X&Y: Difference between revisions

Untitled

X&Y is the third album by English rock band Coldplay, released in England on June 6, 2005 and in North America on June 7. It was preceded by the single "Speed of Sound", which peaked at #2 on the UK Singles Chart and #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The album debuted at the top of the UK album chart, moving 464,471 units in its first week. Its first-week success put it second behind only Oasis' Be Here Now, which moved 695,761 units in its 1997 release. It also became the band's first U.S. chart-topper, selling 737,000 units in its first week of release. X&Y was the best-selling album worldwide in 2005, according to the IFPI; it shifted 8.3 million units during the year.

X&Y is influenced by European electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk, as well as 1970s electronica from the likes of David Bowie and Brian Eno. Coldplay received permission from Kraftwerk to use the main riff from "Computer Love" for the track "Talk", while Eno played backing synthesizer on the track "Low". The album's final track, "'Til Kingdom Come", was originally written by the band to be recorded by Johnny Cash, but Cash passed away before he could record the song.

Album details

According to lead singer Chris Martin, the title X&Y is based on the ups and downs of his everyday life. Martin says "My whole day is a mixture of optimism and pessimism in its most extreme forms. And that’s what X&Y is to me. It’s two sides. I like the fact they’re very strong letters, very clear." Prior to the release, Zero Theory was one of the many widely rumoured titles to the album.

The album's cryptic cover art was designed by Tappin Gofton (aka Mark Tappin and Simon Gofton), who created the cover for The Chemical Brothers' latest release, Push the Button. The blocks are the Baudot code-encoding (ITA2, a 5-bit alphanumeric encoding used by telegraphs) of the title of the album, X&Y (although due to an error in the coding process, the cover code actually translates as "X96"); the colours are just for aesthetics and have no specific meaning (though Chris Martin sometimes wears coloured tape on his hands while on stage, as a reference to the album). The CD booklet contains the ITA2-encoded alphabet, presented with the X&Y colour motif. The final page of the booklet contains the slogan "Make Trade Fair", using the same encoded alphabet.

Critical reaction

The album's reviews were fairly warm upon release, but certain critics, specifically from Rolling Stone, Mojo, The New York Times and Pitchfork Media, consider it below par, given the high standard set by A Rush Of Blood To The Head, X&Y's 2002 predecessor. Coldplay has also received some criticism for the similarities between the lead single "Speed Of Sound" and the Grammy-winning "Clocks". Others have noted the striking U2 similarities heard throughout the album.

Track listing

All songs written by Berryman/Buckland/Champion/Martin, except where noted.

1. "Square One" – 4:47
2. "What If" – 4:57
3. "White Shadows" – 5:28
4. "Fix You" – 4:55
5. "Talk" (Berryman/Buckland/Champion/Martin/Hütter/Bartos/Schult) – 5:11
6. "X&Y" – 4:34
7. "Speed of Sound" – 4:48
8. "A Message" – 4:45
9. "Low" – 5:32
10. "The Hardest Part" – 4:25
11. "Swallowed in the Sea" – 3:59
12. "Twisted Logic" – 5:01, actual song ends at 4:26, followed by silence
13. "'Til Kingdom Come" – 4:10

Trivia

• The album's lead single, "Speed of Sound", was beaten to the top spot on the UK Singles Chart by the novelty song "Axel F" by the Crazy Frog.

• The album is dedicated to "BWP", which stands for Bruce W. Paltrow, the late father of actress Gwyneth Paltrow, the wife of singer Chris Martin.

Release details

Country	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
Japan	1 June 2005	Toshiba-EMI	CD	TOCP 66370
Taiwan	3 June 2005	Toshiba-EMI	CD	094631128028
United Kingdom	6 June 2005	Parlophone	2LP	4747861
			CD	4747862
United States	7 June 2005	Capitol	CD	CDP 7243 4 74786 2 8

Awards

Year	Award	Category
2005	Q Awards	Album of the Year
2006	Brit Awards	Best British Album
2006	Juno Awards	International Album of the Year *

* tied with Black Eyed Peas' Monkey Business

External links

• X&Y information page at Coldplaying.com
• XFM Album Playback with Chris Martin and Johnny Buckland