Interesting, if not anti-coldplay, article from the Guardian blog:

 

The new Coldplay album won't be out for another six weeks but I can already tell you that it's going to be a big disappointment, and possibly their lowest selling album ever. The reason? Not the music, the title: Viva la Vida, or Death and All His Friends.

 

Previously known for snappy titles - Parachutes, X&Y, A Rush of Blood to the Head - this time they've opted for something grander. They may well look back and wish they'd called it X&Y&Z.

 

It's a little-noted fact that many bands who have enjoyed great success with a landmark album are unable to resist giving the follow-up a name they feel hints at something more sophisticated. Thus, X&Y is followed by Viva la Vida, or Death and All His Friends, which, according to Chris Martin, was inspired by a Frida Kahlo painting.

 

"It just felt right," he says. And, fair enough, you can see where he's coming from. On Planet Coldplay, where singers are married to Oscar-winning actresses and have the ear of politicians, everyday life must seem a long way away. They are a group of such commercial significance that when the release of X&Y was delayed, EMI Records had to issue a profit warning. When it finally arrived, it became the biggest selling album of 2005. So you can follow their thinking - why not give the new record a name that says something about the unfathomable place their success has taken them, however inscrutable and pretentious it might seem to others?

 

Sadly there is a sizeable amount of evidence to suggest that such a decision shows a band folling introspection at the expense of commone sense and, it would seem fair to point out, record sales too.

 

Just look at this list of bands who, having enjoyed great success with an album, made an introspective (ie, less commercial, less critically acclaimed) follow-up and saddled it with a name whose up-its-own-arseness will haunt them always.

 

The Smashing Pumpkins: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.(reached No 7; followed Siamese Dream, No 4)

 

Dandy Warhols: Odditorium or Warlords of Mars (67; followed Welcome to the Monkeyhouse, 20)

 

Public Enemy: Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age ( 12; Apocalypse 91, 8)

 

Fiona Apple: read the entire 90-word tltle here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_the_Pawn... (46; Fast as You Can, 33)

 

Transvision Vamp: Little Magnets Versus the Bubble of Babble (didn't chart; Velveteen, 1)

 

This is why I urge Coldplay to change that Viva la Vida business while they can; it's for their own good.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/05/the_perils_of_the_pretentious.html

It ain't changin' buddy :P you heard Chrissy :lol:

:rolleyes:

This guy is a dumb-ass!!!

and on the other hand we got

 

HOW TO DISMANTLE AN ATOMIC BOMB By U2... HUGE COMMERCIAL SUCCESS

WHAT'S THE STORY MORNING GLORY By Oasis... HUGE COMMERCIAL SUCCESS

THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON By Pink Floyd... HUGE COMMERCIAL SUCCESS

^Dark Side of the Moon isn't as wanky as VLVODAAHF, but HTDAAB certainly is.

 

This guy is a dickwad for saying this - I'll be pissing myself when the album tops the charts around the world (Violet Hill's already been well-received).

 

And, ya know, people said the same thing about Achtung Baby by U2 when it came out - stupid title - and yet it's the best U2 album ever, plus quite commercially successful.

What a stupid article. It all comes down to quality of songs on the album. The album title has nothing to do with its success. If the songs are classical, the album will be as well.

These guys are not pretentious...and we all know how Will feels about that...I doubt he'd have allowed this to be the album title if he thought it sounded that way.

that's a very superficial review... has the writer heard the tracks? if not, he can't say nothing about the success... his psuedo-scientific way to demonstrate that long titles cause no success is very stupid...

 

... and chris martin said, they don't want to become bigger, but better

Never judge a book by its cover.. well, in this case, never judge an album by its title! =D

 

I think that doing so would be one of the greatest mistakes a person could ever do. Makes me a bit sick to see how some people are so quick to arrive at their own judgements on things that they are not even sure of.

 

Oh well. I don't think he's heard the album yet, i mean the writer doesn't mention anything about the songs at all! not even Violet Hill! He's just basing his article on criticising the album title.

The problem with this article, and the main reason no one will really take it seriously, is that it tries to say that Coldplay are pretentious. That is laughable, Coldplay are very down-to-Earth. Especially Chris, who wouldn't even play his own record on the Jo Whiley show, because he thought that would be too presumptuous.

 

I believe he also said something to the effect of: "Alright, Violet Hill is coming on now, it's time to go do your gardening."

 

Pretentious? Wow. Has this person HEARD of Coldplay?

Mellon Collie is also a double album and often costs more. And still, it's considered a bit of a classic.

 

 

...I think Coldplay would rather come up with another classic than another chart topper.

yeah, that article's probably the dumbest thing I've ever read.

 

The author also did not consider another slightly ridiculous title..."Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"...not the most orthodox album title, but it just happens to be one of the influential albums ever released! Plus, it's an amazing record. Well, then again, it's the Beatles, so of course it's good. AND it sold pretty well; it still sells well to this day.

 

This guy's an utter fool.

He's stupid to underestimate listeners like that. It's almost an insult to everyone who likes music: you don't decide if you are going to buy a record based on an album title.

Greatest load of bollocks I've read in a long time, simple as.

To be fair, when I heard the album title I did a bit of a double take.

 

But yeah. This guy is an idiot. He will feel like a mug when the album goes to number 1 prettyy much worldwide.

this world has a lot of people who doesn't have same tastes what ever it is.

it might be anything.

if he says he don't like it doesn't mean that every other one does the same.

 

But for me I loved the title so much of its simplicity in the meaning about life.

and on the other hand we got

 

HOW TO DISMANTLE AN ATOMIC BOMB By U2... HUGE COMMERCIAL SUCCESS

WHAT'S THE STORY MORNING GLORY By Oasis... HUGE COMMERCIAL SUCCESS

THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON By Pink Floyd... HUGE COMMERCIAL SUCCESS

 

 

but those titles are not so stupid and with multiple languages in the same title !!

what!? What about Greenday's Dookie?

 

Dookie became a worldwide commercial success, reaching #2 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and charting in seven countries.

 

that's a TERRIBLE name for an album. It just goes to show that it's not all about the album name but whats actually INSIDE the album.

In short what the guy is saying is just because the new album has a long and unusual title people wont buy it and it wont sell. Okey dokey if he thinks so. The point in singles is to get the songs growing on people so they like what they hear and are curious what the rest of the album has to offer and then go buy it. No one is going to hear Violet hill or other comming singles and love them, go to buy the album then read the title and decide not to buy it just because the album title is odd. Is the person who wrote this a simpleton or something?

In short what the guy is saying is just because the new album has a long and unusual title people wont buy it and it wont sell. Okey dokey if he thinks so. The point in singles is to get the songs growing on people so they like what they hear and are curious what the rest of the album has to offer and then go buy it. No one is going to hear Violet hill or other comming singles and love them, go to buy the album then read the title and decide not to buy it just because the album title is odd. Is the person who wrote this a simpleton or something?

 

totally agree...in the end it's not really everything about the title of the album!...you can still went off and buy the "new coldplay album"...

maybe it's just one of the tipical(though I don't like to define genres) person who generally dislikes coldplay and one over all chris martin...and always comes out with those"married with an hollywood actress and father of a girls called apple and a boy called moses"..comments..

I don't think everything turns around a weird title I personally like it really much...lol though i admit it might be difficult to pronunciate for people who don't understand/speak english:P...but still it's absurd to foresee how much an album will sell only from it's title..!!!

The album now is #2 on Itunes US store, and it isn't even out yet! It's ahead of Madonna's new album.

Madonna's new album is a different story. The cover is shit, the title is shit and the music is... shit (although I kinda like Timbaland/Timberlake).

Madonna's new album is a different story. The cover is shit, the title is shit and the music is... shit (although I kinda like Timbaland/Timberlake).

 

But it was incredibly overhyped and over marketed.

Lol. Isn't mellon collie like smashing pumpkins best selling record? Also, I'd say it's their best. Violet Hill downloaded 2 million times! Even though it was free, I think it's safe to say Coldplay will be fine. Viva La Vida will sell like hotcakes.