Old Coldplay vs New Coldplay

[Notion]

I like them both

[I Bloom Blaum]

I miss the personal acoustic sound of Parachutes, but that's not to say I still don't love the new sound they've got. Coldplay then... Coldplay now... It's still the same four boys making amazing music and nothing could make me think otherwise (except perhaps if they do a few more collaborations with Kanye West and Jay-Z... Shudder.)

[loveintechnicolor]

For me the "old" Coldplay era reaches from "Pre-Parachutes" until "A rush of blood to the head" and I love it more than the new Coldplay because they made songs in this era, which were more edgy and not made for the masses. They just made the music that they wanted.

 

Since X&Y it seems like they are making music for the record company and to get more people to listen to them. The songs have a simple structure and the melodies are sometimes a bit too catchy. Too much electronic instruments. Even Chris' vocals aren't also the same like yesterday - he switched into a more clear singing style - why?

 

Examples:

"Fix you", "Talk" , "The hardest part", "Viva la vida", "Lost!" , "Lovers in japan" , "Life in technicolor II" , "Glass of water", "Rainy day"

 

You'll hear the huge difference by comparing these with old tracks like:

"Amsterdam", "Warning sign", "Daylight" , "Sparks", "Parachutes", "Bigger stronger", "A rush of blood to the head", "High speed" , "Spies", "Animals" and many more....

 

Don't get me wrong I love the new Coldplay too and they still have great tracks (Cemeteries, Yes, 42) but it was better when they weren't that commercial.

 

I couldn't agree with this more. :( IMO Coldplay have become too commercial now. Post AROBTTH, it felt like they started to try much harder to appeal to the masses. They were already collecting a massive fanbase by this time, and were becoming ever more popular - but to me it seemed like they were trying to hard. You know what I mean? I do love some of the songs from the X&Y era - I adored Fix You (regardless of it now turning into their most-overused mass sing along party piece), The Hardest Part, Swallowed in the Sea etc. and some of the B-sides and still love them today - but I do feel that with that album they started to loose some of the edgy-ness they had developed with AROBTTH... I felt AROBTTH was much more emotionally raw and complex. There B-sides then were in.credible too. IMO they've never made another A rush of blood to the head or Amsterdam. There wasn't one song to rival them on X&Y or VLV. X&Y's songs were generally more simple, catchy tunes. I felt alot of the tracks sounded same-y and the lyrics were not as engaging. I also totally agree that Chris's vocals changed post AROBTTH - his voice became more clear, his singing style slightly changed. I preferred it pre-X&Y. I mean, why? You can definitely hear the difference and it's not cause he's just grown older. I think he used to experiment more with his voice. Some of their very first stuff from the Safety EP I can't help being reminded of Radiohead. :lol:

 

I could not say that I dislike the new Coldplay. I love everything they've done the new and the old. They're still Coldplay and they're still amazing. VLV is brilliant in it's own way; I fell in love with them all over again when it came out. I owe this album to becoming a true Coldplay fan! Viva La Vida as a track may be considered "pop-y" by some but it's still a musical masterpiece. I've listened to it so many times it must be in the hundreds but I'm still not sick of it. The lyrics are great. Life in Technicolor l is proof that they've grown to a new musical level - they don't need lyrics to create something beautiful. Lost! may also be more pop-y and bold, it's an easily memorised anthem; everyone can sing along to it in their big shows... but it's such an upbeat joyful song and I love that about it. In fact, that's really what I love most about the VLVODAAHF album - it's got a lot of soul, it's really colourful and uplifting and I love the theme of life and death. The songs embody the title. It feels like a celebration of life - the pain, the loosing, the fighting, the love. I couldn't say that they've lost the emotion in their records that I find hits me in a way only Coldplay can because every VLV track effects me in some way. I mean Death and all his friends, Strawberry Swing... the first time I heard those tracks they made me want to cry just like Amsterdam and Politik and ROBTTH and Yellow... But I think that most of the VLV tracks are very accessible to everyone even if your not a proper fan - and this is why Coldplay have now become mainstream. They're more accessible than ever. This in a way is a negative thing. It can make them feel they're lost some of their musical integrity, the delicateness of some of their earliest records.

 

The trouble with a band like Coldplay who have become so successful and gained such a massive fan following is that it is almost impossible for them to keep the old feeling of intimacy when it comes to gigs. They're there to please the people in their thousands, they're no longer able to just play little venues with smaller audiences. They're in such high demand and the music they make is influenced by that because they need stadium rock fillers to sing to the thousands. With their latest tour, they've kept the most popular crowd pleasing songs from their past albums - Yellow from Parachutes, Clocks, In my Place and Politik from AROBTTH. They kept to the same setlist each time. When a band is smaller, it's not quite the same as they can be more spontaneous. I feel that because they're so big now, their shows are just that, a show that has to be as big as possible. Although I love the energy of the whole VLV image with the outfits ect.., I prefer more subtle Coldplay and I don't like how commercial they've become. Thing is, they're so big now, it's impossible for them not to be. :\

 

I'm really sad that I was not following them in their Parachutes era and I never got to see them on their Politik tour as I was only 13 and hadn't got into them yet. It makes me feel depressed to think I missed the chance to experience the Coldplay I love most - their earlier work is my favourite and I dream of watching them play some of their younger stuff from Parachutes. To think I missed the opportunity to ever hear Amsterdam live... :cry: I don't quite understand why they won't play some of their oldest stuff because their proper fans love it and remember it all. But I suppose it's proper because they feel they have moved on from their old stuff. I think that when they were making X&Y they were worried about not evolving musically, changing, moving forward. Bands feel they have to produce something different from the last or they risk going stale and creating the same songs all over again. They have to move forward. Chris doesn't believe they've ever made anything good enough to deserve the title of "best band in the world today" but I think AROBTTH is one of the greatest albums of all time! We have to accept that they won't stay the same and things will change. Although I think that X&Y actually was not half as good as AROBTTH, with VLVODAAHF Coldplay have definitely evolved musically. They're still Coldplay, but they've added another layer to themselves. I love how they experimented more with different instruments etc... The different musical influences and backgrounds. I think that the next album will take them in a different direction again. No album of theirs is the same, they all have different flavours. I'm hoping that with the next album, it will have more of a AROBTTH feel to it. But of course different at the same time.

 

So, yeah, I like both and voted so, but if I had to choose I'd say old.

 

ETA: ooops.. didn't mean to rant like that sorry. :rolleyes: :blush:

[juliejulle]

I love both their first music and their new music

... and I look forward to the coming music from them!!! :heart:

[nancyk58]

@Katie- really nice argument. That is exactly the way I feel about this discussion.

 

Roche, KeddieChan and JenFlor: Thanks for your comments. I feel that way too about the discussion. I like all sides of Coldplay - their music of yesterday and today and probably also tomorrow.

 

KeddieChan: I like your description of Beatles' and Coldplay's music(al) development. And Beatles developed more than their music(al) style - they also changed the way they dressed. Both their music and outfits / the way they dressed revolutionized the world.

 

I think that Coldplay is very much influenced by the Beatles and as a consequence of this, Coldplay experimented with their outfits and came up with the army outfits very similar to Beatles' outfits for the album cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band.

[tauiwi]

I think that Coldplay is very much influenced by the Beatles and as a consequence of this, Coldplay experimented with their outfits and came up with the army outfits very similar to Beatles' outfits for the album cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band.

 

I think Viva La Vida was the band's first glimpse of a 'concept album'. They obviously took the title track's theme for the album, and pretty much ran with it. I don't believe it was any real influence directly from the beatles as such, but a fun way for the band to present the album in a completely different manner to the way they had before. They took the themes of 'renaissance' and 'revolution' (inspiring the song, Viva La Vida) which highlighted and showcased the non-musical artistic talent of the band - and hence why the artwork, and outfits complemented each other to create a whole experience around the Viva-era.

 

I just find it hard to believe they will be wearing normal clothes next tour. So the Yellow balls have to stay in live shows, but does anyone think there could be re-appearances of the butterflies in future shows for Lovers In Japan? The song is certainly good enough live to be played in future setlists.

[Keddie]

Roche, KeddieChan and JenFlor: Thanks for your comments. I feel that way too about the discussion. I like all sides of Coldplay - their music of yesterday and today and probably also tomorrow.

 

KeddieChan: I like your description of Beatles' and Coldplay's music(al) development. And Beatles developed more than their music(al) style - they also changed the way they dressed. Both their music and outfits / the way they dressed revolutionized the world.

 

I think that Coldplay is very much influenced by the Beatles and as a consequence of this, Coldplay experimented with their outfits and came up with the army outfits very similar to Beatles' outfits for the album cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band.

 

Yeah you're right, I forgot about the whoel wardrobe thing, thanks for adding that:)

[analoeskah]

When the Parachutes-era was, I was 4.

When A Rush Of Blood To The Head-era was, I was 6 anf 7..

When X&Y was I was 9 and 10.

And in the X&Y thing I became a little bit into Coldplay.

And I liked them then.

But I love them now, because I now know what they're singing about. When I was 10 I just thought: 'Oh, nice song'

So, I like it the most how they now are.

But I love the clothes from 'the old coldplay' :)

[WaddleBurr]

I don't know if posting on really old threads is against the rules so I will delete this if it is. But I think this thread is absolutely hilarious from a modern point of view. 

Oldplay vs Old(er)play, heck yeah.