Coldplay

"The only way I can work out how to make an album is to just live it and breathe it every day until it's finished," says frontman Chris Martin. "For as long as it takes."

For their third album X&Y, the British quartet took 18 months before they were ready for the last-minute creative sprint to the finish line. But when you're passionate about your music, you do whatever it takes. "We pushed ourselves as hard as we could," explains guitarist Jonny Buckland. "We needed to feel excited, and we weren't willing to put out an album until it was right."

X&Y is worth the wait. It's a big album in every sense of the word, with huge songs that build to a massive, layered sound that...

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