Musical Style:-

Coldplay's frontman Chris Martin once proclaimed the band's music as "limestone rock" in comparison to "hard rock". The band's music has been called "meditative" and "blue romantic"; it "[reflects] on their emotions" and Martin "endlessly examine[s] his feelings". Martin's lyrical wordplay has been called feminist, similar to Andrew Montgomery of Geneva.

The tone of the band's first studio album, Parachutes, was described as melodic pop with "distorted guitar riffs and swishing percussion" but also being "exquisitely dark and artistically abrasive". Such alternative rock style has been compared to bands like U2, Oasis, Radiohead and Travis. The band acknowledges the Scottish alternative rock band, Travis, as a major influence on their earlier material.

In their second studio album A Rush of Blood to the Head, the band draws inspiration from artists like Echo & the Bunnymen, Kate Bush, George Harrison and Muse. The songs in it were considered to contain "lush melodies and a heartbreak" and that they had a "newfound confidence." The music on their third release X&Y has been considered to be "ruminations on Martin's doubts, fears, hopes, and loves." It was particularly influenced by the artists Johnny Cash and Kraftwerk.

In Viva la Vida or Death And All His Friends, the group's style was moving towards art rock, being influenced by the bands Blur, Arcade Fire and My Bloody Valentine. The band experimented with different instruments including orchestras, honky-tonk pianos and further so.

Regarding their international wide success, the band's president at Parlophone, Miles Leonard has stated that one of their "secrets" is that they have never sounded like a parochial UK artist, saying: "Some bands are very proud to be British, but sometimes come across as being very ‘British’. Coldplay never aspire to that; on one hand they sound British but on the other they sound like a huge global artist. In 2011 Coldplay were hailed as 'Rock Statesmen’.