This live album came out whilst Coldplay was becoming an established band to pay attention to, both becoming commercially successful and critically acclaimed from their first two album releases, Parachutes (2000) and A Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002). These numbers were recorded in Sydney, Australia over two nights in July 2003 and although this wasn’t the first real live offering by Coldplay, it is historically significant nonetheless as their first major live album. If anything, this should be an impressive listen given the fact that many people consider Coldplay’s first two albums of material their absolute best. Let’s hear this live album and we shall hear where it takes us.

Politik begins with crowd cheering and keyboards, sounding very promising from the start. This is a good introduction to the music at hand. These keyboard melodies play on for some time, and the crowd cheer enthusiastically. Soon enough, the band launches into the main song at hand. Chris Martin sings nicely over the top of it all, and his voice is in okay shape here. The music, piano playing and singing are all fantastic. You can definitely hear the accuracy and professional nature of Coldplay as a band. This is a classic song, done very well by Coldplay. Sure, Chris Martin himself is not the best singer ever in the history of music, but he does very well on this piece. The mixture of beautiful music, singing and lyricism makes for a decent listening experience overall. A good and symphonic mixture of music that, although has Chris Martin’s voice wobbling a bit, sounds very sweet and monumental. The second half has that key change, which makes it sound very magical as a song. A good listen from the live Coldplay band, although the recorded version has a better vocal performance. The rest of the band plays some gorgeous and magical music for all Coldplay fans to enjoy. Some vocal harmonies that are improvised are on this tune near the end, just before this wraps up with layered keyboard and piano to conclude. Decent. The crowd approves. Chris Martin introduces the next song.

God Put A Smile Upon Your Face begins with the capo-added strummed acoustic guitar, and the audience claps along with this. Chris Martin sings nicely here, and his vocals are inseparable from the music at hand. This is a classic song that is nicely delivered in a live setting by Coldplay. The electric guitar sound present is also very, very good. This is likely somewhat rawer and a bit more cohesive than the recorded version. It still retains the original Coldplay magic that one hopes to hear. Very, very catchy. Coldplay are very good and professional at the music that they make, although some may argue it is not as good as their role models that they musically looked up to. Still, Chris Martin sings well and the guitar work also definitely deserves listening to. A very solid live performance by Coldplay overall, and this is a good live performance so far. In the breakdown, the crowd goes nuts and the build-up to the finale is fantastic. Admittedly, the album version is a bit noticeably more textured but overall, this is a good live performance. It ends with a good mixture of acoustic strumming and vocal performance. A pleasant listening experience.

A Rush Of Blood To The Head begins the song from the second album with slide guitar and atmospheric and dreamy sounds. It sounds very different from the album version, that is for sure. Soon enough, acoustic guitar strumming enters and Chris Martin sings about the psychological impulses that we all have at times, set to his typical storytelling mode. He sings with a clear delivery and emotional passion throughout. This is a very good listening experience, although the album itself is a deeper and more textured sonic experience. This is not the best song from their second album, but that is forgivable as this performance is good throughout. A stunning listen that sounds loud, intense and beautiful, all in one. The slide guitar present is very much along the lines of U2’s The Joshua Tree (1987) album. A really pretty and different listen about the circumstances that humanity deals with, all in a Pop/Rock majestic piece of music. “Blame it all upon a rush of blood to the head…” indeed. This sounds very good, even if this song isn’t the greatest from early Coldplay songs. Chris Martin’s voice sounds very close to the original recording, and the slide guitar throughout is very sweet. A good listen and a song worth remembering by Coldplay. The outro has some sweet organ and guitar to conclude with, a nice touch overall. The piano finale is different as well, a timely reminder of what humanity can achieve. This segues into the next track.

One I Love is a track that is not on either of Coldplay’s first two albums. It launches into action with a clacking of drumsticks and enters into a nice piece of music with strummed electric guitars and pounding drums to match. This is a good surprise. Chris Martin sings nicely about love and romantic ideals. To be fair, this is not a particularly noteworthy nor special musical listen, and quite probably a good thing that this never made it onto a Coldplay album. Nonetheless, this song is possibly worth skipping and it does have overtones of Joy Division about it with its Love Will Tear Us Apart sort of message. In any case, worse has been done in the history of music, but better has also definitely been done as well. This seems like filler after a while, which it likely is on this album. It’s not outright bad but it lacks magic and sounds rather ordinary. The guitar work throughout is good, however. This song would have been better if it were cut down in length as well. Nonetheless, it finishes after nearly five minutes in length. Okay, but nothing special here.

See You Soon begins with some loose acoustic guitar playing, before launching into a very early Coldplay song. This is a rarity from these guys. Chris Martin sings sweetly over the top of it all, and he puts his Mr. Nice Guy image right into the lyrics of the music and his singing throughout here. This is a very good listen and is a nice improvement from the song before it. A reassuring listening experience that proves that music needn’t have overt complexity or layers of instrumentation to take one’s ear. A short three-minute long live performance with some violining-styled electric guitar added and harmonies to match. Very cool to listen to, and a gorgeous piece of simple, small-town-styled music. It ends with crowd applause.

Shiver is from the first Coldplay album. It begins with strummed guitars (both acoustic and electric) and launches into a rawer, live version of the classic tune by the group. This does lack some of the atmospheric production from the album but does have the crowd singing along nicely as well. A very pretty and lovely listen throughout in general, this music is good but the album version seems more listenable and magical in terms of sound reproduction and freshness. Still, this is a good live performance but the tempo seems a bit muddled up throughout, sadly to say (there is a section where the drumming is totally off). In any case, this live album so far is good but not mind-blowingly great. A good representation of what early Coldplay is like, but very much not as great as the album version. Still, hardcore Coldplay fans will enjoy this live performance, but perhaps not the general album-buying public. There is a chaotic electric guitar solo section in the second half of this song, whilst Chris Martin brings us to the climax of the song. Nonetheless, good but not great. It concludes with the final lines of the song and some quieter guitar before concluding.

Everything’s Not Lost is an eight-minute-long version of the final track on the first Coldplay album. It probably isn’t really necessary to add to this live album, to be honest. It begins with some piano playing and Chris Martin singing along with it. This is good to begin with, and it has the dramatic electric guitar and bass guitar licks thrown in for good measure. This is not the best song live as it is a rather slow and simple piece of music, a bit too much so for a live show. Still, Chris Martin and company do a fairly good rendition of this song. These guys definitely have good tunes regardless, even if the selection of songs and construction of those songs are a little awkward at times to listen to. This piano ballad continues on for some time, and the performance overall is very good. The singalong harmony part is quite nice to hear, but by this point, it is fairly clear to the listener that seeking out a studio album of Coldplay’s music is likely a bit of a better bet overall than this set of tunes. Even so, this is relatively enjoyable. This winds down softly with some rather sweet harmonies by Chris Martin. The piano playing continues once he finishes here, and this tune continues. Chris Martin encourages the audience to sing the song along with the band, which is different. The audience does just that, and this tune takes a different dimension throughout. The band’s instrumentation then drowns out the audience singing along. A case of you-had-to-be-there, but interesting nonetheless. The piano plays on as this tune definitely outstays its welcome, and it comes to a close after over eight and a half minutes. A bit of a drag, to be honest.

Moses is a rarity for Coldplay fans to hear. It begins with some strummed electric guitar, which sounds catchy and melodic. This quickly enters into a good song that fortunately is a shorter listening experience than what came before it. Chris Martin goes into ego overdrive lyrically on this song, and again, this is not the best live song to place on such a live album as this one. It is energetic, upbeat and somewhat catchy, even if the lyricism is a bit off-putting. Musically, this is a good song but Chris Martin’s singing is not the best here, either. Regardless, this is good to hear as a rarity, although most casual Coldplay music fans would be better off hearing their first two studio albums than sitting through this live album, to be frank. Regardless, this is surprisingly okay to listen to. Chris Martin’s singing isn’t the greatest here, and the song itself isn’t a solid gold classic. Still, one can sit through it. It ends after five minutes with a prominent electric guitar playing.

Yellow is a live version of the early Coldplay hit. It has Chris Martin muttering some nonsense, before the band warm up into this song. By this point, this album is definitely not worth continuing with, really. The acoustic guitar strumming gets going nicely, and the crowd goes nuts when the electric guitar riffs enter and Chris Martin chants for the crowd to go crazy. He sings okay here, although he is not a naturally good singer and this song points that out. This is a good live version of the original song, but the album version is a much better bet to listen to. It seems that, for the most part, this album is a cash-making exercise for Coldplay. Yes, there are moments of good music here, but nothing extraordinarily special. Chris Martin wobbles and warbles his way through this song. Still, he could sing better than later Liam Gallagher in Oasis ever could. In any case, this is underwhelming listening. The song is good but this version does not do justice. Still, this is a highlight of this live album. It ends with some rather ordinary playing and Chris Martin’s singing to conclude.

Clocks begins with the piano playing the main melody and launches into a rendition of the song that lacks energy and excitement. Chris Martin sings this one quite nicely, surprisingly enough. Even so, this version of the classic song is best enjoyed on A Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002). Despite that, this is not a throwaway live song, just a different experience to hear that isn’t as memorable as the album version. Some fans of Coldplay will no doubt enjoy this, however. In any case, the harmonies sung here are a little different to the main album version of this song. A good and different listen, this is one of the better tunes off this live album. If anything, this album release should be a prompt for one to go back through Coldplay’s early musical catalogue and listen to that instead of this live performance. Which points out the fatal flaw of this album. Still, an enjoyable song to listen to is here. A good listen throughout. Better than expected, the outro is quite different.

In My Place launches into action quickly and sounds inferior to the album version of this song, from the start. The mixing of guitars sounds poor. Nonetheless, Chris Martin sings the hit single okay, although the EQ and mixing of the sounds aren’t the best. A sad reminder that Chris Martin does not have a great vocal range or ability, particularly in the chorus where he doesn’t sing it properly. Which is rather pathetic, to be fair. This is not the version of the song that one would like to hear. By this point, one likely should turn this off and seek out other material by Coldplay instead of this live album, or something else entirely. This is a somewhat disappointing listening experience as a live recording, especially as Coldplay is very much a studio-based band. Chris Martin’s singing in the second half is awful as well. Eventually, this wraps up and finishes after three minutes. The crowd goes nuts and Chris Martin gives an extended thanks to the crowd and instructs them to do what he says. No kidding.

Amsterdam is the final song on this live album. It begins with the piano melody and sounds quite melodic. Soon enough, Chris Martin sings away quite decently on this tune. Even so, this is better heard on its parent album rather than this live rendition. You can hit stop by this point if you wish and check out some other music elsewhere, there is nothing overly exciting nor dramatic to listen to on this live piece. The piano playing is good but this fairly average live album, a slew of good and ordinary moments, is not really worth your time, ears or effort to listen to. Chris Martin’s voice wobbles a lot here, and he proves himself to be a rather ordinary singer throughout this live album. Eventually, the piano part gets more intense and awful guitars enter and Chris Martin’s voice sounds dead. Clearly, Coldplay were not designed to be a great live act. A poor version of a lesser song by Coldplay. This eventually finally finishes around the five-minute mark and Coldplay finishes up to cheering crowds.

This is a fairly tedious live album to get through. Coldplay obviously rushed this release, likely to get some extra cash. The mixture of average songs and a lacking set of live performances points out that Coldplay was, at least on this album, better off being in the studio making music than attempting to recreate music live. This is only average overall as a result. Should you listen to this album? It depends on if you are a big Coldplay fan or not.

Check out Coldplay’s studio albums instead.

5/10