A Head Full of Dreams

For the song, see A Head Full of Dreams (song). For the film, see Coldplay: A Head Full of Dreams.

A Head Full of Dreams is the seventh studio album by British rock band Coldplay, released on 4 December 2015, by Parlophone in the United Kingdom, and by Atlantic in the United States.^[8] Coldplay recorded the album from early to mid 2015, right after the completion of their previous album Ghost Stories, with a markedly different style and sound from its predecessors. For various songs, Coldplay collaborated with Beyoncé, Noel Gallagher, Tove Lo, Khatia Buniatishvili and Merry Clayton. The album was produced by Rik Simpson and Stargate.^[8][9]

A Head Full of Dreams
Standard edition cover
Studio album by Coldplay
Released	4 December 2015 (2015-12-04)
Recorded	February–August 2015
Studio	Henson (Hollywood) The Village Recorder (Los Angeles) Woodshed (Malibu) AIR, London The Bakery (London) The Beehive (London)
Genre	Pop[1][2][3][4] pop rock[5][6] alternative rock[7]
Length	45:45
Label	Parlophone Atlantic
Producer	Stargate Rik Simpson Dan Green Digital Divide
Coldplay chronology
Ghost Stories Live 2014 (2014) A Head Full of Dreams (2015) Kaleidoscope EP (2017)
Singles from A Head Full of Dreams
"Adventure of a Lifetime" Released: 6 November 2015 "Hymn for the Weekend" Released: 25 January 2016 "Up&Up" Released: 22 April 2016 "A Head Full of Dreams" Released: 19 August 2016 "Everglow" Released: 11 November 2016

A Head Full of Dreams received generally mixed reviews from critics but was a commercial success, topping the UK Albums Chart and peaking at number two in the United States, Australia, Canada, and Italy, where it was held off the top spot by Adele's 25.^[10][11] At the 2016 Brit Awards the album was nominated for British Album of the Year. It was the eighth-best-selling album of 2015 with 1.9 million copies sold worldwide, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.^[12] It was the ninth-best-selling album of 2016, with 1.4 million copies sold worldwide, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.^[13] As of November 2017, the album has sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide.^[14] It was supported by five singles: "Adventure of a Lifetime", "Hymn for the Weekend", "Up&Up", the title track, and "Everglow". A 5.1 Surround Blu-ray Audio version of the album was released via the band's website on 23 September 2016.^[15]

The album was promoted by the successful A Head Full of Dreams Tour, that lasted nearly two years. The following year after the tour's conclusion, the band released Live in Buenos Aires, which was recorded on the final two nights of the tour in La Plata, Buenos Aires.^[16] A concert film and a documentary were also included in a deluxe edition of the CD.^[17] A second live album entitled Love In Tokyo was also released as a Japanese exclusive album which featured recordings from multiple legs of the tour.^[18]

Background

Coldplay began working on A Head Full of Dreams in late 2014 after promoting their sixth album Ghost Stories. The album has a markedly different style and sound from its predecessors. In an interview with Radio 2 DJ Jo Whiley in December 2014, guitarist Jonny Buckland and bass guitarist Guy Berryman gave a hint as to the difference between A Head Full of Dreams and its predecessor – Buckland called it the "night to the day", comparing the style of Ghost Stories to the expected uplifting theme of A Head Full of Dreams. Lead singer Chris Martin hinted at the style of the album by saying that the band was trying to make something colourful and uplifting. He also stated that it would be something to "shuffle your feet" to.^{[citation needed]}

On 26 September 2015, the band performed at the Global Citizen Festival 2015 in New York City, playing a six-song set, including a new song called "Amazing Day".^[19] The band's producer Rik Simpson confirmed that the song would be on the new album.^{[citation needed]} The album was produced by Rik Simpson and Norwegian duo Stargate. Mixing duties were carried out predominately by Rik Simpson, while Stargate executive produced the album.^{[citation needed]}

Promotion

Tour

Main article: A Head Full of Dreams Tour

Promotional outdoor for A Head Full of Dreams Tour, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Compared to the sparse tour dates of the Ghost Stories era, Coldplay announced a larger global tour soon after the album release, which was more reminiscent of the Mylo Xyloto Tour than the Ghost Stories Tour, to promote both A Head Full of Dreams and Ghost Stories. The band performed in locations such as India and South America – more specifically Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico in the first half of 2016.^[20][21] They have since confirmed that pre-production on the tour has started and that the official tour is planned to start next year.^[20] On 20 November 2015, they announced the A Head Full of Dreams Tour, with shows in South America starting on 31 March 2016, Buenos Aires and a European leg were also announced for summer 2016, including four sold-out nights at Wembley Stadium in June. In February, the band featured a picture on various social media sites of a hot air balloon (a symbol used to promote the tour) by Glastonbury farms' main pyramid stage field, along with the date Sunday 26 June. Glastonbury organisers have since confirmed a record-breaking fourth headline appearance, having previously performed on the stage in 2000, 2002, 2005 and 2011. The band's appearance was then confirmed to be Coldplay's festival show of this year's tour. On 30 September 2016, after the huge success of 2016's A Head Full of Dreams Tour, Coldplay announced a new leg of the tour with dates in Germany, France, Austria, Poland, Belgium, Sweden, Italy, Ireland and Wales. On 7 October 2016, the band announced eighteen more shows in North America beginning in Aug 2017 and finishing in October. On 15 November 2016, they announced shows in Asia for April 2017, visiting Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.^[22]

Poster and artwork

Around 29 October 2015 anonymous posters were pinned up on the London Underground showing a geometric pattern, known as the Flower of Life, along with a note "December 4".^{[23][24][25][26]} Coldplay fans claimed that the symbol resembled the design on a T-shirt worn by Coldplay frontman Chris Martin at the Global Citizen Festival in New York. On 2 November, Coldplay posted the same piece of artwork as an animated GIF on their Twitter account, seemingly confirming that it would be the album cover and 4 December was the album's release date.^[25] One day later, they published another animated image of which the former was a detailed view. The artwork was created by Argentine artist Pilar Zeta in collaboration with the band. Oli Sykes, lead singer of British post-hardcore band Bring Me the Horizon, suggested that the flower of life symbol Coldplay used was similar to that of the design of Bring Me the Horizon's 2013 album Sempiternal. Sykes took to Twitter accusing Coldplay of "jackin our steez". He did however clarify in a NME interview that the "flower of life" is a universal symbol and has meanings across the world, none of which he owns the rights to. He also specifies that it had meaning to him and that he is simply acknowledging the symbol being spread and is happy for its doing so.^[27]

Live performances

At the Global Citizen Festival in New York Coldplay performed six songs, ending with the live debut of a new song, "Amazing Day", which was also performed at TFI Friday, where they played four songs including the live debut of "Adventure of a Lifetime". During their concert at Belasco Theater, in Los Angeles, they performed four new songs, including the live debut of "A Head Full of Dreams" and "Up&Up". On 24 November, Coldplay published short snippets of each new song via Instagram, at hourly intervals.^[28] On 7 February 2016, the band headlined the Super Bowl 50 halftime show.^{[citation needed]}

Singles

"Adventure of a Lifetime", was released on 6 November 2015 as the album's lead single,^[8] the music video came out on 29 November 2015.^[29] "Everglow" then premiered on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 radio show on 26 November 2015 and released as a promotional single on the following day.^[30] "Hymn for the Weekend" was released as the second single for the album on 25 January 2016.^[31] The band received criticism from certain media outlets for the portrayal of Indian society in its music video.^[32] The third single, "Up&Up", was released on 22 April 2016,^[33] while "A Head Full of Dreams" arrived on 19 August 2016 with an accompanying music video.^[34] A stripped-down version of "Everglow", which was inspired by Martin's unrehearsed solo performance of the song due to a technical mishap at Glastonbury Festival, was released as the fifth and final single on 11 November 2016.^[35]

Critical reception

Reviews

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	5.5/10[36]
Metacritic	60/100[37]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[38]
Chicago Tribune	[39]
The Daily Telegraph	[40]
The Guardian	[41]
The Independent	[42]
NME	4/5[43]
Pitchfork	4.8/10[44]
Q	[45]
Rolling Stone	[46]
Spin	6/10[47]

A Head Full of Dreams received generally mixed reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating from mainstream critics' reviews, the album has a score of 60 out of 100 based on 27 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[37] Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone wrote that A Head Full of Dreams "might be Coldplay's brightest album ever" and concluded: "He's [Chris Martin] hinted that this could be Coldplay's last album; if so, they're going out on a sustained note of grace."^[46] Barry Nicolson of NME called it "the most satisfying collection of songs they've written in years".^[43]

Alexis Petridis of The Guardian felt that A Head Full of Dreams "is frustratingly blighted by the sense that Coldplay haven't fully committed to the album's big idea" and remarked: "It's a moot point whether that's a sign of innate conservatism or of a band that know exactly what they are doing, who understand that you won't keep packing out those Midwestern sports stadiums if you frighten the horses."^[41] Citing the band's unwillingness to stray from their tried and true formula, Ian Gormely of Exclaim! wrote that "A Head Full of Dreams might have been a poptimist masterpiece. Instead, it's just another Coldplay album, with all the baggage — both positive and negative — that entails."^[48]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album 3.5/5 stars and acknowledged that "[the] message [that there's a big, bright, beautiful world just waiting to be discovered if you just open your heart and live a little] is unabashedly corny", but ultimately concluded that "under the stewardship of Chris Martin, Coldplay cheerfully embrace the cheese, ratcheting up both the sparkle and the sentiment so the album feels genuine in its embrace of eternal middle-aged clichés."^[38]

In a 1/5 star review in Truck & Driver's regular music reviews Shaun Connors queried "why such boring wishy-washy material has been successful," commenting the reasoning for this defeats all rational explanation. He continued: "With this latest collection of tedium there are contributions from Beyoncé (a so-so vocalist) and Noel Gallagher (a not even so-so guitarist)," to conclude with: "On the basis of this album, they've either run out of ideas or bored themselves senseless (or both)..."^[49] Under the Radar's Scott Dransfield panned the album as "insufferably bland at best and downright offensive at worst" and awarded it 2/10 stars.^[50]

Year-end lists

A Head Full of Dreams on select year-end lists

Publisher	Listicle	Rank	Ref.
Correio Braziliense	15 Best Albums of 2015	Placed	[51]
Daily Record	20 Best Albums of 2015	16	[52]
Entertainment Weekly	The 50 Best Albums of 2015	29	[53]
Europe 2	Top 10 Best Albums of 2015	Placed	[54]
NME	Albums of the Year 2015	35	[55]
Panorama	The 15 Best Albums of 2015	2	[56]
People	Best Albums of 2015	9	[57]
Tidal	Albums of the Year 2015	Placed	[58]
Variance	The 50 Best Albums of 2015	24	[59]
Yahoo!	Paul Grein's Best Albums of 2015	5	[60]

Accolades

Awards and nominations for A Head Full of Dreams

Year	Ceremony	Category	Result	Ref.
2016	BBC Music Awards	Album of the Year	Nominated	[61]
	Billboard Music Awards	Top Rock Album	Nominated	[62]
	Brit Awards	British Album of the Year	Nominated	[63]
	Hungarian Music Awards	Alternative Music Album of the Year	Nominated	[64]
	Los 40 Music Awards	International Album of the Year	Nominated	[65]
	Q Awards	Best Album	Nominated	[66]
	Žebřík Music Awards	Best Foreign Album	Nominated	[67]
2017	Juno Awards	International Album of the Year	Won	[68]
	Swiss Music Awards	Best International Album	Won	[69]
	TEC Awards	Record Production / Album	Nominated	[70]

Commercial performance

A Head Full of Dreams debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart with 235,975 copies sold, behind Adele's 25.^[71] It was their highest first-week album sales since 2008's Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, which sold 302,074 copies in its first week.^[71] Had A Head Full of Dreams debuted atop the UK Albums Chart, it would have made Coldplay only the second band in the UK chart history (after Oasis) to do so with their first seven albums.^[71] The album did, however, manage to top both the UK Album Downloads Chart and the Official Vinyl Albums Chart.^[72] On 12 February 2016, following the positive reception and exposure from Coldplay's headlining set at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show, the album rose to number one in the UK after selling 30,146 copies that week. This secured them a seventh number one album in the UK, thus putting them second in the list of acts with the most UK number one albums in the 21st century; only Robbie Williams has more, with 10.^[73]

The album also reached number two in Australia,^[74] Canada, the Netherlands, and Italy, held off number one by Adele's 25 in all territories. In the Netherlands, however, the album eventually managed to reach the number one position in its 30th week on the charts, the week following Coldplay's two concerts in Amsterdam. Following their tour stint in Ireland, the album reached a new peak at number two in its 84th charting week.^[75] The album sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide as of November 2017.^[14]

In the United States, A Head Full of Dreams debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 on the issue dating 26 December 2015, with 210,000 equivalent album units, behind Adele's 25.^[76] It was the second-best-selling album of the week, selling 195,000 copies in its first week,^[76] which is a drop from the 383,000 copies sold in the first week by Ghost Stories. In its second week, the album fell to number seven on the Billboard 200, selling 61,000 copies.^[77] On the chart dated 27 February 2016, the album returned to the top 10 of the US Billboard 200, peaking at number four, selling 90,000 units (71,000 in pure album sales).^[78] On 4 March 2016, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined album sales, streaming-equivalent and track-equivalent of half-million units.^[79]

The only country where A Head Full of Dreams managed to debut at number one was Norway, replacing 25. This enabled Coldplay to achieve there what Adele prevented them from doing in other territories; all of their studio albums reaching the top spot.^[80] As per International Business Times, the album's released helped streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify enjoy a revenue boost of £83 million.^[81] Singles "Adventure of a Lifetime" and "Hymn for the Weekend" charted at number 95 and 73, respectively on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart in 2016, making A Head Full of Dreams their first album to earn two entries on said ranking.^[82]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Coldplay and Stargate, with production from Stargate and Rik Simpson, except where noted.

A Head Full of Dreams track listing

No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"A Head Full of Dreams"	Stargate Simpson Dan Green	3:43
2.	"Birds"		3:49
3.	"Hymn for the Weekend"	Stargate Simpson Digital Divide	4:18
4.	"Everglow"	Stargate Simpson Green	4:42
5.	"Adventure of a Lifetime"		4:23
6.	"Fun" (featuring Tove Lo)		4:27
7.	"Kaleidoscope"		1:51
8.	"Army of One"	Stargate Simpson Green	6:16
9.	"Amazing Day"		4:31
10.	"Colour Spectrum"	Stargate Simpson Green	1:00
11.	"Up&Up"		6:45
Total length:			45:45

Japanese edition bonus track

No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
12.	"Miracles"	Stargate Simpson Green	3:55
Total length:			49:40

Japanese tour edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Adventure of a Lifetime" (Matoma remix)	4:13
14.	"Hymn for the Weekend" (Seeb remix)	3:31
15.	"Up&Up" (Freedo remix)	3:30
16.	"Magic" (live at Tokyo Dome City Hall)	4:59
17.	"Clocks" (live at Tokyo Dome City Hall)	5:21
18.	"Viva la Vida" (live at Tokyo Dome City Hall)	4:16
19.	"Oceans" (live at Tokyo Dome City Hall)	3:59
20.	"A Sky Full of Stars" (live at Tokyo Dome City Hall)	5:13

Sample credits

• "Kaleidoscope" contains a sample of "Amazing Grace", written by John Newton.
• "Kaleidoscope" and "Colour Spectrum" contain an excerpt of "The Guesthouse" by Rumi, read by Coleman Banks.

Notes

• "Army of One" contains the hidden track "X Marks the Spot", which begins at 3:23.
• "Colour Spectrum" is stylised as "".
• A tour edition was released in Japan^[83] and Oceania^[84] during the album's namesake tour, featuring a second disc with remixes and unreleased live recordings originally intended for Ghost Stories Live 2014. The location of the recording varied according to the release region.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from A Head Full of Dreams liner notes.^[85]

Performing members

• Chris Martin – lead vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitar (tracks 2, 6, and 11)
• Jonny Buckland – electric guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (tracks 3, and 11)
• Guy Berryman – bass guitar, keyboards
• Will Champion – drums, drum pad, percussion, backing vocals

Additional musicians^[8]

• Davide Rossi – strings (tracks 2 and 9)^[86]
• Tim Bergling – additional programming (track 3)
• Regiment Horns – brass (track 3)
• Beyoncé – vocals (tracks 3, 10 and 11)
• Gwyneth Paltrow – vocals (track 4)
• Merry Clayton – vocals (tracks 5 and 11)
• Tove Lo – vocals (track 6)
• Khatia Buniatishvili – piano (track 7)
• Coleman Barks – narration (track 7)
• Barack Obama – spoken word (track 7 and 10)
• Annabelle Wallis – vocals (track 11)
• Noel Gallagher – guitar (track 11)
• Moses Martin – tambourine (track 11)
• Rik Simpson – vocals, additional instruments
• Mikkel Eriksen – additional instruments
• Tor Hermansen – additional instruments

Design and managerial

• Pilar Zeta, Coldplay – design, art direction
• Phil Harvey – photography
• Ultramajic – photography
• Dave Holmes – management
• Mandi Bursteen – co-management
• Arlene Moon – co-management

Choir

• Nico Berryman
• Jonah Buckland
• Violet Buckland
• Blue Ivy Carter
• Ava Champion
• Juno Champion
• Marianna Champion
• Rex Champion
• Aubrey Costall
• Harvey Costall
• James Duncan
• Brian Eno
• Elise Eriksen
• Hege Fossum Eriksen
• Selma Eriksen
• Jacob Green
• Sophia Green
• Daniel Grollo
• Finn Grollo
• Kat Grollo
• Mathilda Grollo
• Max Harvey
• Rofi Harvey
• Idil Hermansen
• Isak Hermansen
• Apple Martin
• Moses Martin

Production

• Stargate – production
• Rik Simpson – production, mixing (track 1–4, 6, 7, 9–11)
• Phil Tan – mixing (track 5 and 8)
• Dan Green – production, mixing (track 8 and 10), additional engineering
• Digital Divide – additional production (track 3)
• Emily Lazar – mastering
• Merlin Watts – mastering
• Bill Rahko – engineering
• Miles Walker – engineering
• Daniela Rivera – engineering
• Tom Bailey – additional engineering
• Robin Baynton – additional engineering
• Jaime Sickora – additional engineering
• Aleks von Korff – additional engineering
• Laurence Anslow – additional studio assistance
• Fiona Cruickshank – additional studio assistance
• Nicolas Essig – additional studio assistance
• Olga Fitzroy – additional studio assistance
• Jeff Gartenbaum – additional studio assistance
• Christian Green – additional studio assistance
• Pablo Hernandez – additional studio assistance
• Phil Joly – additional studio assistance
• Miguel Lara – additional studio assistance
• Matt McGinn – additional studio assistance
• Chris Owens – additional studio assistance
• Roxy Pope – additional studio assistance
• John Prestage – additional studio assistance
• Kyle Stevens – additional studio assistance
• Derrick Stockwell – additional studio assistance
• Matt Tuggle – additional studio assistance
• Ryan Walsh – additional studio assistance
• Joachim Berose – additional studio assistance
• Will Wetzel – additional studio assistance

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for A Head Full of Dreams Chart (2015–2017) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[74] 2 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[87] 4 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[88] 2 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[89] 2 Brazilian Albums (ABPD)[90] 4 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[91] 2 Croatian International Albums (HDU)[92] 2 Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[93] 3 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[94] 4 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[95] 1 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[96] 3 French Albums (SNEP)[97] 4 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[98] 3 Greek Albums (IFPI)[99] 11 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[100] 3 Irish Albums (IRMA)[101] 2 Italian Albums (FIMI)[102] 2 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[103] 7 Latvian Albums (LaIPA)[104] 70 Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico)[105] 4 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[106] 4 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[107] 1 Polish Albums (ZPAV)[108] 2 Portuguese Albums (AFP)[109] 3 Scottish Albums (OCC)[110] 1 South African Albums (RISA)[111] 12 South Korean Albums (Circle)[112] 13 South Korean International Albums (Circle)[113] 2 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[114] 2 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[115] 3 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[116] 1 Taiwanese Albums (Five Music)[117] 2 UK Albums (OCC)[118] 1 US Billboard 200[119] 2 US Top Rock & Alternative Albums (Billboard)[120] 1

Monthly charts Monthly chart performance for A Head Full of Dreams Chart (2015) Peak position Argentine Monthly Albums (CAPIF)[121] 2 South Korean Albums (Gaon)[122] 37 South Korean International Albums (Gaon)[123] 3 Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for A Head Full of Dreams Chart (2015) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[124] 22 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[125] 50 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[126] 25 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[127] 27 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[128] 45 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[129] 9 French Albums (SNEP)[130] 18 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[131] 14 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[132] 12 Irish Albums (IRMA)[133] 16 Italian Albums (FIMI)[134] 13 Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico)[135] 37 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[136] 19 Polish Albums (ZPAV)[137] 29 South Korean International Albums (Gaon)[138] 24 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[139] 23 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[140] 61 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[141] 12 UK Albums (OCC)[142] 9 Worldwide Albums (IFPI)[143] 8 Chart (2016) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[144] 11 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[145] 40 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[146] 16 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[147] 12 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[148] 7 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[149] 8 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[150] 6 French Albums (SNEP)[151] 21 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[152] 32 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[153] 24 Icelandic Albums (Plötutíóindi)[154] 83 Italian Albums (FIMI)[155] 8 Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[156] 96 Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico)[157] 20 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[158] 14 Polish Albums (ZPAV)[159] 59 South Korean International Albums (Gaon)[160] 20 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[161] 9 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[162] 10 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[163] 3 UK Albums (OCC)[164] 2 US Alternative Albums (Billboard)[165] 2 US Digital Albums (Billboard)[166] 11 US Billboard 200[167] 13 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[168] 2 Worldwide Albums (IFPI)[169] 9 Chart (2017) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[170] 20 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[171] 28 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[172] 77 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[173] 41 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[174] 89 Italian Albums (FIMI)[175] 28 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[176] 39 Polish Albums (ZPAV)[177] 10 Portuguese Albums (AFP)[178] 20 South Korean International Albums (Gaon)[179] 13 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[180] 44 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[181] 53 UK Albums (OCC)[182] 48 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[183] 70 Chart (2018) Position Portuguese Albums (AFP)[184] 72 South Korean International Albums (Gaon)[185] 77 Decade-end charts Decade-end chart performance for A Head Full of Dreams Chart (2010–2019) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[186] 98 UK Albums (OCC)[187] 28 UK Vinyl Albums (OCC)[188] 65 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[189] 45

Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for A Head Full of Dreams

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Argentina (CAPIF)[190]	Gold	20,000^
Australia (ARIA)[191]	2× Platinum	140,000‡
Austria (IFPI Austria)[192]	Gold	7,500*
Belgium (BRMA)[193]	Platinum	30,000*
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[194]	Diamond	160,000[a]
Canada (Music Canada)[196]	2× Platinum	160,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[197]	3× Platinum	60,000‡
France (SNEP)[198]	Diamond	500,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[199]	2× Platinum	400,000‡
Hungary (MAHASZ)[200]	2× Platinum	4,000^
Italy (FIMI)[201]	5× Platinum	250,000‡
Mexico (AMPROFON)[202]	Platinum+Gold	90,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[203]	Platinum	40,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[204]	3× Platinum	45,000‡
Poland (ZPAV)[205]	3× Platinum	60,000‡
Portugal (AFP)[206]	Platinum	15,000^
Singapore (RIAS)[207]	2× Platinum	20,000*
South Korea	—	9,712[b]
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[209]	Platinum	40,000‡
Sweden (GLF)[210]	Gold	20,000‡
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[211]	Platinum	20,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[212]	4× Platinum	1,375,805[c]
United States (RIAA)[214]	Platinum	1,000,000‡
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label	Catalog no.
Worldwide	4 December 2015	CD digital download	Parlophone	0825646982646
		LP		0825646982158
	23 September 2016	Blu-ray		0190295917715

See also

• 2015 in British music
• List of best-selling albums in France
• List of best-selling albums of the 2010s in the United Kingdom
• List of number-one albums in Norway
• List of number-one hits of 2016 (Switzerland)
• List of UK Albums Chart number ones of the 2010s

Notes

1. Coldplay received a Diamond plaque from Warner Music Brazil for selling 160,000 units of A Head Full of Dreams in the country. However, Pro-Música Brasil did not update their database.^[195]
2. South Korea physical sales figures for A Head Full of Dreams as of February 2019.^[208]
3. United Kingdom total sales figures for A Head Full of Dreams as of January 2020.^[213]