Everything this man touches turns to gold, i.e. Beck, Radiohead, Travis, the new Macca album. I think X&Y suffered without the work of Ken Nelson. I hope either Nelson or Godrich works with Coldplay on their next album. Nelson is proven and Godrich would do wonders as well.

i like this idea better than the timbaland producing idea.

no it didn't suffer at all it was just fine :angry:

this isn't the topic rick8 - i'm using my opinion to clarify the question for the thread.

^ Yes, X&Y was ok. The point here is, it was just ok... The current production doesn't bring out the best of the band... You get everything from the mix in equal proportions, both the good and the bad. I say Coldplay are lucky (or more probably, smart) this time, they called the album X&Y and explained it in terms of accepting both the good and the bad parts, so their production shortcomings can be viewed as part of the 'X&Y concept'. But personally, I so think that production really screwed up their album this time (along with quite a few other notable albums of late)... The music was actually good, but the production ruined it all. I especially hated that the loud parts of X&Y felt muted down and didn't achieve their cathartic effect like they should. Witness how good the songs sound when blasted full-up in concert.

 

I agree with ugadawg5 totally, they should have stuck with Ken Nelson. Yes, hands up for either Nigel Godrich (he's a production god) or Ken Nelson, or *shriek* both! :lol:

not really impressed by the timberlake guy producing but you never know he could get good stuff out of the band.

yeah i dont really like dantons work very much i think they should have ken and nigel work together, but i would imagine that would be hard seeing as how nigel has very strict opinions and stuff

Definitely Nigel Godrich.. If Coldplay plan to do an outbreak 3rd album just as Radiohead did with the brilliant Kid A, Nigel Godrich is the king to do that.. [being Radiohead's 6th invisible member..] or Ken Nelson [being Coldplay's 5th invisible member] I think X&Y suffered of over-produced work.. but i still love the album

Which 3 songs did Ken Nelson produce on X&Y?

^the lovely ken nelson produced 'white shadows', 'fix you', and 'x&y'

coincidentally three of the best-sounding tracks on X&Y - what if he had produced Low?! - that would have made it sound even better.

Holy shizzle... they ARE the three best sounding songs on the album

ye sthey are

^the lovely ken nelson produced 'white shadows'' date=' 'fix you', and 'x&y'[/quote']

 

thx... I dont think the difference is that apparent, to be honest :)

^ You won't spot the difference right away, but if you listen closely, you'll find that the songs have more 'focus', i.e. parts that are supposed to sound loud are loud, parts that are supposed to be emotional sound emotional- unlike the mish-mash of confusion / misdirection that is the rest of the album.

 

For example, Square One is a gem of a song, but listening to it, you get deflated instead of being uplifted as you so hope to be when Jonny's loud guitar comes in... Same thing for A Message and Low.

Youre probably right, but if I look at my points of critique as Ive written down before:

 

''Alot of songs, like Talk, The Hardest Part, White Shadows and Low, have boring, almost beatbox-like beats. [...] Square One, Fix You, Talk, Low, and The Hardest Part have the exact same bland use of the electric guitar.''

 

The songs produced by Ken Nelson arent left out.... :)

ya i hear you there - x&y just sounds so artificial

^yup, totally agree with you. i kinda liked it at first, not so much anymore.

I must be the only one who seems to like X&Y more the more I listen to it.

 

Anyway, I think bringing Ken Nelson back would be both good and bad. The good would be we know we would get a great album. But the bad part is that with him you would also get the same old Coldplay album; you would get Rush of Blood part 2. That seemed to be (at least from what I gathered) part of the reason they went with Danton for X&Y. I think bringing in a new producer with new ideas would be better than going back to the safe and reliable. Nigel Godrich sounds like a very good idea to me. Whatever they do, I don't think they should self-produce. They might not be able to survive it.

I must be the only one who seems to like X&Y more the more I listen to it.

 

You're not the only one. I'm also liking X&Y the more I listen to it... And some songs there sound so much better live e.g. Low :stunned: In fact nowadays I don't listen to their two earlier albums as much, they sound... incomplete.

 

After being 'forced' to listen to X&Y, I've grown musically and have been listening to more loud & complex music eversince e.g. Radiohead, Velvet Revolver, Placebo. Unexpectedly, when I listen to Parachutes now, that album sounds so raw... I'm hearing all the imperfections that I never did before, especially in their guitar lines. This has made me like Parachutes less and appreciate X&Y more. Their musicianship has definitely improved over the years, and even their old songs played live sound better than the original album versions :)

im actually feel a bit scared about the timbaland thing.. :/

Unexpectedly' date=' when I listen to Parachutes now, that album sounds so raw... I'm hearing all the imperfections that I never did before, especially in their guitar lines. [/quote']

 

I can never seem to listen to Parachutes all the way through. I need to be in the right mood because it's such a mellow album. I always end up skipping Shiver because the mix is just far too loud. It sounds like my stereo is on maximum volume.

I must be the only one who seems to like X&Y more the more I listen to it.

 

Anyway, I think bringing Ken Nelson back would be both good and bad. The good would be we know we would get a great album. But the bad part is that with him you would also get the same old Coldplay album; you would get Rush of Blood part 2. That seemed to be (at least from what I gathered) part of the reason they went with Danton for X&Y. I think bringing in a new producer with new ideas would be better than going back to the safe and reliable. Nigel Godrich sounds like a very good idea to me. Whatever they do, I don't think they should self-produce. They might not be able to survive it.

 

I think that doesnt have to be true... Coldplay make the songs, Ken Nelson would only produce them. Coldplay could choose to go in a different direction, but still have Ken Nelson as a producer. It seems kind of fair though for a band to choose for a different producer, indeed for the 'we want something different' reason.

 

But to be honest, I wouldnt trust Chris Martin anymore if he would say Coldplay was gonna make the best record ever. X&Y clearly wasnt. Its just not as diverse nor as uplifting as AROBTTH. I cant get through the album, because it keeps going slow and then speeding up to fall back again. And the climaxes are all alike. Its not that I cant enjoy the songs, but after a while they either wear out or become an annoying rollercoaster ride which Ive been on alot of times before. The instrumental promo's prove that it has to do with production, because I enjoy them a little more than the real songs, although of course I miss Chris Martins voice. But even apart from that, X&Y is a missed chance. Its as if they over-tried on each song they made and put what they thought were the best individual songs on one record, and Danton super-polished every part of it and made it sound bland and 'perfect'.

 

Coldplay is a hugely talented band still, but listening to X&Y makes me think that being one of the biggest bands in the world got to their heads. I personally think they should go to the core of what makes their songs beautiful (the melodies, choruses, uplifting sound which includes all the instruments), and from there experiment with different styles. Id love Coldplay to use different instruments for example. Like trumpets or a saxaphone, other percussion instruments, whatever... That would be innovative, right?

 

I have to be honest, Im a AROBTTH fan, and I wouldnt object to AROBTTH 2. Well actually, I hoped they would build from there, not copy it. But I did hope for a similar sound. The funny thing is, X&Y does have alot of similarities with AROBTTH. (Just not the right ones :D) Coldplay admit this saying (well Guy said it) they think of their three albums as a trilogy and wanna go to something completely new.

 

Im really curious of what theyre gonna do next... But secretly I hope theyll listen to Turin Brakes, Elbow, Doves, Embrace, and The Electric Soft Parade alot :P

for me parachutes is thre album that still is among of few others that i can listen from the start to the end without pause, and after x&y i started to appriciate arobtth so much more, and got to think of it as perfect, as for x&y i think that there were perfect songs that haven't been picked at the last round and that ruined a lot..if you just remember how white shadows almost got left beside..you start wondering..