why why why the radiohead comparisons?
Seriously, stop already with the Radiohead comparisons. This sounds nothing like Radiohead, not Pablo Honey, not The Bends, not ANYTHING EVER by Radiohead. Just because Coldplay's singer tries to sing in a high register like Thom Yorke sings, doesn't necessarily mean the two bands sound alike. Coldplay, for instance, sucks big ones. Radiohead is sort of a brilliant band. There's one difference right there, just for starters.
But whatever, you're not a loser or anything if you like this garbage. Lots of people like garbage even worse than this! So there, feel good knowing that you're not utterly, totally, hopelessly devoid of taste (maybe).

We Live in a Beautiful World
This is beautiful music. I distinctly recall direct comparisons to Radiohead at the time of this release, and I must say, I can draw virtually no comparisons between the two artists. Radiohead stinks. Radiohead is useless noise. Coldplay really delivers some beautiful, oftentimes powerful melodies throughout this disc. Sentimental moments abound here. Minimalism WORKS when it is executed correctly, and "Parachutes" is a testament to that. This album is extremely relaxing and even gives me the chills at times. Songs like "Don't Panic", "Shiver", "Sparks", and "Trouble" are tremendous achievements. Solid album through and through from a terrific band.

Yet another hit!
Coldplay delivers yet another hit album. Parachutes delivers on the growing quality of Coldplay repertoire. You won't be disappointed with picking this up, especially if you are already aware with what Coldplay did with their full album debut.

one of my favorite cds of all time
this cd is a work of art. listen to it when you want to relax. i used to listen to it to go to sleep.

it is beautiful. go buy this right now if you don't have it already.

"A spiderweb and I'm caught in the middle."
Coldplay gets some crap in more serious circles because of their sappiness and pandering to the mainstream, but at least on their debut album, they ain't bad. At times singer Chris Martin's falsetto can get annoying, but in general he fits the tone he's creating, and while the lyrics are never as deep or touching as he seems to want them to be, they get the job done without being too egregious. His piano playing can be a bit simple, but he can come up with simple tunes that are still effective and catchy. The instrumentation isn't particularly important to their style, but their guitarist is competent at his job of keeping things lively and nothing about the rhythm is bad either. Really, it's not bad music. Stop making fun of me for listening to girl stuff.

Like a lot of albums that aren't great but aren't bad either, Parachutes starts stronger than it ends. "Don't Panic" is short but lets you know what's up, with a nice, high pitched guitar line and pleasant vocals. "Shiver" is one of the harder songs because of its thicker, distorted guitar, but hard is a relative term with this band. "Spies" has an acoustic, slightly off-kilter sound, and it's pretty good at being something other than the love ballads they're known for. "Yellow" is the single that got them noticed, and it's a bit simple, but still well-executed and an enjoyable song. It's followed by "Trouble", with the nice piano and swelling chorus. Martin's probably the most obnoxious sounding on this one, but it doesn't ruin the rest of the song. There are some more songs afterward, they all follow the same pattern, neither painful to listen to nor really memorable. The only reason I ever get mainstream stuff like this is because I find it cheap, but I can still gleam some fun out of it.