Album of the Day

The multi-platinum success of A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD upped the ante for Coldplay, and the British quartet spent more than a year in the studio recording their follow-up, X&Y. Actually they recorded and re-recorded it; initial sessions with longtime producer Ken Nelson fell by the wayside as the band workshopped dozens of new songs, pulling in Danton Supple (who mixed their preceding album) to add final polish to the 13 tracks here. The dense production and nifty experimental touches (like the repurposed Kraftwerk riff in “Talk”) show Coldplay pushing its sonic envelope, and the band delivers several sweeping anthems including “Speed Of Sound,” “The Hardest Part” and “Fix You,” which BTS just covered on MTV Unplugged. X&Y topped both the U.S. and U.K. charts and if success has become commonplace for Chris Martin and company, this remains an album of uncommon quality.