Chris Martin may be the biggest name in Rock in todays day and age of Pop and Hip Hop. He is the lead singer of the world famous band Coldplay. Coldplay reached mainstream success in 2000 with their single “Yellow”; right about the same time that rock of the 1990’s began the decline that it hasn’t recovered from to date. The band just came out with its fifth studio album, “Mylo Xyloto”, produced by Brian Eno, the famed producer of David Bowie and the Talking Heads. The band wants to reinvent itself once again with this
Chris Martin, the frontman of Coldplay
album. For inspiration, Chris Martin turns to his “teachers”, Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, and Bono Vox (from U2). One of Coldplay’s biggest influences is U2, besides for Radiohead that is (Coldplay is often criticized for being a lighter version of Radiohead). Going along with this theme of reinvention, the title of the album was chosen to be an “ungoogleable” album title. The band claims that the kind of pressures they faced for their fifth album widely ranged: High expectations from the label as well as the fans meant they needed every day of the 18 months spent to record the album. They also have the responsibility of keeping alive a genre of music that is almost extinct. Many of the bands similar to Coldplay have fallen out of the public eye because they lacked the work ethic that Coldplay has. Mr Martin claims that he often has to visit radio stations and television stations to ensure air-play. Coldplay’s hustling has paid off, and two of the singles from that album have already sold more than 2 million downloads combined. For all of the criticisms that many bands have for Coldplay, there is still a sort of reverence that they demand because of their survival and adaptation in such a different musical atmosphere. Coldplay is the only band of its kind, and may be the last Rock band to break genres and reach the “Top 40” for many years to come. The article can be found here.
The “next” or the “last” great rock band has been announced or predicted for years. It is also quite interesting to see a single artist as representative of Pop, Rap and Rock. this indicates the fragmentation and confusion in the popular music world. With the rise of the internet in the last 10 years, the paradigm for the music industry (and the way people listen to music) has changed dramatically. there was a time when the only way to hear most bands was on the radio and by going to the store and buying a recording (usually an LP with one or two songs you wanted and 10 more that might be good that would really only be known to the people who also bought the record, since they did not get airplay.). Once a year your favorite band might be in concert at a big arena. The “business” plan for Rock and Pop acts got larger and larger until the bubble burst with internet downloads, and now the “Big Act” like Coldplay is more of a rarity. Coldplay has succeeded in combining high artistic standards and goals with a very popular public profile. It helps that the lead singer has a very readily recognizable tone color. It makes it easy to follow their artistic path because you can immediately identify their “sound.”