Parachutes is the debut album by British alternative rock band Coldplay, released by the record
label Parlophone on 10 July 2000 in the United Kingdom. The album was produced by the band
and British record producer Ken Nelson, excluding one track which was produced by Chris Allison.
Parachutes has spawned the hit singles "Shiver", "Yellow", "Trouble", and "Don't Panic".
The album was a commercial success, and was met with positive reviews. Upon release, the
album quickly reached number one in the United Kingdom, and has since been certified 8×
platinum. In the United States, the album peaked at number 51 on the Billboard 200,
and has since been certified 2× platinum. It won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative
Music Album in 2002, and has earned the band various accolades since its release. Parachutes
is number 12 on the list of the 20 biggest-selling albums of the 21st century in the United
Kingdom, and was the winner of the Best British Album award at the 2001 Brit Awards. As of
2011, it has sold around 8.5 million copies worldwide.
Recording and production The band started working on the album in 1999
and produced an EP with British record producer Chris Allison. Allison was asked to 'come
in and give the band a bit of a direction sound wise. Both the band and the A&R department
– both parties wanted that'. Things got off to a productive start with the song 'High
Speed', which ultimately proved good enough to make it onto the Parachutes album. Allison
describes it thus: 'You'll notice it is quite a bit different to the other tracks, because
there are other sounds going on in it: we wanted to mix a soundscape in with the classic
rock sound on that particular track. I thought 'High Speed' was a really good marriage between
the classic rock sound and the new sound that was developing out of it, something that was
more atmospheric'. Seven tracks in all were recorded during the sessions at Orinoco studios
in London, three of them ended up on The Blue Room EP.
The band took a break to write more songs for the album. A few months later it was arranged
that Allison and the band meet at a rehearsal room to start on the album proper. "They started
up playing in the rehearsal room and they really weren't together at all. And I was
very honest with them, I just sort of said 'Look this simply isn't good enough'". Allison
adds, "The interesting, the most significant thing that did occur out of the fact that
we didn't end up starting the album on that day of the rehearsal was that Chris Martin
had not written 'Yellow' by that time". Several months later British record producer
Ken Nelson was chosen, producing all but one song on Parachutes. He was introduced to Coldplay
by his manager Pete. Nelson has claimed that, as soon as he heard vocalist Chris Martin's
voice on the song "Bigger Stronger", he "realised that he was something special". Nelson was
offered the job while Coldplay were performing in Liverpool with English indie rock band
Gomez. Coldplay initially planned to record Parachutes
in the space of two weeks. However, tours and other live performances caused the recording
to spread out between September 1999 and April–May 2000. The band began work on the album at
Rockfield Studios in Wales, Matrix Studios, and Wessex Sound Studios, although the majority
of Parachutes' tracks were recorded at Liverpool's Parr Street Studios. The band worked in three
studio rooms at Parr Street, and tracked much of the album in one of these rooms—the project
studio which producer Ken Nelson describes as "basically a demo room". The Chris Allison-produced
track "High Speed" was also included on the album, and originates from earlier sessions
at Orinico Studios in London. The album was mixed by American engineer Michael Brauer
in New York. Coldplay's record label, Parlophone, had originally intended to use a mixing engineer
for the tracks they picked as singles, but eventually hired Brauer to work on all songs
on Parachutes except the song 'High Speed' which was mixed by Chris Allison.
At the Liverpool concert where he was offered the production job Nelson had noted that Coldplay's
performance was "very very uptight [...] they rushed through the set and it was quite difficult
to listen to". Once in the studio Nelson and the band went through each song, learning
how to play the piece live and deciding what tempo to play it at in an attempt to get the
group to "calm down". The album's cover features a photograph of
a globe taken with a disposable Kodak camera. The globe had been purchased from W H Smith
for £10; it was featured in the music videos for "Shiver" and "Don't Panic", and also accompanied
the band on their tours. The album was dedicated to drummer Will Champion's mother, Dr. Sara
Champion, who died of cancer in 2000. Music and style
Champion has explained that Nelson's production style was liberating and allowed the band
to feel at ease during the recording of Parachutes. The ensuing album was "a record's worth of
moody and atmospheric tunes". As a nod to the moods created by the album, Champion has
compared the song lyrics to the 1972 song "Perfect Day" by American rock singer-songwriter
Lou Reed, stating that the "lyrics are beautiful and they're really, really happy, but the
music is really, really sad. It's that kind of thing, where you can create [differing]
moods through the music and lyrics." Parachutes was recognised to have an alternative
rock sound similar to English band Radiohead in their Bends era. In fact, it has been suggested
that the album's commercial success was due in part to a portion of Radiohead's audience
being alienated by the band's experimental and more electronic-influenced Kid A album.
Release and promotion Parachutes was released on 10 July 2000 in
the United Kingdom via record label Parlophone. In the United States, it was released on 7
November 2000 by record label Nettwerk. The album has been made available on various formats
since its initial release; both Parlophone and Nettwerk released it as a CD in 2000,
and it was also released as a cassette by newfound US label Capitol in 2001. In the
following year, Parlophone issued the album as an LP.
The main version of the album contains 10 tracks; the tenth track, "Everything's Not
Lost", segues to a hidden short track called "Life Is for Living", clocking in for a total
of 7:15. The Japanese version of the album contains all main tracks, and the additional
tracks "Careful Where You Stand" and "For You".
Four singles were released from the album: "Shiver", "Yellow", "Trouble", and "Don't
Panic". "Shiver" served as lead single in the United Kingdom while "Yellow" was used
in the United States. Upon the release of "Trouble", Coldplay abandoned their initial
plan of releasing "Don't Panic" as the album's fourth single, after they deemed three singles
were enough for an album. Despite this, however, it was released as a single in some European
regions. Since its wide release, Parachutes has earned
the band a large array of awards. The album won Best Album at the 2000 Q Awards, and was
nominated at the 2000 Mercury Music Prize. The following year, the band earned Best Alternative
Music Album at the Grammy Awards and Best British Album at the BRIT Awards.
Reception Critical response
Parachutes was generally well received in Europe. Michael Hubbard of MusicOMH noted
that it is an album of "remarkable depth, especially when one considers the youthful
ages of the band members" while The Guardian newspaper described the album as "one of the
year's most uplifting albums", adding that it features "elegant songs, classic guitars
and gorgeous singing". NME awarded the album 9 out of 10, saying that "...all told, this
is an incredible debut album". The album also received generally positive
reviews among international critics. A review in Billboard magazine claims that Parachutes
"brings nothing new to the table", writing that its "musical reference points are immediately
recognizable and difficult to overlook". Despite this, the review adds, "Coldplay seems talented
enough to transcend this early identity crisis", referring to them as a newly introduced band
in the United States. Matt Diehl of Rolling Stone magazine said that the album "ultimately
rises above its influences to become a work of real transcendence". MacKenzie Wilson of
Allmusic commented that it introduces the band as "young musicians still honing their
sweet harmonies", adding, "Parachutes deserved the accolades it received because it followed
the general rule when introducing decent pop songs: keep the emotion genuine and real."
Robert Christgau picked two songs from the album as choice cuts.
Pitchfork Media was less enthusiastic and rated the album 5.3 out of 10. Spencer Owen
views the album as "harmless and pretty" but "nothing else", noting that it will bring
Coldplay "a windfall of cash and international popularity". The Village Voice similarly writes
that "there's little on Parachutes that demands attention or punctures the pensive spell,
and, unlike Travis's, Coldplay's hooks are slight."
Commercial performance Parachutes performed well in the United Kingdom.
The popularity of the songs in British clubs, pubs and sporting events bolstered the album
to debut at number one on the UK Albums Chart. It has been certified eight-times Platinum
by the British Phonographic Industry, with sales of around 2,400,000 units, to date.
In July 2011, Parachutes climbed from No. 184 back to No. 48 in the album's 318th charting
week there. As of February 2012, the album had sold 2,559,678 copies in the UK, making
it the third biggest selling Coldplay album behind A Rush of Blood to the Head and X&Y.
Parachutes has reached number 51 on the US Billboard 200, and has peaked at number one
on the Billboard Heatseekers. Over two million copies have been shipped to the United States,
leading to being certified two-time Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
It has also been certified three-time Platinum in Australia by the Australian Recording Industry
Association, and two-time Platinum in Canada by the Canadian Recording Industry Association.
Impact and legacy
According to the British trade paper Music Week, Parachutes was one of the most-impressive
debut albums ever, spawning the hit singles "Shiver", "Yellow", and "Trouble". With nearly
2.4 million units sold in the United Kingdom alone, it has placed at number 12 on the country's
list of 20 biggest-selling albums of the 21st century. The album was placed at number
25 in Channel 4's 100 greatest albums of all time, and in 2006 at number 33 in NME's 100
greatest British albums. Despite the album's critical and commercial
success, Chris Martin said that Coldplay didn't like the album. He also commented that they
look beyond Parachutes: "We know that's terrible music and we always try to think about what
we can do next." Track listing
All songs written by Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Chris Martin.
Personnel Charts and certifications
References
Literature Roach, Martin. Coldplay: Nobody Said it was
Easy. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-9810-8. Retrieved 9 September 2008.