Coldplay

Coldplay began at University College London with quiet acoustic songs built around Chris Martin's falsetto and Jonny Buckland's chiming, echoing guitar. 'Yellow' made Parachutes a UK number one and broke the band in America, and A Rush of Blood to the Head raised the stakes with the restless piano of 'Clocks' and the heartbroken 'The Scientist'.

With Brian Eno co-producing alongside Markus Dravs, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends swapped intimacy for strings, church organ and grand, colourful arrangements, and the band kept getting bigger from there. Mylo Xyloto and A Head Full of Dreams leaned into bright electronic pop, while Ghost Stories went the other way, sparse and inward.