What do you lads think of this revolutionary imagery ? The album cover, their new outfit (they look like mexican guerrilleros), political comments in their lyrics ("when the future's architectured..."), the recurrent theme of "resisting the authority" (cf the new interviews). Isnt it a bit ridiculous ? Is it legitimate ? Let's face it, Coldplay is one the biggest selling bands of the planet, they are part of the system, they belong to the establishment. Their songs are used in Itunes commercials, the OC, Grey's anatomy and so on. Is this their definition of rebellion ? They said they would never allow their music to be used in a commercial, well... Musically, they dont exactly represent the idea of revolution either, their songs are quite traditional, they dont revolutionize anything. To me, it feels like some madonna marketing plan. New album = new theme, new outfit. I dont mean to say that every band should be rebellious but if you use the symbols of revolution and talk about resisting the powers-that-be, then you have to assume it.

 

ps 1 : I like the second VH video better than the official one, but they would never have the balls to release it.

 

 

ps 2 : I remember an interview where Guy said that VH was not even on the album until "the powers-that-be" convinced them 1)to put it on the album 2) to release it as the first single. Later in the same interview, the poor guy tried to explain that the song was about "resisting the authority", i was lmao. Am i the only one who sees a contradiction here ? :laugh3:

I don't remember said interview but I certainly wouldn't call anything on the new album that I've seen or heard pretentious.

 

X&Y was pretentious and ridiculous, mostly overblown and a huge vacuum. It had too much of a swagger about it, addressing what it claimed to be the most core values in everybody's lives, X and Y, in an abstract, obscure and unspecific way.

 

VLV, from everything that I have heard, has moved away from that in every sense possible. The songs so far, other than the title track, appear to me to be incredible in a very understated way.

 

I don't think, from what we have heard, that Coldplay are in any way trying to 'fake' a rebellion. The new songs definitely show a departure from their old material - to argue against that is to show that you don't much follow the band - and at a time when EMI are potentially in some serious trouble there will be some guys in suits on the phone to agents and band members absolutely bricking themselves. They've certainly not played it safe.

 

It's not so much a rebellion, and you're wrong to suggest so. The idea about this album is that they've abandoned all thought and care about what other people think of the music. They're not trying to produce something that demographic A will like and demographic B won't like, but just something different that they're satisfied with.

 

Coldplay have always been, in a lot of little ways, very different to most of the mainstream pop music people listen to. That difference is about to become a little bit more obvious. Stop complaining.

well said, Knotty, I agree with you on most counts. X&Y did feel like formulaic pop music, which was perhaps something they needed to get out of their system; they had experienced some reasonable success with AROBTTH, but I think they wanted to go out there and get all the #1 positions while they still could, which is fair enough I guess.

 

Now, I like to think they've matured slightly and, although they're always going to be focussed on the pop universe, they've perhaps seen it as something to take advantage of and write their own rules for, rather than something that should be followed rigorously. Speed of Sound was all-out pop in my eyes (and ears) in the sense that it was designed to fit in with every other piano-ballad-esque piece of soft rock on the charts at the time. I think they're moving in a different direction and making songs that'll stand out on the charts rather than fit in.

 

X&Y was pretentious and ridiculous, mostly overblown and a huge vacuum. It had too much of a swagger about it, addressing what it claimed to be the most core values in everybody's lives, X and Y, in an abstract, obscure and unspecific way.

 

VLV, from everything that I have heard, has moved away from that in every sense possible. The songs so far, other than the title track, appear to me to be incredible in a very understated way.

 

I don't think, from what we have heard, that Coldplay are in any way trying to 'fake' a rebellion. The new songs definitely show a departure from their old material - to argue against that is to show that you don't much follow the band - and at a time when EMI are potentially in some serious trouble there will be some guys in suits on the phone to agents and band members absolutely bricking themselves. They've certainly not played it safe.

 

It's not so much a rebellion, and you're wrong to suggest so. The idea about this album is that they've abandoned all thought and care about what other people think of the music. They're not trying to produce something that demographic A will like and demographic B won't like, but just something different that they're satisfied with.

Stop complaining.

 

What am i complaining about ? I feel you didn't answer to my post, you replied to some imaginary attack. I never said the new songs were pretentious, and I never argued against the fact that there is a departure from the old Coldplay sound. I'm just saying I heard them talk about resistance to the authority and I thought there was a link between the lyrics, the cover, their clothes and their own comments on that matter. It looked coherent to me, not far fetched. I dont think I am making anything up, but it's just my impression.

Anyway, i just watched a new interview and Chris said there was no theme on VLV. He said if you dled the first track as a ring tone, it could be a ring tone album. Thats fine for me.

The bold bit's the important bit. I think true rebellion doesn't try to be rebellious.

really hot revolutaries :wink3:

I think they're right in ...whatever they're trying to say or revolutionize..or whatever..

 

 

*drools*