Maps of Music

A Head Full of Dreams (2015)

Where the lyrics of A Head Full of Dreams take you, and where it was really made.

The Flower of Life symbol on the cover drew a copying accusation from Bring Me the Horizon's Oli Sykes, who later called it a universal symbol.

Key places

Recording at Henson Recording Studios (2015)

Recording site A&M Recording Studios — The article names Henson Recording Studios in Hollywood as a recording location for this album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at The Village Recorder (2015)

Recording site Village Recorders — The article lists The Village Recorder in Los Angeles among the recording locations for this album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording in Malibu (2015)

Recording site Bob Dylan's garage studio (Malibu) — The article names Woodshed in Malibu as a recording location; the point uses the city center, not the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at The Bakery, London (2015)

Recording site The Bakery — The article lists The Bakery in London as a recording location for this album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at The Beehive, London (2015)

Recording site The Beehive — The article lists The Beehive in London as a recording location for this album, separate from The Bakery. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• A Head Full of Dreams: seventh studio album by British rock band Coldplay
• Released 4 December 2015 by Parlophone in the UK and by Atlantic in the US
• Produced with Rik Simpson and Stargate
• Features Beyoncé, Noel Gallagher, Tove Lo and Merry Clayton
• Five singles: "Adventure of a Lifetime", "Hymn for the Weekend", "Up&Up", the title track and "Everglow"
• 5.1 Surround Blu-ray Audio version released via the band's website on 23 September 2016

Background

• Work began in late 2014, after promotion of the sixth album Ghost Stories
• Style and sound markedly different from its predecessors
• Guitarist Jonny Buckland called the change the "night to the day" in a December 2014 Radio 2 interview with Jo Whiley
• Chris Martin said the band aimed to make something colourful and uplifting
• "Amazing Day" was performed at the Global Citizen Festival 2015 in New York City on 26 September 2015, and the producer confirmed it would be on the album
• The album was promoted by the A Head Full of Dreams Tour, which lasted nearly two years

Recording

• Recording began shortly after the completion of Ghost Stories
• Mixing was carried out mainly by Rik Simpson, while Stargate executive produced the album

Cover

• Anonymous posters showing the Flower of Life pattern appeared on the London Underground around 29 October 2015, with the note "December 4"
• The artwork was created by Argentine artist Pilar Zeta in collaboration with the band

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in London in 1997 by Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland and Guy Berryman, who met at University College London.
• Will Champion joined in January 1998; the group first went by Big Fat Noises and Starfish before settling on Coldplay.
• Signed with Parlophone in 1999 after the EP Safety (1998) was financed by lifelong friend Phil Harvey.

Members

• Chris Martin: lead vocals, piano, keyboards, guitars.
• Jonny Buckland: guitars, keyboards, backing vocals.
• Guy Berryman: bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals.
• Will Champion: drums, percussion, piano, backing vocals.
• Phil Harvey: manager, later creative director, often credited as a fifth member.

Career

• Debut Parachutes (2000) won a Brit Award and a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album; A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002) and X&Y (2005) followed.
• Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008) won a Grammy for Best Rock Album and topped charts in over 30 countries.
• Music of the Spheres (2021) included My Universe with BTS, the first British group song to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Over 170 million records sold worldwide; the Music of the Spheres World Tour became one of the highest-grossing tours of all time.

Reception

At release

• Received generally mixed reviews from critics
• Metacritic: 60 out of 100 based on 27 reviews, indicating mixed or average reviews
• Rolling Stone (Jon Dolan): said it might be Coldplay's brightest album ever
• NME (Barry Nicolson): called it the most satisfying collection of songs the band had written in years
• The Guardian (Alexis Petridis): said it was frustratingly blighted by the sense that the band had not fully committed to its big idea
• Exclaim! (Ian Gormely): said it might have been a poptimist masterpiece but ended up as just another Coldplay album
• AllMusic (Stephen Thomas Erlewine): 3.5 out of 5 stars
• Truck & Driver (Shaun Connors): 1 out of 5 stars
• Under the Radar (Scott Dransfield): 2 out of 10 stars, calling it insufferably bland at best

Records

• Debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 (issue dated 26 December 2015) with 210,000 equivalent album units, behind Adele's 25
• Sold 195,000 copies in its first week in the US
• Peaked at number two in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and Italy
• Debuted at number one in Argentina and Norway
• Sold over 827,000 copies in its first week worldwide
• Debuted at number two in the UK with 235,975 units sold in its first week
• Sold more than six million copies as of June 2018
• IFPI ranked it the eighth-best-selling album of 2015 and the ninth-best-selling of 2016
• Nominated for British Album of the Year at the 2016 Brit Awards
• "Adventure of a Lifetime" and "Hymn for the Weekend" charted at number 95 and 73 on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart of 2016

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Adele's 25 kept this album from number one in most countries, even though it reached the top in more than 100 territories on iTunes.
• In the Netherlands it reached number one in its 30th week, after Coldplay performed two concerts in Amsterdam.
• Bring Me the Horizon's Oli Sykes accused Coldplay of copying the Flower of Life design, but later told NME that the symbol is universal and that he had no rights to it.
• Coldplay headlined the Super Bowl 50 halftime show on 7 February 2016, and the positive reception helped the album's sales.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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