A Rush of Blood to the Head is the second studio album by Coldplay. It was released by Parlophone Records on 26 August 2002 in the United Kingdom and a day later by Capitol Records in the United States. Produced by the band and Ken Nelson, it was recorded after the band gained popularity with their debut album Parachutes (2000), particularly the single "Yellow", which achieved extreme airplay worldwide.[1] With A Rush of Blood to the Head, Coldplay made greater use of the piano and guitar, while also incorporating darker lyrics than its predecessor.
Upon release, the album became a commercial success, reaching No. 1 in the UK, while charting No. 5 in the US. Four songs were released as singles; "In My Place", "The Scientist", and "Clocks" became hits and achieved heavy airplay, while "God Put a Smile upon Your Face" earned moderate success. Critically, writers and reviewers were highly positive towards A Rush of Blood to the Head.
The album remains as Coldplay's most successful, receiving numerous record certifications from multiple regions. It has since sold 15 million copies worldwide.[2]
Background[]
After Coldplay attained huge success with their debut album Parachutes, the band embarked on a lengthy tour (called the Parachutes Tour) to promote the album, spanning from late 2000 to 2001. In that same period, Lead singer Chris Martin had written a handful of songs in his free time, the group started recording in a studio at London in September 2001, but later relocated to Liverpool, where they recorded their debut album.[3] Coldplay only stopped during the last remaining shows of the Parachutes Tour. In 2002, the band resumed recording.
Creation[]
The group initially struggled to make progress, due to exhaustion experienced by the members. The first song that was recorded was "In My Place". After finishing the song, Coldplay were somewhat revitalized, and the group had a renewed sense of making songs again; At one point, in fact, Chris Martin confessed that they "became obsessed of recording".[3] "In My Place" was eventually released as the lead single of the album, as it gave them motivation to record their second LP.
The opening track to A Rush of Blood to the Head, "Politik", was recorded two days after the September 11 attacks in 2001. According to an interview with Chris Martin: "I wrote the song on 9/11 and we recorded it on 9/13. We were all, like everyone else, I suppose, a little confused and frightened. I get off tour and had a rest for one or two days. But then I get antsy again. I want to write songs and do things, 'cause you never know what might happen."[4]
The band had written more than 20 songs for the album, notably "In My Place" and "Animals", which were played during the Parachutes Tour.[1] With A Rush of Blood to the Head almost completed, Martin entered the studio during one night, and played a piano riff which he had recently composed. This riff would later be developed into "Clocks". Thinking it was too late to include the track on the album, they recorded a demo version of it and put inside a CD, along with other unrefined tracks. The CD was marked as "Songs for #3" (songs intended to be recorded for their third studio album).[5]
By June 2002, Coldplay had completed A Rush of Blood to the Head, but thought their output had sounded terrible. Due to this, the band agreed with Parlophone Records to postpone the album's release until they were completely satisfied.[5] Afterwards, many songs were discarded due to them having the style of Parachutes, which Chris Martin found dull: ""It would have shown that we're happy to sit back on what we'd done, and we're not. For us, it was important to progress and try to improve upon our abilities as musicians."[6]
After participating in the Glastonbury Festival, Coldplay returned to the studio and worked on some tracks from the "Songs for #3" CD they had produced earlier. Upon hearing "Clocks", Band manager Phil Harvey urged the band to record the track immediately: "No, you must do that song now 'cause you're going on [in the lyrics] about urgency, and you're talking about keeping this song back. That doesn't make sense."[7]
Album cover[]
The album cover for A Rush of Blood to the Head was designed by Norwegian photographer Sølve Sundsbø.[8] It features a grey and incomplete 3-D rendering of a woman's shoulder and head in a white background; It features distortions which create the appearance of spike-like points coming from the neck and hair. The image was was likened by the editor for the magazine that Sundsbø worked for, and it was eventually featured in a publication. Seeing the image on a magazine, Chris Martin approached Sundsbø for proper permission to use the photo for the cover of A Rush of Blood to the Head. For the album's singles, Martin asked Sundsbø for ideas; He suggested of 3-D scanning the head of each band member.[8]
Singles[]
- "In My Place" was released as the lead single from the album, on 5 August 2002.[9]
- "The Scientist" was released as the second single from the album, on 11 November 2002.[10]
- "Clocks" was released as the third single from the album, on 17 March 2003.[11]
- "God Put a Smile upon Your Face" was released as the fourth and final single from the album, on 1 July 2003.[12]
Critical reception[]
A Rush of Blood to the Head received highly positive reviews from critics. Alexis Petridis of The Guardian gave the record a four-star rating in a notable review, and wrote that the band's "new assurance is everywhere ... the timidity of Parachutes is nowhere to be found". He concludes, "It sounds like an album ready to take on the world, and win."[13] In another favorable review from Rolling Stone, Rob Sheffield gave it a four-star rating as well, saying "A Rush of Blood to the Head is a nervier, edgier, thoroughly surprising album", adding, "where Parachutes was the clumsy diary of a high-strung kid, A Rush of Blood sounds more like a band with the confidence to test its own limits."[14] Review aggregator website Metacritic reports a normalised score of 80 out of 100 based on 25 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". It has a user score of 8.9 based on 567 ratings. As of 2022, it remains as Coldplay's highest scoring album on the website.[15]
Commercial performance[]
A Rush of Blood to the Head charted at No. 1 across multiple countries. In the United Kingdom, it sold 273,294 copies in its first week of release. It has since been certified 10× Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), with sales of over 3 million units.[16] It is Coldplay's best-selling album in the UK as of 2022. In the United States, the album peaked at No. 5, with 144,000 copies sold in its first week of release. It has since been certified 4× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with sales of over 4,8 million copies.[17]
Legacy[]
Writers and reviewers have praised A Rush of Blood to the Head as one of the best albums of the 21st century. "The Scientist" and "Clocks" have become signature songs of the band, due to its great success and commercial performance. As of October 2012, the album remains as Coldplay's most successful with worldwide sales of over 15 million copies.[2]
Track listing[]
All tracks are written by Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, and Will Champion.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Politik" | 8:32 |
| 2. | "In My Place" | 3:48 |
| 3. | "God Put a Smile upon Your Face" | 8:36 |
| 4. | "The Scientist" | 5:09 |
| 5. | "Clocks" | 7:48 |
| 6. | "Daylight" | 5:27 |
| 7. | "Green Eyes" | 3:43 |
| 8. | "Warning Sign" | 5:31 |
| 9. | "A Whisper" | 3:58 |
| 10. | "A Rush of Blood to the Head" | 5:51 |
| 11. | "Amsterdam" | 5:19 |
| Total length: | 78:33 | |
Notes[]
"Politik" ends at 5:18 and "Hidden Track" starts at 5:19. "God Put a Smile upon Your Face" ends at 4:57 and Hidden Track starts at 4:58.
Personnel[]
Credits adapted from liner notes.[18]
Coldplay[]
- Chris Martin - lead vocals, piano, acoustic guitar, production
- Guy Berryman - bass guitar, production
- Jonny Buckland - electric guitar, backing vocals, production
- Will Champion - drums, percussion, backing vocals, production
Technical and others[]
- Ken Nelson - production, mixing, engineering
- Danton Supple - mixing
- Mark Phythian - mixing
- Rik Simpson - engineering
- George Marino - mastering
- Audrey Riley - strings arranger
- Ann Lines - strings performer
- Leo Payne - strings performer
- Susan Dench - strings performer
- Laura Melhewish - strings performer
- Dan Green - strings performer
- Sølve Sundsbø - album cover
- Dave Holmes - manager
- Estelle Wilkinson - manager
- Dan Keeling - A&R (artists and repertoire)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Coldplay Ready Second Album as "Trouble" Heats Up. MTV. Written by Corey Moss, published on December 17, 2001.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Big band theory: who are the brightest stars?. New Zealand Herald. Published on October 25, 2012.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Coldplay: Going Out of My Head. VH1. Archived at the Wayback Machine on September 16, 2008. Published on August 13, 2002.
- ↑ Coldplay: Look at the Stars (page 80). Published by Gary Spivack, in 2004.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Road to the Grammy's: The Making of Coldplay's "Clocks". MTV. Written by Jon Wiederhorn, published on February 2, 2004.
- ↑ Coldplay Bleed for Beauty on A Rush of Blood to the Head. MTV. Written by Jon Weiderhorn, published on August 27, 2002.
- ↑ Story of the Song: "Clocks", Coldplay (2002). The Independent. Written by Robert Webb, published on July 25, 2008.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Sølve Sundsbø's best shot. The Guardian. Published on February 14, 2008.
- ↑ Coldplay: E-Zine Issue 3. Archived at the Wayback Machine on November 11, 2007. Published on June 2002.
- ↑ New Releases – For Week Starting 11 November 2002: Singles (page 25). Music Week. Published on November 9, 2002.
- ↑ The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 17th March 2003 (page 26). Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Acrhived on April 6, 2005.
- ↑ Coldplay: E-Zine Issue 9 (page 2). Archived at the Wayback Machine on February 3, 2007. Published on July 2003.
- ↑ Coldplay: A Rush of Blood to the Head. The Guardian. Written by Alexis Petridis, published on August 26, 2002.
- ↑ A Rush of Blood to the Head. Rolling Stone. Written by Rob Sheffield, published on August 26, 2002.
- ↑ A Rush of Blood to the Head by Coldplay. Metacritic.
- ↑ Certified awards. British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Archived at the Wayback Machine on October 7, 2008.
- ↑ American album certifications – Coldplay – A Rush of Blood to the Head. Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
- ↑ A Rush of Blood to the Head (liner notes). Parlophone Records. 2002.