I have liked Coldplay since the release of their first single Shiver. I think it was the guitar play and Chris Martin's voice which made me stop and listen initially and I was kinda a fan of Travis at the time who have a similar style. When Parachutes was released I was 100% won over, the album was one of my favourite and most played albums for a good few months until one of my mates threw it out of my car window on the M60 motorway because she said I played it too much. I did buy a new copy, but kept it at home where I could keep an eye on it.

Coldplay are an English band and formed in London in 1997. They consist of Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Will Champion and Johnny Buckland. They were originally called Starfish until Tim Rice-Oxley (Keane) allowed them to use the name Coldplay which he used for his own band before being with Keane. Between 2000 and 2005 they have been nominated three times for the Murcury Prize and have won several Grammy Awards and BRIT Awards. Coldplay are also well known for the work they do for charities, like performing at Live 8, Band Aid 20 and working with Oxfam, Amnesty International and the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Parachutes, the debut album was released in 2000 and was an instant success, which is partly due to the singles Shiver, Trouble and Yellow. Estimated sales of the album were 40,000 but by the end of the year the actual sales were over 1.6 million in the UK alone and over 2 million in the US. The album went to #1 in the UK with positions of #2 in Australia and #4 in New Zealand and has won the BRIT Award and Q Magazine Award for Best British Album and the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.

When A Rush Of Blood To The Head was released in 2002 its expectations were high, but actually far exceeded what was thought. The album went to #1 in the UK, Denmark, Norway, Argentina, Switzerland and Australia and was in the top 10 in Finland, Netherlands, France, New Zealand, Portugal, US and Sweden. The album has also earned them many awards, 3x Grammy Awards, a BRIT Award and another Q Magazine Award. Some of the hit singles from the album were In My Place, Clocks, God Put A Smile Upon Your Face and The Scientist.

X&Y was released in 2005 and showed that Coldplay just keep on improving all the time when the album went to #1 in over 10 countries (UK, US, Finland, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, France, Denmark, Portugal, Netherlands, Austria, Germany, New Zealand, Canada and Australia). Before the end of 2005 the album had already sold over 8.3 million copies and was the worldwide best selling album of that year. The final track on the album which is a hidden bonus track, Til Kingdom Come was supposed to be recorded by Johnny Cash but unfortunately he died before this could come to fruition.

Coldplay have been influenced by many bands throughout the years, including the likes of, George Harrison, Echo And The Bunnymen, Johnny Cash, Kraftwerk, Travis, Radiohead and The Verve. They have refused several companies the rights to use their songs in TV adverts such as Gatorade, Gap and Diet coke. They also have a new album, titled Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends which is set to be released in June 2008 and is produced by Brian Eno. The name for the album is derived from a painting by the Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo.

My Top 10 Coldplay Songs are:

01. A Rush Of Blood To The Head
02. The Scientist
03. Amsterdam
04. Sparks
05. Brothers And Sisters
06. One I Love
07. Such A Rush
08. Yellow
09. Everything's Not Lost
10. A Whisper

My name is Andy I'm 31 and I'm from Manchester, UK I like to read a lot (Discworld, Sci-Fantasy) and listen to music (The Doors, Wu-Tang, Amy Winehouse, Kaiser Chiefs, Blondie, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix). I also try to be a skateboarder when I get time and dry weather.

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