History Music / Coldplay

** Their early [=EPs=] a bit more so to ''Parachutes'', with Chris's vocals being more timid and their sound being more straight-forward indie rock in comparison due to their less polished production and containing more atmospheric feelings, having notable influences PsychedelicRock and DreamPop in them. A good point of comparison is the "Don't Panic" versions recorded for ''Parachutes'' and ''The Blue Room'' [=EP=].

** Their early [=EPs=] a bit more so to ''Parachutes'', with Chris's vocals being more timid and being more straight-forward indie rock in comparison due to their less polished production and containing more atmospheric feelings, having notable influences PsychedelicRock and DreamPop in them. A good point of comparison is the "Don't Panic" versions recorded for ''Parachutes'' and ''The Blue Room'' [=EP=].

** Their early [=EPs=] a bit more so to ''Parachutes'', being more straight-forward indie rock in comparison due to their less polished production and containing more atmospheric feelings, having small influences PsychedelicRock and DreamPop in them. A good point of comparison is the "Don't Panic" versions recorded for ''Parachutes'' and ''The Blue Room'' [=EP=].

** Their early [=EPs=] a bit more so to ''Parachutes'', being more straight-forward indie rock in comparison due to their less polished production and containing more atmospheric feelings, having small influences PsychedelicRock and DreamPop in them. A good point of comparison is "Don't Panic" versions recorded for ''Parachutes'' and ''The Blue Room'' [=EP=].

** Their early [=EPs=] a bit more so to ''Parachutes'', being more straight-forward indie rock in comparison due to its less polished production and containing more atmospheric feelings due to their PsychedelicRock and DreamPop influences in them. A good point of comparison is "Don't Panic" versions recorded for ''Parachutes'' and ''The Blue Room'' [=EP=].

** ''Music of the Spheres'' harkens back mostly to the arena pop rock from ''Mylo Xyloto'' and ''A Head Full of Dreams'', while incorporating space influences to it. Although it does deviate from it a few times, with the acapella [[https://youtu.be/sKrsE2lBhu4 "Human Heart"]], the bluesy indie rock [[https://youtu.be/Q4nFTEsez5c "People of the Pride]] and the ten minute ProgressiveRock closer [[https://youtu.be/kWUV5-frRU4 "Coloratura"]].

* {{Autotune}}: "Midnight" utilizes a soft, Music/BonIver-esque vocoder on Chris' vocals that becomes more apparent when played live.

* ExcitedShowTitle: Applies to the song "Lost!". All of its remixed versions are differentiated by the exclamation mark at the end being replaced with a different symbol (a question mark[[note]]A piano version[[/note]], an at sign(@)[[note]]A live performance[[/note]], and a plus[[note]][[AWildRapperAppears Has a verse rapped by]] Music/JayZ[[/note]]).
* FaceDeathWithDignity: "Death Will Never Conquer", a b-side to "Viva la Vida", is a cheery song sung by a person who accepts their mortality, begging to their loved ones to "let them go" when they die, even if, at the end, they mention they don't want to go.

** A sample of Jon Hopkins' "Light Through the Veins" is used in the opening of "Life in Technicolor" and as the instrumental for "The Escapist". Similarly, a sample of Hopkins' "Amphora" was used prominently in "Midnight".

* RefrainFromAssuming:
** "Adventure of a Lifetime" has commonly been referred to as "Turn Your Magic On" (a line used in the verses and bridge) as well as "Alive Again" (which is the main line of the chorus). The actual title [[NonAppearingTitle is never said in the song]].
** "Viva la Vida" doesn't include its title in its lyrics either, or even particularly suit the vibe its title gives, but has several title-esque lines in it, such as "When I Ruled The World".
** "The Scientist" also has a NonAppearingTitle, causing some people to think it's called one of the lines most emphasized in the lyrics, such as "Back to the Start", "Nobody Said It Was Easy", "Come Up to Meet You", etc. This was not aided when Evil Activities sampled "The Scientist" in a song and actually ''did'' call it "Nobody Said It Was Easy".

* ArcSymbol: Taken UpToEleven in ''Mylo Xyloto''. Every single song [[http://onethirtybpm.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Mylo-Xyloto-Tracklist.png has its own symbol]], some of them obvious but others only understandable in context (e.g. the butterfly representing "Paradise" is mentioned in the lyrics).

** Taken UpToEleven with the video for "Up&Up", where they take the whole surreal factor to a whole another level, which includes Chris Martin and the band being absolute giants and lying on mountains and islands, a football match being played on a sponge, a volcano spewing popcorn, a boat travelling over New York, a plane dropping the solar system via parachute, horses galloping on water, a butterfly lying on a oil rig, dolphins swimming while a city is upside down above them, a man sunbathing on the moon, a turtle swimming in a New York subway station, two skaters skating on the second stage of a Saturn V rocket, a diver diving 30,000 feet in the bloody air, skiers skiing on a bed pillow, two planes flying either up or down with mountains above them and water below them, a man ironing on top of clouds, cars racing on the rings of Saturn, seals flying over New York, divers diving sideways off a building while walking sideways and a kid on a swing that is being suspended from ''the International Space Station''!

* FilkSong: In a PlayedForLaughs example, Red Nose Day [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs7xO5P3Az4 inspired the band to do]] ''Series/GameOfThrones: TheMusical''.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8XFFTWwSvY "Shiver"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKNxeF4KMsY "Yellow"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcASPx3-HuI "Trouble"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWeuUwpEQfs "Don't Panic"]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnIZ7RMuLpU "In My Place"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB-RcX5DS5A "The Scientist"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d020hcWA_Wg "Clocks"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhIVgSoJVRc "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face"]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k_1kvDh2UA "Speed of Sound"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4V3Mo61fJM "Fix You"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH9meoWmAOM "Talk"]] [[note]] the riff was adapted from Music/{{Kraftwerk}}'s "Computer Love" from ''Music/ComputerWorld'' with permission[[/note]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAGbq3A9HfA "The Hardest Part"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdD6RMICpfg "What If"]] [[note]]UsefulNotes/{{France}} and UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}} only[[/note]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-CldBQD4S8 "White Shadows"]] [[note]]UsefulNotes/{{Mexico}} only, no music video[[/note]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IakDItZ7f7Q "Violet Hill"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvgZkm1xWPE "Viva la Vida"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTFFQkdhw6Q "Lovers in Japan"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkgeai985rA "Lost!"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3pJZSTQqIg "Strawberry Swing"]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyMhvkC3A84 "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G4isv_Fylg "Paradise"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTFBJgnNgU4 "Charlie Brown"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Uw6ZkbsAH8 "Princess Of China"]][[note]](ft. {{Music/Rihanna}})[[/note]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8KV0mzqTXY "Hurts Like Heaven"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKlSE32BjZg "Up With The Birds"]][[note]]no video[[/note]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQeMxWjpr-Y "Midnight"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qtb11P1FWnc "Magic"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPRjCeoBqrI "A Sky Full Of Stars"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpl_6jotaHA "True Love"]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtXby3twMmI "Adventure of a Lifetime"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YykjpeuMNEk&feature=share "Hymn for the Weekend"]][[note]](ft. {{Music/Beyonce}})[[/note]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPNTC7uZYrI "Up&Up"]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXKYA-zmzTY "Orphans"]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lfnR7OhZY8 "Higher Power"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YqPKLZF_WU "My Universe"]][[note]](ft. {{Music/BTS}})[[/note]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raHLFg6bkNI "Biutyful"]]
* Other singles: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyLO-NtFM_Y&feature=related "Brothers & Sisters"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDPjuzzAlB4 "Lhuna"]][[note]]with Music/KylieMinogue[[/note]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXSovfzyx28&ob=av2e "Life in Technicolor ii"]] (taken from ''Prospekt's March'' - an EP with alternate versions and outtakes out of the ''Viva la Vida'' sessions), [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1rYmzQ8C9Q&ob=av2e "Christmas Lights"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh3TokLzzmw "Atlas"]] (from the soundtrack of ''[[Film/TheHungerGamesCatchingFire The Hunger Games: Catching Fire]]''), [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYogZ1KER_k "Miracles"]] (from the soundtrack of ''Film/{{Unbroken}}'')

* FakeBand: [=Supernova7=] in the "My Universe" music video, an alien band from the fictional planet Supersolis.

* AwesomeMcCoolName: Will Champion. Hell yeah.

* {{Cyberpunk}}: The music video for “Higher Power” has elements of this. Taking place in a NeonCity on a [[LandfillBeyondTheStars planet filled with trash]] that has advanced technology. Outside of the city, mountains of rubbish and debris cover as far as the eye can see.
* CypherLanguage:
** For their album ''Music of the Spheres'' each planet has an accompanying alien language.
*** Specifically for their single "Higher Power", Coldplay created an alien {{Wingdinglish}} CypherLanguage called Kaotican. It was used heavily during the early marketing as a puzzle for Coldplay fans to crack.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gf0njGOJ1o original European music video for "Trouble"]] in comparison to the more well-known one, which has Chris singing while tied to a chair in a dark warehouse juxtaposed with footage of the rest of the band members; to specify, Buckland and Champion forcing Berryman into being tied to a chair of his own.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: "Death Will Never Conquer", a b-side to "Viva la Vida", is a cheery song sung by a person who accepts their mortality, begging to their loved ones to "let them go" when they die. Even if, at the end, they mention they don't want to go.

** On ''Ghost Stories'', there's a split-second overlap between "True Love" and "Midnight", and "Oceans" has an ambient outro that effectively sets the stage mood-wise for "A Sky Full of Stars".

--> ''Look up, I look up at night''\\

* BigBrotherIsWatchingYou: "Major Minus", based off of the BigBad of the ''Mylo Xyloto'' MythArc, who is very much the Big Brother of the story.
-->''[[ParanoiaFuel "They got one eye watching you\\

So be careful who it is you're talking to"]]''

*** The entirety of the album. "Life in Technicolor" fades into the [[RecurringRiff same series of notes]] that "Death and All His Friends" and the hidden track "The Escapist" fades out on.

** A minor one on ''A Rush of Blood to the Head''; both the opening and closing tracks ("Politik" and "Amsterdam", respectively) are exactly 5:19. More interestingly, they're both tuned up, with A4 at 448Hz where most music nowadays has A4 at 440Hz.

* BreakUpSong: ''Ghost Stories'' is essentially and [[ConceptAlbum conceptually]] a breakup ''album'', considering it was made around the time when Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow divorced.

* ExcitedShowTitle: Applies to the song "Lost!". All of its remixed versions are characterized by the exclamation mark at the end being eschewed for a different symbol (a question mark[[note]]A piano version[[/note]], an at sign(@)[[note]]A live performance[[/note]], and a plus[[note]][[AWildRapperAppears Has a verse rapped by]] Music/JayZ[[/note]]).

** ''Viva la Vida'' contains a few examples.
*** If you listen closely during the very last few seconds of "Life in Technicolor", you can hear the intro of "Cemeteries of London" start up.
*** A similar segue occurs between "Viva la Vida" and "Violet Hill".

** On ''Ghost Stories'', there's a split-second overlap between "True Love" and "Midnight", and "Oceans" has a 1.5-minute outro of ambience that effectively sets the stage for "A Sky Full of Stars".

* ForbiddenLove: "My Universe" is a song about defying forbidden love. Chris Martin has stated that it's about "someone being told they can’t love a certain other person, or can’t be with this race, or they can’t be gay, whatever it might be."

After forming in 1996 at university, going through a handful of early names (Pectoralz and Starfish), and issuing several low-key releases during the back-end of the [[TheNineties '90s]], they hit the big time in 2000 with the [[BreakthroughHit breakthrough success]] of their single "Yellow", which would later be included on their debut album, ''Music/{{Parachutes}}''. The rest of their oeuvre leading up to the mid-2000s -- ''Music/ARushOfBloodToTheHead'' and ''X&Y'' -- continued the success, but also gave the band a reputation for [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks their songs sounding too similar]] (the singles "Speed of Sound" and "Clocks" being frequently singled out for comparison).

[[caption-width-right:312: Left to right: Will Champion (drummer), Jonny Buckland (lead guitar), Chris Martin (vocals, piano) and Guy Berryman (bass).]]

Coldplay is an acclaimed [[UsefulNotes/{{Britain}} British]] AlternativeRock group, and easily one of the biggest bands to come from that genre and one of the biggest bands that the [[TurnofTheMillennium Aughts]] had to offer.

After several low-key releases during the back-end of the [[TheNineties 90s]], they hit the big time in 2000 with the single "Yellow", which would later be included on their successful debut album, ''Music/{{Parachutes}}''. The rest of their oeuvre leading up to the mid-2000s -- ''Music/ARushOfBloodToTheHead'' and ''X&Y'' -- continued the success, but also gave the band a reputation for [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks their songs sounding too similar]] (the singles "Speed of Sound" and "Clocks" being frequently singled out for comparison).

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtXby3twMmI "Adventure Of A Lifetime"]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YykjpeuMNEk&feature=share "Hymn For The Weekend"]][[note]](ft. {{Music/Beyonce}})[[/note]]

* Other singles: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyLO-NtFM_Y&feature=related Brothers & Sisters]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDPjuzzAlB4 Lhuna]][[note]]with Music/KylieMinogue[[/note]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXSovfzyx28&ob=av2e Life In Technicolor II]] (taken from ''Prospekt's March'' - an EP with alternate versions and outtakes out of the ''Viva la Vida'' sessions), [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1rYmzQ8C9Q&ob=av2e Christmas Lights]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh3TokLzzmw Atlas]] (from the soundtrack of ''[[Film/TheHungerGamesCatchingFire The Hunger Games: Catching Fire]]''), [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYogZ1KER_k Miracles]] (from the soundtrack of ''Unbroken'')

After several low-key releases during the back-end of the [[TheNineties 90s]], they hit the big time in 2000 with the single "Yellow", which would later be included on their successful debut album, ''Music/{{Parachutes}}''.

The rest of their oeuvre leading up to the mid-2000s -- ''Music/ARushOfBloodToTheHead'' and ''X&Y'' -- continued the success, but also gave the band a reputation for [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks their songs sounding too similar]] (the singles "Speed of Sound" and "Clocks" being frequently singled out for comparison).

Their fourth album, ''Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends'', [[NewSoundAlbum changed this]]. [[RecordProducer Produced]] by Music/BrianEno, it rewrote the band's fundamentals, introducing experimentation of both the instrumental variety (ex: OminousPipeOrgan, honky-tonk piano, elaborate string sections) and the arrangement variety (ex: weirder [[UncommonTime time signatures]], unusual song structures). Despite some [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks fan pushback]], it was the highest-selling album of the year.

Leaning into TheNewTens, the band has experimented further by diving into the genres of anthemic electronica (''Mylo Xyloto''), lush ambient/dream pop (''Ghost Stories''), upbeat pop rock (''A Head Full of Dreams''), art pop (''Everyday Life''), and space pop rock (''Music of the Spheres'').

** ''Viva la Vida'' eschewed amplifying previous sounds to invent a new one entirely out of art pop with Middle Eastern strings and [[UncommonTime 7/4 time signatures]].

** ''Ghost Stories'' ranged between ambient music ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQeMxWjpr-Y "Midnight"]], [[https://youtu.be/J-6IUdV2dos?t=6m18s "O"]]), piano ballads ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap-HeMIKi-c "Fly On"]]), more electronically-rooted music almost like trip-hop ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7Ob2ltW_wM "Another's Arms"]]), and [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers EDM]] ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPRjCeoBqrI "A Sky Full of Stars"]]). Produced by Avicii, no less.
** ''Everyday Life'' goes back into a more traditional sound, but expands it with french horn sections ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJNG3WmsOs4 "Arabesque"]]), gospel music ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OgVs4N1Mkk "Broken"]]), blues ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay__ZZvPI2o "Guns"]]) and even soul ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKTA4NpZIAQ "Cry Cry Cry"]]), all of this thanks to the collaboration of musicians from different genres and cultures.

** "All I know / Is I love you so" is the intro for "Biutyful" from ''Music of the Spheres''. The line is from the chorus in "Ink" from ''Ghost Stories'' and was followed with "...so much that it hurts".

* RockOpera: ''Mylo Xyloto'' is one - the story of two people (Mylo and Xyloto) who are "living in an oppressive, dystopian urban environment" meeting and falling in love. And yes, it has a happy ending.
** ''Mylo Xyloto'' is less of a rock opera and more of a nuanced story, with some basic, traceable things throughout. It really doesn't live up to the "concept album" standard set by [[Music/PinkFloyd a certain English band]].
* RecurringRiff: The beginning of "Life in Technicolor" and the entirety of "The Escapist" is the same series of notes. [[BookEnds These tracks happen to be at the start and end of]] ''[[BookEnds Viva la Vida]]'', [[BookEnds respectively]].

** Given how clean Coldplay's lyrics usually are, ''Everyday Life'' is a combination of this trope and severe-enough ClusterFBomb action to get ''a Parental Advisory label''.
** The first example is in a field recording of unlawful police detainment played in the crescendo to "Trouble in Town".
** Next is "Arabesque"; having sung the line "We share in the same blood" in the chorus, Chris chooses to punctuate the end of the song with "Same fucking blood!" And to [[RuleOfThree top it off]], Chris drops three more in "Guns", once in each chorus and another in the second verse.
** ''Music of the Spheres'' has exactly one f-bomb in the album and that's in the first verse of "People of the Pride", a rock song about rebellion and anger at oppression.

** "Don't Panic" was originally on one of the band's first [=EPs=], ''The Blue Room'', before achieving success as part of ''Parachutes''. The EP mix is considerably spacier and features a different, quieter vocal recording of Martin.

* RereleaseTheSong: "High Speed", like "Don't Panic", began life as a ''Blue Room'' cut before being transferred to ''Parachutes''; however, the song wasn't changed at all.

** "All I know / Is I love you so" is the intro for "Biutyful" from ''Music of the Spheres''. The line is from the chorus in "Ink" from ''Ghost Stories'' and was followed with "...so much it hurts".

* Guy Berryman - Bassist. He is also a member of the [[SomethingCompletelyDifferent completely different]] supergroup Apparatjik.

** ''Mylo Xyloto'' has [[MythArc one hell of a story]]. It takes place in the [[Creator/GeorgeOrwell Orwellian]] society of [[MeaningfulName Silencia]], run by [[BigBad Major Minus]] [[BigBrotherIsWatchingYou via media and propaganda.]] His goal is [[CrapsackWorld to strip the streets of sound and color]] to drive away creatures named feeders that use such energy to hunt. The two words in the album title are actually two names. Mylo is a silencer tasked in hunting down sparkers such as Xyloto, that create sparks with light and energy. Mylo discovers his sparker powers through Xyloto and his affiliation with [[LaResistance the Car Kids]], a sparker faction founded by Mylo's parents.

** ''Music of the Spheres'' takes place in a galaxy called "the Spheres" which consists of nine planets, two natural satellites, one star, and a nebula. Each planet represents a song on the album. The worldbuilding is expanded in the album's music videos. Music is banned across the Spheres, but ambitious rebels defy the rule. All while being hunted by the Silencers, the people who enforce the ban.

* CreatorThumbprint: Chris Martin is often depicted on cycles of some kind in his music videos. ("Paradise", "A Head Full of Dreams", "Champion of the World").

** "Arabesque" from ''Everyday Life'' is the latest track to exceed the five and a half minute mark, inspired by the long-form songwriting of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. Several of Kuti's children make guest appearances on this track, as well as a posthumous spoken word sample of his own ("Music is the weapon, music is the weapon of the people.").
** ''Music of the Spheres'' features the closing track "Coloratura", which is their longest track to date at just over ten minutes.

** Happens quite a bit in ''Mylo Xyloto''[[note]]"Mylo Xyloto" transitions into "Hurts Like Heaven," "M.M.I.X." transitions into "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall," "U.F.O." transitions into "Princess of China," and "A Hopeful Transition" transitions into "Don't Let It Break Your Heart," which then transitions into "Up With the Birds" [[/note]]. It is a ConceptAlbum, after all.

* ForbiddenLove: "My Universe" is a song about defying forbidden love. Chris Martin stated to The Kelly Clarkson Show that it's about "someone being told they can’t love a certain other person, or can’t be with this race, or they can’t be gay, whatever it might be."

** Specifically in ''Music of the Spheres'', "Coloratura", the last song, is Coldplay's longest song to date at over 10 minutes.

* UncommonTime: The last part of "Death & All His Friends" and the chorus of "Glass of Water" are in 7/8. "Yes" also has some instrumental parts that bounce between time signatures and call to mind [[Music/{{Yes}} the band of the same name]].

* SerkisFolk: Coldplay in the video for "Adventure of a Lifetime", where they are depicted as [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys monkeys]].

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: The video for "Adventure of a Lifetime" stars a group of motion-capture monkeys discovering a [[ProductPlacement Beats Pill speaker]] playing the song, and subsequently singing and dancing.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: They are around a 2, sometimes dropping down to 1 and going up to 3. They very rarely go beyond a 3. However, songs like "1.36" and "Chinese Sleep Chant" arguably reach a 5.