Coldplay "A Rush of Blood to the Head" [2002]

Slow-paced, overdone and way full of itself, Coldplay's "A Rush of Blood to the Head" must refer to the effect of buyer's remorse its CD purchasers feel upon listening to it the first time. I'd be red-faced, too, if I'd spent more than a dime on this maudlin drivel. Containing all the pomposity of U2 with nothing approaching an actual groove, Coldplay lives up to its moniker by demonstrating something akin to "eskimo-pop": frozen beats, a petrified worldview and zero warmth. Each verse of every song feels like an eternity spent on an iceberg. Nasally challenged Steve Winwood-lookalike contest winner Chris Martin presides over this kill-the-party-dead volume of flavorless popsicles. Barring that you may have been snowed-under when this album was first released, there's absolutely no reason to return to it, unless you're remotely interested in hearing what Bono would sound like played at a temperature that would freeze molasses.