is far from a piano
ballad. The intro will go right through you. It’s hard hitting, upbeat
and such a great way to start the album. But there is a beautiful moment
in this song as well where there is a softer section during the bridge where
Martin sings "And give me love over, love over this". Such a tender
moment where Martin hits the spot vocally, perfectly. This is followed by
"In my place" which was the lead single off the album. I always
thought, although it was an ok song. This was for me, the weakest song on the
album. It just felt so ordinary and nothing special about it. Hearing it
live it is better as it is a good sing along song that everyone knows the words
to.
Third track is the title track
"God put a smile upon my face". This is an unbelievably good
feel-good track. From the intro of the track with the acoustic guitar,
then when Martin comes in with "Where do we go nobody knows".
Then Buckland comes in with the electric guitar. It feels like the album
is riding of a high wave really from the outset. Until fourth track
"The Scientist" comes along and slows things right down. This
is a track which still gets played live today. The video for this is infamous
as it starts off you see Martin and the girl he is with have been involved in a
car crash and the video basically in rewind mode throughout showing you what
happened in reverse. A beautiful track.
Track 5 is "Clocks"
which turns things up a notch again. This is an absolute banger which I
closely compared to "Polotik" as it’s a piano stomper too. Both
great tracks but I think "Clocks" edges it for me. The lights when
you see "Clocks" live transform the song. "Daylight"
continues the upbeat trend, but I think is the first track up until this
point you could really call an album track rather than a single. As I
think tracks 1-5 all had some sort of mainstay in either live sets or being
released as singles. But "Daylight" does deserve a bit of love too
because I think if another band wrote this song, they would have released it as
a single. It's catchy and has a great chorus.
Tracks 7 and 8 I always feel go
together so well and I did used to spend a lot of time focusing on these songs
in the years after the album’s release. These were "Green eyes"
and "Warning sign". These aren't your big anthems which will
have people singing at the top of their lungs. They are almost like the modest,
humble tracks on the album. "Green eyes" is an acoustic number which
chirps away nicely. "Warning Sign" has some amazing lyrics
which are so powerful as Martin sings "That you were an
island, and I passed you by, And you were an island to
discover". I find Martin's lyrics so imaginative and relatable and
that is up there with my favourites of his.
9th track "A Whisper" I would pair off with
"Daylight". Back to the upbeat tracks and feel-good moments of
the album. The penultimate track is the title track, "A rush of
blood to the head" is also the longest track on the album sitting at 5
minutes 51 seconds. Surprisingly though there are 6 tracks on the
album that are longer than 5 minutes which I never realised. "Rush of
blood" though as Martin once again takes us through a lyrical masterclass
where your taken along the journey in such a magical song. Lines like "I'm
gonna buy a gun and start a war, if you can tell me something worth fighting
for". It's a slower moving song which has some nice building moments
moving the song into epic status.
But how do you top the title track and close out an album?
Well you write a song called "Amsterdam". This is one of
favourite Coldplay tracks of all time and would probably get in my top 10
tracks by any artist. I always thought this track didn't get enough love.
It's a track which has disappeared from Coldplay's setlists really from when
they toured this album. It wasn't until I was watching a Rick Beato video
recently where he dissected this track where I found someone that appreciates
this track as much as I do. It is a slow piano ballad where the structure
of the song and change in tempo during it makes it just so, so good.
The fact that I have only really criticised one track and I
would say I did that lightly shows just how good I think this album is and I
really feel it has stood the test of time and become an all-time classic
album. Not every album Coldplay has done has hit that mark since. They
have certainly written individual songs which are on the same level but as an
album it is hard to beat.
Normallly I would link a coldplay you tube video but I have to link Rick Beato's video about "Amsterdam". Litrally couldn't have said it better myself!
"Departure
Tapes" is the 2nd solo album by Nosound frontman and multi-instrumentalist
Giancarlo Erra. This album was made in a difficult time in Giancarolo's
life as his Dad passed away. There is a note in the CD which says,
"Dad this album is for you: it was a rough and bumpy ride for the two of
us, but it was well worth it". One of the tracks on the album is
also called "A Blues for my father". Now no matter what you
think of the album, I think Giancarlo did the absolute right thing in making
the album when he did. We all go through difficult times in our lives but
sometimes the best way to deal with these times is to channel you are energy
into something you love doing, regardless of the finished result.
It just so happens
that in this occasion the results are quite spectacular. I got into
Nosound around 2017 and instantly bought their back catalogue. They are a
band which have developed and progressed over time. "Scintilla"
and particularly their latest album "Allow Yourself" taking some
risks in the direction of their music, experimenting with strings and in the
latter keyboards. In 2019, Giancarlo Erra released his first solo album
"Ends". Unlike Nosound this was a purely instrumental album
that I struggled to get into at the time.
When the first
"single" from "Departure Tapes" came out it was the self-titled
track. The edited track comes in at 7 minutes. I listened to it a few
times and like "Ends" it didn't really grab me at all so I didn't
bother listening to the other couple of singles before the album release.
When I did first listen to the album though the story was much different.
This is when I found that the title track was actually a masterpiece sitting at
16 minutes long. I must have listened to it at least 5 times now and this track,
like the rest of the tracks pass by so quickly. Which is a very good thing for
an album as it is a difficult thing to achieve with albums with longer tracks
on it.
The album is made up
of 6 tracks of varying lengths. You have "Dawn tapes" sitting
at 6 minutes, "Previous tape" and "169th tape" sitting at
2-3 minutes and then "A Blues for my father" and "Unwound
tape" coming in around 7-8 minutes. Not surprisingly the general
mood of the album is more ambient and atmospheric than "Ends".
There are some more upbeat moments like in "Unwound tape" which takes
me back to some of the tracks in "Allow yourself" by Nosound.
But this time Giancarlo has fleshed out the ideas a lot more. As the
tracks on Allow yourself were a lot more short and to the point and of course
with vocals.
I have gone back and
listened to "Ends", Giancarlo's first album in the build up to this
release and it is a lot better album than I remembered. Perhaps at the time I
wasn't giving it the attention it deserved. I do think though that
"Ends" is a better starting point than "Departure Tapes" if
you are listening to Giancarlo Erra for the first time. To me it is more
accessible. The differences between "Ends" and
"Departure Tapes" are quite stark and shows a man who is continuously
pushing his creative boundaries. In "Ends" he brought in a
string section which was used in many of the tracks. While in this
record, although there are still some strings they are not nearly as
prominent. The piano, keyboards, synthesisers and other electronics
and programming are more prominent though and are the foundations to the album.
Overall, this is a
great album that I think really needs to be listened to as a whole entity
rather than individual tracks. It's like a water colour painting. If you
divided the water colour painting into different sections and only looked at
one section at a time, you are not getting the full picture and more often than
not, you wouldn't appreciate it. For me this happened with the edited
version of the title track and when I sat back and listened to the full thing,
I appreciated it a lot more. Although I realise it may be a quandary for
artists as you can't really release a 16 minute track as a single to promote
it.
Mammoth WVH is the
self-titled debut album by Mammoth WVH. The band consists of one member -
Wolfgang Van Halen (hence the WVH) who plays all the instruments on the record.
So, vocals, guitar, drums and bass. Bit like Dave Grohl did on the first
Foo Fighters record. Although this is Wolfgang's first album with his
band; Previously he appeared on a Van Halen album "A different kind of
Truth" in 2011 on bass as well as playing bass with Van Halen on
tour. He has also played bass on tour with Tremonti. So, he has had
plenty of time learning and honing his skills with people and bands who in Van
Halen's case are a huge band and in Tremonti's case, he shared the stage with
arguably one of the most talented guitarists in his generation (Mark Tremonti). This album has been 6
years in the making as Wolfgang started to record the album in 2015 and
finished it in 2019. But at the same time, he was playing with Van Halen until
the band disbanded in 2020 due to his Dad's death. Later in 2020 the
first single was released from this album called "Distance". I
caught on to this track as it came out and really was impressed with it.
The vocals and the guitar were amazing. Such a sweeping, anthemic
song. Ever since its release Wolfgang has had to face comparisons to his dad
and he reacts to those people quite publicly on social media. But as the
singles came out such as "You're to blame" and "Think it
over" it was clear to me that Wolfgang was doing his own thing here.
I do think the likes of his dad and Mark Tremonti were influences not
surprisingly having toured, recorded with those bands. But everyone has
their influences. So, I was quite
excited for this album coming out. I have now listened to the album
through 4 or 5 times and I am left slightly disappointed with it. There is
no doubt to me that the songs are good, and Wolfgang deserves to be talked
about in his own right. He deserves his place in the spotlight rather than "Being the guy who had a famous Dad". But the
reason I am slightly disappointed is not because the songs aren't good, it's
just they all sound the same. They all seem to follow the same
formula. With the singing, all the vocals are delivered in the same
way. Sure, the guitar work shows off his potential and there are some
nice solos on here. But more variety would be welcome. And I don't mean
he needs to go off genre hoping between songs like Wolf Alice. When I
listen to albums this year by the likes of the Foo Fighters, The Offspring,
Greta Van Fleet, Royal Blood and Mason Hill etc. These albums offer
so much more in terms of pace and temp changes and really taking you on a
journey.
Overall, I say this
is not a bad album by any means. But for me it's too much of the same. I
really think Wolfgang would benefit getting more band members to help him out
to be more creative in the song writing department. But listening to the
singles as one-off songs its clear he is very talented and has an exciting
future ahead of him.
Although I saw Wolf Alice support the Foo Fighters a few years
ago, it wasn’t until the second single from the band’s 3rd album
came out that I really stood up and paid attention to them. That single is
called “Smile” and is an absolute beast of song which is so much fun. From the
bass intro to the absolute monster riff which comes between the punchy versus
delivered with attitude with Ellie’s vocals. Then you have the soaring chorus
which in complete contrast is almost angelic.
Such a fantastic song and this really drew me into the band.
From listening to that song, I went back and listened to the
first song released from the album which was “The Last man on earth”. This is not only completely different to “Smile”;
but on further inspection compared to their first 2 albums “My Love is Cool”
and “Visions of a Life”. This song is different to anything they have done
before. Really it is a piano ballad.
What impresses me the most about this is the fact that it is the first
time they have used the piano so dominantly in a song, and not only is it good
enough to be put on the album. But it is so good that they release it as the
first single. The way the song builds up
throughout is on point, the strings are amazing and once again Ellie’s vocals
are fantastic.
From here 3rd single “No hard feelings” takes the
band in yet another direction with an acoustic ballad “No hard feelings” which
feels miles away from “Smile” and “The Last Man on earth” showing off the sheer
versatility of the band like never before. The last track to be released before
the album came out was “How Can I make it ok?” another great track with a synth
led intro. There are moments in this
which remind me of Haim in the style of which Ellie sings some of the vocals.
But this is only parts of the song. It
really is the biggest compliment to Haim to have a band in the 2010s who are
influencing bands like Wolf Alice. Wolf
Alice are by no means ripping Haim off here. It’s almost doing these style of
vocals certain parts as a respect to their peers.
Yet another great song but how do all these songs fit on an
album? I must admit I found the first
few listens of “Blue Weekend” quite difficult. Maybe because I was doing other
things at the time so wasn’t absolutely fully focused. But it did seem to jump about a bit in terms
of tempo and pace. But after listening
more it’s something I am getting used to and starting to appreciate more. The diversity of the songs is really
something to behold on this album. “Feeling
Myself” is quite stripped back and the drums in the core of the song remind me
of Massive Attack’s “Teardrop”. “Safe
from Heartbreak” is a wonderful acoustic track where Ellie’s vocals have an Abba
type feel to them which is never a bad thing.
The intro song “The Beach” and outro song “The Beach II”
didn’t really hit for me initially. I was looking to see if they connected in
anyway apart from the title of the tracks.
Musically it doesn’t really feel like it and seems that they are more
connected lyrically. The intro is
growing on me though and I do like the way it builds up. When thinking of track placement though I can’t
help but think that due to the sheer epicness of “The last man on earth” maybe
that should have been either the first or last track. Bands normally put their best tracks in
prominent places on the album but “The Last man on earth” is track 9 which
would normal be a place for an album track that sneaked onto the album. But I
guess that this shows the sheer strength of the album.
Elsewhere on the album “Play the Greatest Hits” is another great
and fun song. Without doubt the heaviest
song on the album. And when you look at
the album, it is really this song and “Smile” are the only really heavy moments
on the album. But I can imagine “Play the Greatest Hits” would really go down a
storm live as you can really bounce around to it in totally care free way. This leaves “Delicious things” and “Lipstick
on the glass” as the 2 tracks left I haven’t talked about. Certainly, gentler songs sitting at tracks 2
and 3. But still just as epic as the rest
of the songs on the album.
And overall, what an absolute corker of an album this really
is. It’s taken many listens now to fully
appreciate it as I did the singles that led up to the release. The London based band for me have delivered an
album which could put them further into the big time than they already are. Already
set for a headline appearance at Latitude festival you would think and hope it’s
the first of many headline sets. Also, it
feels like the song “Play the Greatest Hits” could become ironic. As over 3
albums now, unlike many bands, they have enough amazing songs already to form a
greatest hits album. But let’s hope it’s not and they keep this hot streak they
are on going into album number 4. But
for now, we have plenty to sink our teeth into with this.
"My Love is Cool" is
the debut album by London indie rockers Wolf Alice. Wolf Alice formed in
2010, while this album came out in 2015. They are a band I have always
been aware of and back in 2018 I did see them when they supported the Foo
Fighters. Here is an extract of the live review I did for that gig
talking about their performance: "They do seem like a hype band amongst
the alternative music press. Personally, I didn't think the sound setup was
that good for them which didn't do them any favours. They were ok but I can't
see myself investigating their stuff any further. ". And I
didn't investigate them any further. Well, that's up until a month ago when I
heard their single from their up-and-coming 3rd album "Blue weekend"
and the track "Smile". This pulled me in and before long I
ordered their first 2 albums. And for the last month I have been
listening to Wolf Alice more than any other band.
The first song I want to talk
about off "My Love is Cool" is 3rd track off the album "Your
Loves Whore". This song is 4 minutes and 57 seconds long. But it
feels like there is a million and one different ideas crammed into the one
song. And somehow, they have crafted it in a way that not only does it
make sense but it is an absolute masterpiece of indie rock gold. They
have played about with the song structure the way the likes of Biffy Clyro do
but in their own way. Those effective pauses through the versus and
towards the end of the song Ellies vocals which feel like they are more
carefree are some of my favourite moments from the track. Another is just
how pronounced the bass is. Often the bass is there just to glue the song
together and you don't really notice it. But here Wolf Alice use it and
it often can be seen in the foreground of the song which gives them another
outlet.
While "Your Loves
Whore" is my favourite song off the album, this is an album that I am
enjoying immensely. And seeing that the album has been certified gold in
the UK and reached number 2 in the charts in the UK it is clear other folk do
agree. It is quite a diverse album too. "Giant Peach" for
example is one of the heavier tracks on the album and has more of a punky,
carefree kind of feel to it. While "Swallowed Tail" has
drummer, Joel Amey take up lead vocals, giving Ellie a rest. This track
is a slower downbeat track which has a false ending before kicking in with a splendid
outro to the track. The likes of "Silk" and "Bros"
are great singles. "Fluffy" and "Freazy" feel like
sister tracks.
In all, I got it wrong with Wolf
Alice, this is not a hype band. This is the real band. They have a great
vocalist in Ellie Rowsell. Their songs can be complicated when you investigate
them but on the surface, they are outstandingly brilliant. I now can't wait for
their 3rd album "Blue Weekend" to come out and looking forward to getting
my teeth sunk into 2nd album "Visions of a life" a bit more too.
