“Politik” by Coldplay

"Politik" kicks the door open on A Rush of Blood to the Head, Coldplay's second album, from 2002, and it announces a band done tiptoeing: after the softer Parachutes, here were heavier guitars and higher stakes. Chris Martin wrote it on 11 September 2001 with that day's attacks on his mind, and the band had it recorded two days later. All four share the writing credit, and they produced it with Ken Nelson.

Martin sings lead and plays piano and acoustic guitar, Jonny Buckland plays electric guitar, Guy Berryman bass and Will Champion drums and percussion, with Buckland and Champion on backing vocals. NME's Ted Kessler heard guitars and keyboards grinding together in a two-note smear before the whole thing falls away and leaves Martin by himself at the piano, and PopMatters caught a spacey, orchestral whiff of Pink Floyd in the bridge.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.