4. Mylo Xyloto (2011)
Probably the most underrated album in the band's oeuvre, Mylo Xyloto finds Coldplay firmly entrenched in a race to distance themselves from the soupy, atmospheric balladry that is undoubtedly their bread and butter (and jam and Nutella and...you get it). They'd started this path with Viva La Vida, but while that venture into arty weirdness seemed forcibly lofty and overly fabricated, they were able to incorporate some of that odd sparkle more seamlessly this time around. Now that doesn't necessarily add up to a "better" album, per se, but it certainly feels more comfortable. There are bits of daring sprinkled throughout Mylo Xyloto--such as the dark and fuzzy electronica of "Princess of China" and the spazzy effervescence of "Hurts Like Heaven"--but they appear to have made a conscientious decision not to make things too weird. It's "Coldplay weird," which is to say that their cheesy, soaring melodies are dipped into a big vat of Day-Glo vibrance while Brian Eno turns the knob way up on the guitar effects. And that actually works pretty well on the majority of the tracks. "Paradise" features a typically cascading chorus that is dutifully embellished with a grand beat and muscular instrumentation that was nowhere to be found on all those "classic" Coldplay tracks. It's underrated, for sure, but it's but it's still not an album designed to progress the band's musical identity very far.