A couple of years ago Paul McCartney lashed out at EMI, complaining that the record company had become boring, comparing himself to a couch, and Coldplay to an armchair. Since leaving the label Sir Paul has lightened his mood and even handed out some compliments, calling Coldplay a “good little band.”

That seemingly miniscule statement might have been taken the wrong way if it was anyone but McCartney speaking. However, Paul once described another band in the same terms, and that band was the Beatles.

The compliment has to come as a huge sigh of relief to Chris Martin, especially after the group appeared on the red carpet of the Grammy Awards in Sgt. Pepper knockoffs this last February. Though, it must be noted that Coldplay’s album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends came away with the Best Rock Album Grammy and just missed winning the Album of the Year award while Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band won the Album of the Year.

In an interview with the San Antonia Express-News’ Hector Saldana Martin expressed gratitude for the comment. Martin and seemingly the entire group have remained mesmerized by their own fame. Martin mentioned in the same interview how he was blown away by a recent Bruce Springsteen concert and noted that Jay-Z’s ability to carry himself as an artist has made him one of Martin’s musical heroes.

It has not occurred to Martin, at least publicly, that he and his “good little band” are a big deal, a big enough deal to get Jay-Z to fly out to England to perform with them during there last few concerts on the Viva la Vida tour.

The two biggest groups coming out of the British Isles, without question, are Coldplay (United Kingdom) and U2 (Ireland). Although the groups are known for chart toppers in the alternative rock genre, for being Grammy Award winners, and as celebrity activists, the groups are really quite different.

U2 met as teenagers with limited musical proficiency and grew as a group, learning their instruments as they tried to become rock stars. Coldplay met in college after several of the members had already put in the work to become quite talented rock musicians (apart from Will Champion who learned percussion, but had previous expertise on the piano, violin, and guitar).

U2 came of age (in 1976) when their influences were groups like the Clash, the Ramones, and Joy Division. Coldplay came together in the mid-90s when alternative rock was replacing grunge. These two might seem to be the same, but they are not. Pearl Jam may have been playing in Seattle, but they were not grunge, Nirvana was. Coldplay took their influences from Radiohead (when they still had a little rock to their sound) and folk/indie rockers like Jeff Buckley and Travis.

Those different influences can be heard in their music. Bono’s falsetto fights magnificently with the guitar anthems from The Edge. U2 can best be melodic and expressive with those larger than life vocals. Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin’s voice echoes along the melodic orchestration behind him. Coldplay is perhaps best described as melodic, but with a more meditative touch, perhaps inching toward a blue-eyed soul for the rock world.

These voices sing of personal struggles, though Bono tends to move toward the more global problems that he perhaps encountered in Ireland. Martin sings of those internalized struggles, free from the conflicting society of Ireland. Just as both lead singers sing of struggle, both are avid activists, but even in that respect they are quite close to polar opposites.

Bono has received a steady stream of criticism for his quite outspoken pursuit to the end of poverty, war, and many others of the world’s ailments. Martin is as avid as a supporter, yet seems restrained. Which approach works best is perhaps difficult to decide since they both fight for the same causes, but the reality is that both are attaching their celebrity to ideals and that may be enough in the end, to make a difference.

So, which is the group is the greatest rock group on the British Isles, in the Western Hemisphere, and in the world? Their approaches, their musical styles may be at opposite end of the wide spectrum of alternative rock, and Coldplay may be conquering the world softly while U2 brazenly applies for the title of best rock and roll group in the world every so few years, but perhaps this is one genre where there is room for two kings.

Coldplay, the tremendously popular alternative rock group from London, began as a project by Chris Martin, the lead singer, and Jonny Buckland, the guitarist. They met during the first week of orientation at the University College London in September 1996. Over the next four years they began collecting the rest of the members and found their sound.

First Martin and Buckland were part of a group called Pectoralz. The early rendition of Coldplay added it third member, bassist Guy Berryman, after the two had met him in a class. The group changed names, from the Pectoralz to the Starfish.

Phil Harvey, a friend of Martin who was studying Classics at Oxford, became the unofficial fifth member when he took over managerial duties. The fourth member of the group, Will Champion, was the last to join. Champion originally had no real experience as a drummer, but his background and proficiency with a number of instruments (piano, violin, guitar, and bass) proved helpful as he learned to play.

Starfish became Coldplay at the suggestion of Tim Crompton. Crompton was a local student that had been using the name for his own group. Coldplay almost added a fifth member to play the keyboard, but Tim Rice-Oxley declined the invitation, remaining a group member of Keane.

The group’s pivotal moment came in 1998. Martin was upset over the level of control practiced by the promoters throughout Camden. Harvey, until then simply associated with the group, suggested that the band throw its own concert. It was at this concert that Harvey truly became the manager of Coldplay and that the band sold its first albums, selling 50 copies of the Safety EP.

Eventually Coldplay ended up on the Fierce Panda label, an independent label. They released the Brothers and Sisters EP, an EP with three songs that were recorded over four days in February 1999.

The members of Coldplay officially graduated from college in Spring 1999, and were pleased to sign a five-album deal with Parlophone, who fell under the EMI label. The new label led to an appearance at the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, the largest outdoor music and performing arts festival in the world. The group also released a third EP, The Blue Room.

The recording sessions for The Blue Room were a trying time for the group. Martin kicked Champion out of the band, but went into a guilt-induced drinking binge. In the end the differences were mended and decided that the group would become a democratic affair, equally splitting the profits and influence over the musical direction. The group also agreed to jettison any band member that used drugs, though not liquor.

The first full-length studio album from Coldplay was Parachutes. The album was recorded at Rockfield Studios with Ken Nelson as the producer. Coldplay began working on the album in March 1999 and finally released the album in July 2000. The group had modest success on the UK charts with the first single “Shiver”. The second single, “Yellow” rocketed to number four on the UK charts and, along with a headlining tour, boosted sales from an expected amount of 400,000 to 1.6 million.

Coldplay made the transition from a UK sensation to a worldwide phenomenon later in 2000 when they played their first North American show in Vancouver and made the television rounds, appearing on Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and The Late Show with David Letterman. The album took longer to catch on, but eventually reached double platinum status in the U.S., earning a Best Alternative Music Album Grammy Award in 2002.

The group began work on its second album in October 2001 with Ken Nelson returning as the producer. The album, A Rush of Blood to the Head, did not fare as well with critics, but was a hit with fans. The album, released in August 2002, had hit songs like “In My Place” and “Clocks”. The album went four times platinum in the U.S. and seven times platinum in the UK, peaking at number one in the both countries.

As the group became more successful, Phil Harvey felt increasingly pressured, eventually turning over managerial duties to Dave Holmes, but remaining involved with the group with regards to the creative output, for instance writing the liner notes to A Rush of Blood to the Head.

The group promoted the album A Rush of Blood to the Head until 2004, capping off the experience with a 2004 Grammy Award for Record of the Year. The next album had to wait as the group took a break. Notably, Martin and his wife Gwyneth Paltrow, had a daughter, Apple. Coldplay began working on the third full-length studio album in 2005. The album, X&Y, hit the shelves in June 2005. The album went on to become the best selling album worldwide that year.

Singles like “Speed of Sound”, “Fix You”, and “Talk” were mainstays on the radio, but the album was a disappointment to many critics. Still, the album sold well and earned acclaim at the 2006 BRIT Awards.

Coldplay had its first experience with wide spread criticism and returned to the studio in October 2006. The group drew upon its experience touring in South America and enlisted a new producer, the legendary Brian Eno. The result was Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. The album received rave reviews and was another commercial smash hit, peaking at number one in 17 countries and going double platinum in the U.S. and triple platinum in the UK.

The group embarked on a massive worldwide tour in 2008 that lasted until the end of 2009, when they will play with Jay Z (who had several recordings where he dubbed over Coldplay hits) on three stages in their home, the UK.