21 years of Coldplay's 'A Rush of Blood to the Head'

"If you make an album as downtempo as your first one, I think I might fall asleep."

Last week marked 21 years since Coldplay released what’s widely considered their best album, “A Rush of Blood to the Head.”

Chris Martin has shared in a few interviews over the years that the band faced quite a bit of pressure to grow from their debut album “Parachutes,” not just in terms of sales but also their sound and style.

In an interview with Zane Lowe in 2015, Chris said that U2’s Bono reached out to him after the release of “Parachutes” to congratulate him on the success of the album. But he also offered some advice: “If you make an album as downtempo as your first one, I think I might fall asleep. So maybe pick it up a bit for the second one.”

“Parachutes” was a very subdued, largely acoustic album. “A Rush of Blood to the Head” was the perfect follow-up, combining the style of “Parachutes” with more uptempo, poppy tracks like “Clocks.” It was the perfect evolution.

My favorite Coldplay album is either “A Rush of Blood to the Head” or “Ghost Stories.” I’ve never been able to make a firm decision either way.

But the album does contain what are probably my two favorite Coldplay songs: “Amsterdam” and the title track, “A Rush of Blood to the Head.”