History Music / Coldplay

* ProtestSong: "Violet Hill", which also offers a bit of a TakeThat with the line "And a [[Creator/FoxNewsChannel fox]] became God".

* TheCoverChangesTheMeaning: As a tribute to MCA, they performed the Music/BeastieBoys' "Fight For Your Right" not as the typical firery teenage rebellion song, but a more introspective look into the mind of the frustrated teenage singer via different instumentation and slower tempo, about the clear feeling of powerlessneess he has dealing with his parents and school in his attempts to have something for himself.

** ''Ghost Stories'' ranged between ambient music ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQeMxWjpr-Y "Midnight"]], [[https://youtu.be/J-6IUdV2dos?t=6m18s "O"]]), piano ballads ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap-HeMIKi-c "Fly On"]]), subdued trip hop/downtempo ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7Ob2ltW_wM "Another's Arms"]]), and [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers EDM]] produced by Music/{{Avicii}} ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPRjCeoBqrI "A Sky Full of Stars"]]).

** At [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SyfRJdG3pA this]] performance of "Clocks" in Paris, around the 3:00 mark, Chris sings a snippet of "Madness", the then-most-recent single from {{Music/Muse}}.

[[quoteright:312:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Coldplay_coldplay_yalpdolc_784.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:312: Left to right: Will Champion, Jonny Buckland, Chris Martin and Guy Berryman.]]

[floatboxright:Influences:
+ Music/{{Radiohead}}, Music/{{U2}}, Music/JeffBuckley, Music/{{Oasis}}, Music/{{Travis}}, Music/TheBeatles, Music/EchoAndTheBunnymen, Music/KateBush, Music/{{Muse}}, Music/TheVerve, Music/JohnnyCash, Music/{{Kraftwerk}}, Music/{{Blur}}, Music/MyBloodyValentine, Music/ArcadeFire, Music/BrianEno, Music/TheVelvetUnderground
]

[floatboxright:Related Acts:
+ Apparatjik (Berryman)]

Their fourth album, 2008's ''Music/VivaLaVidaOrDeathAndAllHisFriends'', [[NewSoundAlbum changed this]]. [[RecordProducer Produced]] by Music/BrianEno, it rewrote the band's fundamentals, introducing experimentation of both the instrumental variety (ex: OminousPipeOrgan, honky-tonk piano, elaborate string sections) and the arrangement variety (ex: weirder [[UncommonTime time signatures]], unusual song structures). Despite some [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks fan pushback]], it was the highest-selling album of the year worldwide.

* TheCoverChangesTheMeaning: As a tribute to MCA, they performed Music/TheBeastieBoys' "Fight For Your Right" not as the typical firery teenage rebellion song, but a more introspective look into the mind of the frustrated teenage singer via different instumentation and slower tempo, about the clear feeling of powerlessneess he has dealing with his parents and school in his attempts to have something for himself.

-->''[[color:white: Now I never meant to do you wrong, that's what I came here to say.]]''
-->''[[color:white: But if I was wrong, then I'm sorry; I don't let it stand in our way.]]''
-->''[[color:white: As my head just aches when I think of the things that I shouldn't have done.]]''
-->''[[color:white: But [[HiddenTrack life is for living]], we all know, and I don't wanna live it alone.]]''

->[[color:white: Now I never meant to do you wrong, that's what I came here to say.]]
->[[color:white: But if I was wrong, then I'm sorry; I don't let it stand in our way.]]
->[[color:white: As my head just aches when I think of the things that I shouldn't have done.]]
->[[color:white: But [[HiddenTrack life is for living]], we all know, and I don't wanna live it alone.]]

** Some of the early songs from the pre-''Parachutes'' era can certainly be considered this, given the heavy {{psychedelic|rock}} and {[dream pop}} influences the band had in the early days.

+ Music/{{Radiohead}}
+ Music/{{U2}}
+ Music/JeffBuckley
+ Music/{{Oasis}}
+ Music/{{Travis}}
+ Music/TheBeatles
+ Music/EchoAndTheBunnymen
+ Music/KateBush
+ Music/{{Muse}}
+ Music/JohnnyCash
+ Music/{{Kraftwerk}}
+ Music/{{Blur}}
+ Music/MyBloodyValentine
+ Music/ArcadeFire
+ Music/BrianEno
+ Music/VelvetUnderground

* {{Cyberpunk}}: The music video for “Higher Power” has elements of this, taking place in a NeonCity on a [[LandfillBeyondTheStars planet filled with trash]] that has advanced technology. Outside of the city, mountains of rubbish and debris cover as far as the eye can see.

* {{Disco}}: "Adventure of a Lifetime" has shades of this.

* EitherOrTitle: ''Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends''.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: "Higher Power" is a clean all-ages song. However, near the beginning of the music video, Chris walks in front of a sign written in Kaotican. If pausing to translate, it reads "SEXSHOP." The sign is more visible and doubles as a FreezeFrameBonus at 1:21.

* LandfillBeyondTheStars: In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPT3mGNoULk this interview]], Chris Martin describes the fictional planet Kaotica as covered with the trash of surrounding planets.

* LongRunnerLineUp: Twenty-five years and counting. Considering they've announced their intention to retire in a couple of years, a good candidate for this trope's LogicalExtreme

* NeonCity: The setting for the “Higher Power” music video.

* IncrediblyLamePun: Expect Chris Martin to make ''many'' of these about a certain color whenever "Yellow" is brought up in an interview.

After forming in 1996 at university and issuing several low-key releases during the back-end of the '90s, they hit the big time in 2000 with the [[BreakthroughHit breakthrough success]] of their single "Yellow", which would later be included on their debut album, ''Music/{{Parachutes}}''. The rest of their oeuvre leading up to the mid-2000s -- ''Music/ARushOfBloodToTheHead'' and ''X&Y'' -- continued the success, but also gave the band a reputation for [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks their songs sounding too similar]] (the singles "Speed of Sound" and "Clocks" being frequently singled out for comparison).