Coldplay Greatest Hits Instant

A collaboration with The Chainsmokers. This is Coldplay’s most controversial hit—derided by critics as "lowest common denominator EDM-pop" but streamed over 2 billion times. The song tells the story of a child who realizes he can’t be a superhero like Achilles or Spider-Man; he just wants to be a regular guy who can hold his lover. It is a massive, bombastic, slightly cheesy anthem for the self-deprecating. In the context of greatest hits, it represents Coldplay’s ability to meet the moment, even if the moment is a bit overproduced.

The funk riff. Jonny Buckland discovered a weird, scratchy guitar lick, and suddenly Coldplay sounded like a disco band. Adventure of a Lifetime is about the primal joy of existence. The video, featuring the band as motion-capture apes, was bizarre, but the song’s "Come on, come on, come on" hook is irresistible. It is the sound of middle-aged men having the time of their lives. coldplay greatest hits

Perhaps their most technically perfect ballad. The reverse-chronology music video (Martin learned to sing the song backwards for the shoot) is famous, but the song itself is immortal. Played entirely on a piano with a descending chord progression that literally sounds like falling down a staircase, The Scientist is about the failure of logic in the face of love. "Nobody said it was easy / No one ever said it would be this hard." It is the go-to song for every heartbreak montage in television history, and it earned its place. A collaboration with The Chainsmokers