In the beginning of the 2000s, it seemed as if all big music groups were following alternative rock bands like Oasis and Radiohead with a world-wide known album from year to year. British indie-rockers Coldplay released their debut album "Parachutes" in 2000 which was nothing less than instant success. It topped charts around the world and earned the band an incredible amount of recognition.
But Coldplay wanted more than just commercial success, so they entered the studio to record their second album. With "A Rush Of Blood To The Head" in 2002 the band moved away from the basic guitar sound that was present on "Parachutes". Some songs are still using the album "A Rush of Blood to the Head" in just one year. Recording took place at numerous places, including drummer Will Champion's home and singer Chris Martin's old primary school (which was transformed into a studio).
The result sparked even more commercial success than their debut album. After the release of "Clocks", Coldplay managed to top the charts with "The Scientist" and "Clocks" for months. The album ended up selling more than 8 million copies worldwide which was a bigger achievement than their debut album.
Radiohead's influence on Coldplay's music
It's possible that Coldplay was influenced by Radiohead when they released their second album, but Radiohead doesn't think so themselves - at least not according to Thom Yorke (Radiohead singer). Coldplay has been influenced by many bands during their career, but Radiohead was never among them. The British rockers claim to have been influenced by Depeche Mode instead.
Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay, said about Radiohead in an interview with Q Magazine in April 2001: "We love Radiohead's music - it's the way they mix up the sad and happy sounds, having a lovely melody but really sad words. It's so powerful when you hear it."
How much inspiration was taken from Radiohead for Coldplay? It doesn't matter, because they never said that these songs are influenced by Radiohead. They just explained the reasons why "A Rush Of Blood To The Head" is counted as an instant classic in music history.
The song "We Never Change", which is on Coldplay's debut album "Parachutes", wouldn't sound out of place in "Kid A". The track starts with an electronic beat and it continues with a guitar riff that could have been taken from any Radiohead record released in the last ten years.
Comparisons between Coldplay and Radiohead are inevitable, but Martin has also stated in an interview that he prefers Depeche Mode to the latter. He said: "I love music. I listen to everything from classical to dance music so I'm not going to slag off bands. I think Radiohead are amazing, but the band I've listened to the most is Depeche Mode."
Coldplay's "God Put a Smile upon Your Face" featuring Jonny Buckland's signature guitar arpeggios is this generation's answer to Radiohead's "The Bends." The piano hook in the chorus will make you think about Thom Yorke crooning over an acoustic guitar at times, and Chris Martin's falsetto vocals are more than a bit influenced by the Radiohead frontman.
Coldplay's debut album, Parachutes, was seen by many people to have been heavily influenced by Radiohead's The Bends. This is due to their shared use of the same type of guitar sound and structures in songs like "High Speed" and "Trouble".
Coldplay's 2002 single "The Scientist" features a piano riff that sounds almost identical to the one in Radiohead's "Clocks". Guitarist Johnny Buckland has claimed that the band were influenced by both songs when they wrote their own, but they didn't realize until later on how similar it all sounded.
Free Radiohead album download thanks to the online casino
Canadian online casino Golden Palace has purchased a pair of Radiohead guitars worth more than $40,000 at an eBay auction. One guitar was used during Radiohead's performance at MTV Unplugged in 1995, and the other was used during the recording of the In Rainbows album in 2007. The money from this purchase will go to the "the Big Ask" conservation project that Thom Yorke supports.
The computer program, scheduled for release on June 18, will allow music fans to get a free copy of Radiohead's new album "In Rainbows" by paying whatever they want for it. The deal was announced after months of feverish speculation fueled by cryptic messages posted anonymously on Web sites and rumors passed from fan to fan.
The album will be available for download beginning June 10 at radiohead.com, and each song can be downloaded for free 1 million times, allowing every fan who wants a copy to get one. Thanks to an online casino that bought the band's guitars, there will be no paid gate to download the album. Buying the guitars already brought Radiohead a good amount of money.
Radiohead manager Chris Hufford said in an interview that the band experimented with different business models for distributing music and decided that a "pay what you want" system would be ideal for its album. He said the band wasn't going to make a dime on the promotion and that it cost about $70,000 to play and distribute the music.
In addition to the ability to download "In Rainbows" from radiohead.com, the album is available as a deluxe package at discbox.com. The limited-edition packaging is $80 and includes a beautiful four-vinyl case of "In Rainbows" plus a bonus CD with two additional tracks, the "House of Cards" music video and an expanded booklet with new artwork by artist Stanley Donwood.
