"Parachutes by Coldplay is a great record" is a hill I'll die on. It's easy to look back on this through the lens of how lame their subsequent records are, or how cringe Chris Martin is as a person, or to pass judgment on the entire album based on their first hit, "Yellow," for which the color variant of this 20th anniversary reissue takes its inspiration somewhat lazily. In actuality, Coldplay broke out in 2000 with a moody, dreary pop sound that was also catchy, offering a more digestible counterpoint to the art school pretense of R*diohead. Or perhaps I was just in the unique position of having the chance to hear the full CD in a friend's car before "Yellow" wore out its welcome (I think I skipped it on first listen anyway). Listening to the downcast mope-rock exemplified on tunes like "Don't Panic," "Sparks," "Trouble," "High Speed" or "Parachutes," it's impossible to imagine these blokes ever aspiring for the charts, The Chainsmokers, or Gwyneth Paltrow. Simpler times.

• 180g yellow colored vinyl
• 20th anniversary edition
• printed inner sleeve
• includes hidden track 'Life Is For Living' (not mentioned in tracklist)
• music label: Parlophone 2020

reviewed by departmental dan 11/2020