‘Parachutes’ 25 years on: How Coldplay’s debut defies their discography
Every generation needs a musical punching bag now and again. Most people around during the prog era have taken more than a few jabs at how cheesy Styx could be, and no matter how many people like to fawn over the internal angst of nu-metal, it’s hard to take anything that Fred Durst ever said remotely seriously with that awkward cadence to his voice.
As the 2000s approached, Coldplay was responsible for adding every beige colour to the musical rainbow. But then again, did they get off on a bad note right from the beginning?
No, I’m serious. It’s a question we have to assess when looking at an album like Parachutes, because compared to the rest of Coldplay’s discography, going back to this record is mystifying. Coming out of the same post-Britpop sphere that birthed bands like Travis, Chris Martin actually seemed to be promising something big when working on this moody brand of pop music, complete with Jonny Buckland’s shimmering guitars.
It’s odd to look back and see Coldplay get treated like another band and appear on the soundtrack to Garden State alongside The Shins and Nick Drake, but it’s not like this album doesn’t have that kind of vibe. ‘Don’t Panic’ welcomes everyone in with some of the most world-weary vocals of Martin’s career, and when it comes to the singles that aren’t named ‘Yellow’, both ‘Shiver’ and ‘Trouble’ are brilliant pieces of pop music.
But it’s also time we stop burying the lead and address the big Thom Yorke-shaped elephant in the room. By the time Coldplay debuted in 2000, everyone was marking them as Radiohead ripoffs, and while they may have a point listening to tracks like ‘High Speed’, it’s not like Radiohead were returning to this sound any time soon. Ok Computer felt like a distant memory when Kid A happened, so why not find another band that could deliver something closer to the classics?
And there are even some great moments that signalled where the band could go if they fleshed themselves out a little bit more. ‘Spies’ feels like a warm-up for them writing something like ‘God Put A Smile On Your Face’, and while ‘Yellow’ has become one of the biggest hits of the band’s career, it’s still lovely to hear them finding out their sound before they embraced piano on songs like ‘Clocks’ and ‘Speed of Sound’.
It may seem insane returning to this album knowing the kind of music that would turn up on Music of the Spheres or A Head Full of Dreams, but there’s something pure about hearing them making something this sparse. The title track only being an acoustic demo is a nice touch, and given all the production thrown in your face on other projects, it’s no surprise why people are shocked to find out ‘Sparks’ is a Coldplay song when it comes up on TikTok. It’s a beautiful tune, but no one would expect it if all they knew of the band was ‘Viva La Vida’.
Although Coldplay have been guilty of being overexposed more than a few times throughout their career, Parachutes captures a band that feels like they’re trying to have a greater impact on the world. Casual rock fans might see them as the definition of “mid” pop music nowadays, but for anyone interested in doing some digging, Parachutes is the kind of downtempo album with melodies anyone can fall in love with.
Chris Martin may have the same musical vitriol thrown his way that’s usually reserved for people like Bono or Jon Bon Jovi, but no band is devoid of at least one good song, and Parachutes is more than a breezy album; it’s an outright classic. The band could have done everything they could to tarnish their legacy in the eyes of fans, but as long as we can hear the guitar break in ‘Shiver’ or the chorus of ‘We Never Change’, it was all worth it.
