Once Upon a Time in the Top Spot: Coldplay, X&Y / Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends

10 years ago today, Coldplay’s third studio album became the band’s first album to debut at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart… and then seven years ago today, Coldplay’s fourth studio album also became their fourth consecutive album to debut at the top of the UK Albums chart. In other words, to paraphrase the great ballplayer Chico Escuela, June 15 has been berry, berry good to Coldplay.

With that having been said, however, 2005’s X&Y was a slightly troubled album for Coldplay, with the band having to battle through some creative struggles, including an aborted attempt to have Ken Nelson serve as producer. In the end, Nelson only helmed a portion of the record (although he did work on “Fix You,” which went on to be a top-5 UK hit for the band), with Danton Supple working on the majority of the material, but that didn’t stop fans from devouring the album, nor did it stop X&Y from winning Best British Album at the BRIT Awards and earning nominations for the Mercury Prize and for a Best Rock Album Grammy.

Thankfully, 2008’s Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends had a less troubled inception (even if it ended up having four different producers throughout its 10 tracks), and it ultimately earned a more positive critical reception as well, with Entertainment Weekly going so far as to call it the best album of Coldplay’s career. One might also argue that the title track is the most played song in their entire discography, because even though we don’t actually have the status to back that up as being a fact, we’ve lost track of how many times we’ve heard those strings from the beginning of the track turn up.

To celebrate these two momentous moments in the band’s career, we’ve combined the two albums and called it... Coldplaylist. No, no, don’t thank us: it’s our pleasure to bring you the best in good music and bad jokes whenever the opportunities present themselves.