Continuing my look at the albums of 2005…
The world’s top-selling album in 2005 was Coldplay’s third studio release, X&Y. The album was the band’s first #1 in the U.S., cementing the British rockers as superstars on both sides of the pond.
X&Y is best known for sentimental single ‘Fix You,’ which balances on the razor’s edge between profound and maudlin and has been called one or the other by many a music fan. The better single is ‘Speed of Sound,’ one of the great rock anthems (even if it owes a bit too much to the band’s earlier hit, ‘Clocks‘).
Third single ‘Talk,’ today’s SOTD, is another winner, incorporating a riff from Kraftwerk’s ‘Computer Love’ to great effect. I’m also a big fan of the album’s hidden track (remember those?) ‘Til Kingdom Come,’ which was conceived as a duet with Johnny Cash before his death.
Beyond those songs, I never found much in this album to latch on to. It was a step down from previous release A Rush of Blood to the Head, which for my money remains their best work.
Coldplay itself has had a rocky relationship with X&Y. They recorded a whole batch of songs with producer Ken Nelson before scrapping them and starting over with Danton Supple at the helm. Lead singer Chris Martin has said he still doesn’t feel they got it right.
Regardless, this is the album that made Coldplay one of the world’s biggest bands, a mantle they held on to for nearly a decade.
Oh brother, I can’t, I can’t get through
I’ve been tryin’ hard to reach you ’cause I don’t know what to do
Oh brother, I can’t believe it’s true
I’m so scared about the future and I wanna talk to you
Oh, I wanna talk to you
[Chorus]
You could take a picture of somethin’ you see
In the future, where will I be?
You could climb a ladder up to the sun
Or write a song nobody had sung
Or do somethin’ that’s never been done
[Verse 2]
Are you lost or incomplete?
Do you feel like a puzzle, you can’t find your missin’ piece?
Tell me how you feel
Well, I feel like they’re talkin’ in a language I don’t speak
And they’re talkin’ it to me
[Chorus]
So you take a picture of somethin’ you see
In the future, where will I be?
You could climb a ladder up to the sun
Or write a song nobody had sung
Or do somethin’ that’s never been done
Do somethin’ that’s never been done
[Outro]
So, you don’t know where you’re goin’ and you wanna talk
And you feel like you’re goin’ where you’ve been before
You’ll tell anyone who’ll listen but you feel ignored
And nothin’s really makin’ any sense at all
Let’s talk, let’s talk
Let’s talk, let’s talk (U-uh)
Meet Me In Montauk 
I spent much of the decade Coldplay was popular dismissing the band, but came to appreciate their music later, partially due to your blog.