With the release of their debut long player Parachutes, Coldplay look set to earn themselves a place among the pantheon of big name UK bands. The English group's first three EPs were 1998's Safety, and 1999's Brothers and Sisters and The Blue Room with the band's delicate and intricately arranged rock leading to very understandable comparisons with Radiohead.

A sensational performance on the new bands stage at Glastonbury in 1999 led to the band being invited back for 2000, where it was generally agreed they stole the show. There have been suggestions that, as a result Coldplay will follow Travis's international success.

"Shiver", the first single released from the album Parachutes, was a UK Top 40 hit in February, and the second single, "Yellow", debuted at number four in England. Alternating between a driving electric guitar part and Chris Martin's delicate vocal line, "Yellow" owes a lot to the Radiohead school of songwriting, without seeming like a blatant rip-off.

Lyrically, "Yellow" provides a wide-eyed and innocent perspective on love ("I took my time, what a thing to do"), and consequently sounds refreshingly simple and relaxed.

The style set by "Yellow" holds true for the entire album. The opener "Don't Panic" shows a rougher, lower side to Martin's voice through the verses against a high chorus which proclaims very simply and believably that "we live in a beautiful world."

The title track is a folk number that rolls around for 45 seconds and then vanishes. It serves as a nice introduction to the difficult mood of "High Speed", a tune which pushes the concept of ambient rock to the limits.The high point is the closing track, "Everything's Not Lost", that grows from a vocal and piano introduction into an epic ballad.

Parachutes delivers an atmosphere of delicate control, drawing on the brilliant production of Ken Nelson (Gomez, Badly Drawn Boy) to create an inspiring debut.

Three singles were released from Parachutes, the debut album - Shiver, Trouble and Yellow. Hear the lyrics to the album. The album 'Parachutes' has not been released in China because of its inflammatory political content - the track 'Spies' being the main culprit!

The globe on the front follows the band onstage at each gig. This album was toured for over a year, with 4 United Kingdom tours being completed before the album was even on the shelves.