Parachutes
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| Parachutes | |||||
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| Studio album by Coldplay | |||||
| Released | July 10, 2000 (see release details) |
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| Recorded | November 1999 – May 2000 at Orinoco Studios, London, England; Parr Street Studios, Liverpool, England Rockfield Studios, Monmouth, Wales Matrix Wessex Studios, London, England |
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| Genre | Alternative rock, Piano Rock | ||||
| Length | 52:16 | ||||
| Label | Capitol Parlophone EMI |
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| Producer | Coldplay Ken Nelson Chris Allison (track 8 only) |
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| Professional reviews | |||||
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| Coldplay chronology | |||||
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| Singles from Parachutes | |||||
Parachutes is the debut album by English rock band Coldplay, released on July 10, 2000 in the UK and on November 7 in the U.S.. Parachutes quickly shot to number one in the United Kingdom, staying in the top ten for thirty-three weeks.
The album produced four hit singles: "Shiver", "Yellow", "Trouble", and "Don't Panic". In the United States, the album peaked at only fifty-one on the Billboard 200 yet, it still managed to sell over two million copies within a year.
Parachutes was placed #14 in Channel 4's 100 greatest albums of all time. In 2006 the album was placed #33 in NME's 100 greatest British albums. Despite the album's critical and commercial success, Chris Martin said that Coldplay looks beyond Parachutes. "We know that's terrible music," he said, "and we always try to think about what we can do next."[1]
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[edit] Album information
Most of the album was recorded at Liverpool's Parr Street Studios, with a total of nine to ten weeks of actual recording, interrupted by two mini-tours. However, "High Speed" was recorded with interim producer Chris Allison over Summer 1999 at Orinoco Studios, London.[2]
Parachutes was recognized to have an alternative rock sound similar to alt-rock band Radiohead in their The Bends-OK Computer era. In fact, it has been suggested that the album's commercial success was due in part to a portion of Radiohead's audience being alienated by the band's experimental and more electronic-influenced Kid A album.[3][4]
Lush and often quiet, the music in Parachutes is quite removed from the pop/rock anthems that would dominate Coldplay's later works, especially X&Y. The folksy, easy listening feel of the album is the only one of its kind in the band's discography, and most songs here, such as "High Speed", "We Never Change" and the title track, are driven by acoustic guitars, subtly layered electric parts, and delicate piano melodies. More upbeat tracks like "Shiver" and "Yellow" employ louder guitar riffs, albeit never entering the genre of 'hard rock'. This proved to be rather novel at its time, as the British music scene was just emerging from the 90's, wherein the crunching guitar songs of bands such as Oasis reigned. However, the highest selling UK album of the previous year had been The Man Who, by the Scottish rock band Travis. Coldplay was seen to benefit from the path Travis had paved, subsequently eclipsing the band in popularity.
The album's third track "Spies" drew some attention from the Chinese government, who interpreted it as an anti-Communist song. This led to the album being banned in the country. Guitarist Jon Buckland comments, "We've been banned in China because of the song 'Spies'. Very strange."[5]
The song "Sparks" was featured in the 2005 film Wedding Crashers.
The album's cover features a photograph of a globe personally taken by the band with a disposable Kodak camera. The globe had been purchased from W H Smith for £10; it was featured in the "Shiver" and "Don't Panic" music videos, and also accompanied the band on their tours.[6]
The album was dedicated to drummer Will Champion's mother, Dr. Sara Champion, who died of cancer in 2001.
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by Berryman, Buckland, Champion and Martin.
- "Don't Panic" – 2:17
- "Shiver" – 4:59
- "Spies" – 5:18
- "Sparks" – 3:47
- "Yellow" – 4:29
- "Trouble" – 4:30
- "Parachutes" – 0:46
- "High Speed" – 4:14
- "We Never Change" – 4:09
- "Everything's Not Lost" – 7:15
- "Life Is for Living" – 1:36 [hidden song starting at 5:39]
Bonus tracks on Japanese release:
- "Careful Where You Stand" – 4:45
- "For You" – 5:42
[edit] Certifications
| Country | Peak position | Certification (if any) | Sales/shipments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 2 (4 weeks) | 3x Platinum[7] | 210,000+ |
| Canada | 2x Platinum[8] | 200,000+ | |
| France | 31 | 2x Gold[9] | 200,000+ |
| Germany | 54 | Gold[10] | 150,000+ |
| New Zealand | 4 | 2x Platinum[11] | 30,000+ |
| United Kingdom | 1 (1 week) | 7x Platinum[12] | 2,100,000+ |
| United States | 51 | 2x Platinum[13] | 2,700,000+[14] |
| Worldwide | - | 8,000,000+ |
[edit] Awards
| Year | Award | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Q Awards | Best Album |
| 2001 | BRIT Awards | Best British Album |
| 2002 | Grammy Awards | Best Alternative Music Album |
[edit] Release details
The album was released in various countries.
| Country | Date | Label | Format | Catalogue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | July 10, 2000 | Parlophone | LP | 527 7831 |
| Cassette | 527 7834 | |||
| CD | 527 7832 | |||
| Japan | August 9, 2000 | Toshiba-EMI | CD | TOCP 65472 |
| Canada | September 19, 2000 | Parlophone | CD | 7243 5 27783 2 4 |
| United States | November 7, 2000 | Capitol | Cassette | 0 6700 30162 |
| CD | 0 6700 30162 2 3 |
[edit] References
- ^ Coldplay's Martin lobbies for fair trade. USAToday.com (13 July 2006). Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
- ^ Ken Nelson on recording Parachutes [1]
- ^ nMusic Review - Parachutes[http://www.2walls.com/REVIEWS/MUSIC/coldplay.asp
- ^ Music For Late Night Retrospection[2]
- ^ Jon Buckland. Bernie's Coldplay Site. Retrieved on 2006-12-18.
- ^ Roach, Martin (2003). Coldplay: Nobody Said It Was Easy. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-9810-8.
- ^ CAPIF
- ^ CRIA
- ^ Disque En France
- ^ IFPI Germany
- ^ RIANZ – November 25th, 2001
- ^ BPI
- ^ Billboard Magazine – “Coldplay’s ‘X&Y’ notches Double Platinum”
- ^ "Ask Billboard"
[edit] External links
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