Never mind the Bollocks.

There’s something about the British culture that kind of permeates this attitude. No, I’m not talking about the socially inhibited British culture of yesteryear, filled with teacups and chubby women, but about the real British culture that is visible to us today. The culture that moves Tony Blair to roll intricate and subtle insults into his arguments and speak with a nearly unmatched eloquence. The culture that brought the Sex Pistols and The Clash to America’s doorstep and in the process inadvertently created Orange County. The culture that grew out of figures like T.S. Eliot and Oscar Wilde who wrote without thought to inhibition. The attitude of this giant of modernity seems to say, “Be up front… or fuck off.”

The sophomore release, “A Rush of Blood to the Head” from one of the new bands of the Isles, Coldplay grabs onto this concept, and then moves deeper, seeking to strike a more personal chord – a move that can spell success or disaster for an artist in today’s commercialized world. As lead singer Chris Martin puts it, trying out the Blair eloquence for himself; “Because we're sometimes playing quieter stuff, it's hard to sound like we're trying to change things, but we wanted to be a reaction against soulless rubbish.”

And a reaction they have softly become.

On tracks like ‘A Whisper’ and ‘Clocks,’ the sense of urgency (and sometimes frustration) is undeniable. This is especially true on the opening track of the album, ‘Politik,’ which ends with layers upon layers of guitars, pianos, and cymbals, the likes of which haven’t been seen since Jimmy Eat World’s ‘Goodbye Sky Harbor.’ Jonny Buckland keeps the legend of British hi-gain alive, thundering in and out of songs, leaving only reverb and an ethereal presence of Dave Gilmour behind. All the while, Martin’s sense of delivery is equally visible with lines like “Give me real, don’t give me fake”, and “Night turns to day/ And still I get no answers/ Just a whisper…” This is a man who is tired of the bullshit answers being fed to his generation, and he’s going to let the world know about it in a beautiful variety of tonal ways. Also worth noting is the pinging clarity and bass driven groove of ‘In My Place,’ here to remind us where we all stand. In these songs, the concept (or the reaction) is given a foundation: it’s clear that at moments like these Coldplay is viewing the world in a way we should all consider, and are slowly being won over to.

As listeners give the album a second whirl, they will begin to find new reactions. Songs that before were simply in-betweens suddenly become the glue that holds the album together. Martin brilliantly displays his ability to take some of the most trite lines in rock music and make them sound genuine all over again on songs like ‘Warning Sign’ (And the truth is, that I miss you so) and ‘Green Eyes’ (Honey you, are the rock/ On which I stand). The third single from the album, ‘The Scientist’ is definitely a winner in this category, as it sweeps the listener through a sea of emotional nostalgia. It leaves the heart wanting to fall in love all over again, even despite the pain, just for a chance at that instance of pure, unfiltered love we all once knew - or imagine we could.

This is not to say the album is perfect, as close as it might be. Some of the songs sound like leftovers from ‘Parachutes,’ Coldplay’s first release strewn with more longing and less philosophy. These songs are less thought out and mature than they probably could be or should be. On this album they’ve raised the bar for themselves, and so the lyrical quality and musical content in parts can seem a bit disappointing when tracks don’t live up to the standard.

However, the album ends on a strong note with what is one of the great closing tracks in alternative music history. Right up there with the Stone Temple Pilots ‘Atlanta,’ R.E.M.’s ‘West of the Fields,’ and Ben Fold’s ‘Evaporated’ lies Coldplays’ ‘Amsterdam.’ The lyrics here are so rich; one can derive a virtual essay on the cyclic nature of the intellectual’s life – an amazing display of pessimism meets inspiration. Martin sings that in life, he feels trapped no matter what decisions he makes, sarcastically rattling off "Time, is on your side/ It’s on your side now/ Not pushing you down and all around/ It’s no cause for concern.” By the end of the song he reaches the end of frustration, and comes to the reckoning that he’s ready to give in. If it weren’t for the significant people, things, and places (i.e. Amsterdam) in his life, there’d be no reason to deal with the rest of it. We all know the feeling. We all hold this concept as truth. At its core, it’s an explanation as to why we, and especially Chris Martin are here, and I for one am damn glad he and the rest of Coldplay decided to stay.