Coldplay

Back about the time that Radiohead released The Bends, it was difficult to find a more universally revered British band. But like its archnemesis, Oasis, Radiohead has retained only its most devoted fans on the heels of less commercially accessible releases. In its place in the mainstream: Coldplay, an affable bunch of chaps who — try as they might — just can’t seem to come up with anything as wildly abstract as Kid A. In that regard, the group’s latest LP, Viva la Vida, is a perfectly proletarian collection of arena Britpop that’s landscaped with Brian Eno’s sonic flora. One similarity the lads do still share with Radiohead: an affinity for cornea-scraping light shows.