Upon release, A Rush of Blood to the Head received positive reviews from contemporary critics. Review aggregating website Metacritic reports a normalised score of 80 out of 100 based on 25 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". This makes A Rush of Blood to the Head Coldplay's highest-scoring album on the website as of 2023. Many reviewers felt that it built upon Parachutes. Alexis Petridis of the newspaper The Guardian wrote that the band's "new assurance is everywhere ... the timidity of Parachutes is nowhere to be found". He concludes, "It sounds like an album ready to take on the world, and win."
