Science and Progress Do Not Speak as Loud as my Heart

When people hear “power ballad” they conjure up visions of hair metal bands swaying their guitars in unison while lighters flicker across the arena. But if a power ballad is just a ballad that climaxes with an epic guitar near the end, then no one does power ballads in modern times better than Coldplay. The built their career on writing love songs with an extra kick to them that launched a couple thousand copy cats last decade. If Coldplay introduced this sound with Parachutes, they perfected it with A Rush of Blood to the Head, this month's induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame.

There were plenty of soaring ballads like on their album including one of their best The Scientist, a song so lovely you are not even distracted by the clunky title. It was even accompanied by a brilliant backwards music video that went back to the start just as the song suggested. And of course the song ends with their signature crunching guitars. But no song on the album (or in the band’s catalogue) builds to an epic conclusion quite as good as the album closer Amsterdam with a closing coda you just have to sing along with.

The band even took out the power with pure ballads like the sweet Green Eyes. Warning Sign was another stand out track that worked that middle ground between power ballad and pure ballad where singer Chris Martin yearns for a lost love with lyrics like, “And the truth is I miss you.” The song is a must for any break up mixtape.

As great as the power ballads on the album are, A Rush of Blood to the Head is where the band dropped the ballad completely on some songs and just brought the power. The opening song Politik was a the real rush of blood to head into where the band really sets the tone of the album with the frantic drums, piano, and guitars that give way to Pink Floyd style verses before hitting you over the head again at that chorus. But Politk just sets you up for not only the best song on the album, the second best song from the 00’s with Clocks, a song so great, the moment I heard it I had to dust of my piano, download the sheet music and give it a try myself. After listening to Parachute, you could tell the band was heading for something great, but I am not sure even the early fanatic would have guess something as great as A Rush of Blood to the Head was coming down the pipeline.