Here's how Spin first introduced Coldplay's Chris Martin in a story from our Noise section in December 2000:

Chris Martin legs his way up Primrose Hill like a schoolboy, bouncing a red-and-white-trimmed cricket ball from one hand to the other, eyes fixed on an unusually sunny London skyline. Martin's band Coldplay is the current darling of the U.K. scene, but he can't imagine that Americans would care about him. "I don't know why we're doing this interview," the lanky 22-year-old says, apparently unaware that for his first encounter with a U.S. publication, he's supposed to bust out the standard Oasis-style "we'll conquer the colonies!" prediction. "We don't have to take over the world on one album," he says.

Four albums, however, have proven to be quite another story. If Martin and Coldplay aren't already wielding the emperor's scepter with last month's release of the mammoth, chart-topping opus Viva la Vida, then they've already stormed the castle gates and have their swords at the current sovereign's throat.

So after you read our July '08 cover story about, in Martin's consistently self-deprecating words, "the world's biggest bland," browse these links to SPIN's complete coverage of Coldplay throughout the decade.

Click the page images for large views, and click the eight-pronged arrow in each enlarged image's bottom-right corner for an even larger view.

Quick links to Coldplay through the years:

>> December 2000: The New Nice Rock? Sensitive indie rockers Coldplay are Britain's brightest hope in a post-Britpop world
>> January 2001: Top 20 Albums of 2000: Parachutes, No. 19
>> May 2001: Live Review: Seattle
>> July 2001: The Empire Strikes Back: A New Generation of Britpop
>> September 2002: Review: A Rush of Blood to the Head
>> October 2002: Look at the Stars: Coldplay interview
>> May 2003: Live Review: Denver
>> January 2005: Coldplay: 2004's Band of the Year
>> October 2005: Live Review: Hartford, CT