Parachutes

Parachutes
Studio album by Coldplay
Released	July 10 2000 (UK) November 7, 2000 (U.S.)
Recorded	November 1999 – May 2000 at Orinoco Studios, London, England; Parr Street Studios, Liverpool, England Rockfield Studios, Monmouth, Wales Matrix Wessex Studios, London, England
Genre	Alternative rock, Piano Rock
Length	52:16
Label	Capitol Parlophone
Producer	Coldplay Ken Nelson Chris Allison (track 8 only)
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link NME (9/10) link Pitchfork Media (5.3/10) link Q Robert Christgau link Rolling Stone 10/3/2000 Stylus C link
Coldplay chronology
Brothers & Sisters EP (1999) Parachutes (2000) Trouble Live EP (2001)
Singles from Parachutes
"Shiver" Released: March 6, 2000 "Yellow" Released: June 26, 2000 "Trouble" Released: October 26, 2000 "Don't Panic" Released: August 27, 2001

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., making it the only Coldplay album to have a delayed release in America. 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 fifty-one on the Billboard 200, eventually selling over two million copies. 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. Still, 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]

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.

Track listing

All songs written by Berryman, Buckland, Champion and Martin.

1. "Don't Panic" – 2:17
2. "Shiver" – 4:59
3. "Spies" – 5:18
4. "Sparks" – 3:47
5. "Yellow" – 4:29
6. "Trouble" – 4:30
7. "Parachutes" – 0:46
8. "High Speed" – 4:14
9. "We Never Change" – 4:09
10. "Everything's Not Lost" – 7:15
    • "Life Is for Living" (hidden track starting at 5:39)
11. "Careful Where You Stand" (Japanese bonus track) – 4:45
12. "For You" (Japanese bonus track) – 5:42

Certifications, peaks and sales

Awards

Release details

The album was released in various countries.

References

External links

• Lyrics