Shiver

by

Coldplay

Edit

Following a couple of early singles in 1999 ("Brothers and Sisters", "The Blue Room EP"), Coldplay issued this first single off of their debut album "Parachutes" in March 2000. The single contains 3 tracks and runs just over 15 min.

"Shiver" is a wonderful mix of the band's harder and softer work in one song. The song opens with a great guitar riff, then giving way to Chris Martin's voice, then smartly intertwining vocals and guitars, with fine backing from drums and bass. Wow!

"For You" finds Chris at the panio, with the band eventually joining in gently. The vocals are hauting on this track (witness Chris whispering "For You" in the fade-out...)

"Careful Where You Stand" starts of with accoustic guitar only, with additional but sparse intrumentation later on. What makes Coldplay so good is the mix of fine melodies with smart but touching lyrics ("I am cured when I'm by your side"). This song demonstrates that so well.

In the tradition of Oasis and Travis, Coldplay issues singles that do more than rehash the lead track a couple of times. The quality of the "B side" songs are amazing. Both "For You" and "Careful" are not found on "Parachutes", so the bottom line is clear: buy this!

This is a decent single. What I love about Coldplay is that most of the time they put out really good b-sides; good, original, unreleased songs, not just some live track or dance remix. I wish the singles market here in the States was as large as it is over in England cause I feel we're really missing out on some great stuff. Anyway....

"Shiver" was never really my favorite of Coldplay's songs. It's not bad, it's just not as good as most of their others. Track 2, "For You" is not bad, it's a slow piano based number that moves along gently yet never quite achieves lift-off. The closing song, "Careful Where You Stand" is a great one however. It has a beautiful melody and a wonderful guitar part. It's definitely better than some of the tracks off of Parachutes.

A decent single, worth the five dollars you can get it for.