The Eno Effect

[St.Gregory]

They should have gone for the whole package (eno+lanois), not just Eno alone.

Eno and Lanois together and you can't go wrong.

[illuvcoldplay]

every tear every tear every teardrop is a waterfall ........

[sirajlyons]

Brain Eno and Coldplay

 

You can tell Brian Eno has made Coldplay way better, ever since he was hired, Viva la Vida and there new upcoming album sounds like music gold, cause it is. So in my opinion Brian Eno is a part of Coldplay's success, thank you brian eno.

[42rock89]

Eno has been a positive influence no doubt about it, X&Y and VLVODAAHF sound very different yet the latter ended up being a very good album, didn't set the world on fire and wasn't as successful as X&Y was but Coldplay's best work is still to come imo the new album could be a masterpiece, we will have to wait and see :)

[Mrk]

^I agree. I would be pleased tohear a more "enoxificated" album (more ambient-like stuff)

Maybe short hidden tracks like this?

 

Has anyone listened to Small Craft on a Milk Sea and Drums Between the Bells?

 

[sirajlyons]

Thank you brian Eno!!!! :D

[Fix42YellowClocks]

VlVoDaAHF is their second best album. And easily the most musically diverse. I'm very happy they started working with Brian Eno. Sure. He may direct them more and influence them more so than Ken Nelson or their other producers but what he's helped them become is really amazing. I was afraid Coldplay would be one of those bands with 2 or 3 really amazing albums and then keep making the same stuff over and over again and get really stale. But they didn't because they wanted to get BETTER not just BIGGER. VlV is amazing. the new songs, besides ETIAW, are dare I say...even better. I'm so glad they agreed to work with Brian so they didn't end up similar to bands like Nickelback and AC/DC who make good music but just keep making the same stuff over and over, go absolutely no where and have almost 0 progression in their music.

[admnistramation]

I'll need to hear the entire LP5 before I can make a judgement call, but I wouldn't be against keeping Markus Dravs around.

[Skin&Bones]

^ Markus is awesome!!! The Suburbs was genius!

[Destrokk]

In my honest opinion, I think like VLVODAAOHF was really good. But hearing the new album isn't really promosing and I feel like they forgot what they learned? Like lyrics, variety and experimentation.

 

And yeah sure I guess it has a little bit of that but they just kind of used the same ingredients and I guess that's what they meant by "acoustic" and I thought it would be something like Lovers in Japan in acoustic or pff maybe even Parachutes but they just went in another direction in which I didn't really expect and It sounds like something I've heard before like a chewed gum and some songs I like but not how I like Sparks, Yellow, Politik, The Hardest Part, LiT 2 and etc.

But thats what I have so far I think I'm just going a little head of myself by just a few listens of their new songs and taking ETDIAW as my base of opinion.

 

But we're talking about Brian Eno.. Something was missing.

[Fix42YellowClocks]

In my honest opinion, I think like VLVODAAOHF was really good. But hearing the new album isn't really promosing and I feel like they forgot what they learned? Like lyrics, variety and experimentation.

 

And yeah sure I guess it has a little bit of that but they just kind of used the same ingredients and I guess that's what they meant by "acoustic" and I thought it would be something like Lovers in Japan in acoustic or pff maybe even Parachutes but they just went in another direction in which I didn't really expect and It sounds like something I've heard before like a chewed gum and some songs I like but not how I like Sparks, Yellow, Politik, The Hardest Part, LiT 2 and etc.

But thats what I have so far I think I'm just going a little head of myself by just a few listens of their new songs and taking ETDIAW as my base of opinion.

 

But we're talking about Brian Eno.. Something was missing.

 

It's not as different in terms of like cultural influences surely. But i think it is new in a different sort of way. And I don't think that's necessarily bad. I could see where people would say it's more pop-influenced. But there's no hip hop or rap or even collaborations. It's still the same four amazing talented musicians together. And I think the lyrics are some of the best they're ever written on certain songs; Hurts Like Heaven and Us Against the World are what I'm referring to. All of the new ones are at least decent lyrically. Minus ETIAW that is. :dozey:

 

What's your sig from by the way? Never heard it but sounds really interesting. No Lie. :thinking:

[Skin&Bones]

^I love the chewed-up gum analogy! :) but I have to disagree. I think... yeah ETIAW is pretty main-stream stuff with not enough lyrical value, but I really can't say that about the other ones I've heard! Hurts Like Heaven and Princess of China are SUPREME!! Charlie Brown and Major Minus are great... but they're not the best. Us Against The World is a bit mawkish for even Coldplay. I will be surprised if it makes it on the album. But seriously, we've just hit the tip of the iceberg! You can't seriously base an album off 6 six songs (one of which will probably not make it on the album, and another that might barely make it on)!

 

1) They might not have played their best song yet. There's a chance they're saving the best ones for the album's release.

2) You haven't heard the studio versions yet.

and 3) you haven't heard the album in it's full glory.

 

I'm pretty sure they've been experimenting. Have you heard Moving To Mars yet? That's an incredible piece full of variety! It starts as a soft and intimate piano intro and transforms into a loud space symphony with a 'Houston, we have a problem' voice effect! It's gonna be great. Just see.

[Skin&Bones]

its* lord I suck at grammar

[Fix42YellowClocks]

^I love the chewed-up gum analogy! :) but I have to disagree. I think... yeah ETIAW is pretty main-stream stuff with not enough lyrical value, but I really can't say that about the other ones I've heard! Hurts Like Heaven and Princess of China are SUPREME!! Charlie Brown and Major Minus are great... but they're not the best. Us Against The World is a bit mawkish for even Coldplay. I will be surprised if it makes it on the album. But seriously, we've just hit the tip of the iceberg! You can't seriously base an album off 6 six songs (one of which will probably not make it on the album, and another that might barely make it on)!

 

1) They might not have played their best song yet. There's a chance they're saving the best ones for the album's release.

2) You haven't heard the studio versions yet.

and 3) you haven't heard the album in it's full glory.

 

I'm pretty sure they've been experimenting. Have you heard Moving To Mars yet? That's an incredible piece full of variety! It starts as a soft and intimate piano intro and transforms into a loud space symphony with a 'Houston, we have a problem' voice effect! It's gonna be great. Just see.

 

My word! ^ How could I forget? Moving to Mars has some really good lyrics too. And that's three great points my friend. Very nice. (:

[Guest howyousawtheworld]

Moving To Mars is perhaps the best produced Coldplay song I've ever heard. Phenomenal bit of work by all involved.

[Cleggy]

Not really a fan of Eno to be honest. As soon as he stuck his nose in, Coldplay went in a negative direction. A Rush of Blood was genius and then came Eno and X&Y was created, which is by far Coldplay's weakest album. it was over-produced and the songs weren't great. Viva was a lot better though. Now Eno is taking an even stronger role in the album process to the extent that he's actually credited as a writer now. I'm not happy about that at all. I'm sure it was his idea to add those ambient layers and effects to ETIAW and Major Minus that ruined the songs.

[Skin&Bones]

^Actually Eno was only involved in one song with X&Y. When he came in, it was at the beginning of Viva La Vida. The albums before were then deemed 'The Trilogy' because Viva's sound was so much more different than the rest (thanks to Eno). But now, with LP5, he has had heaps of involvement... so we'll see where it goes...

[Skin&Bones]

And to give more credit to Eno, he did also help break U2 out of the box with The Unforgettable Fire. After that came Joshua which BLEW them sky high. I'm positive if Eno wasn't involved, U2 would've had a lot more trouble writing music.

[Abracadabra]

Not really a fan of Eno to be honest. As soon as he stuck his nose in, Coldplay went in a negative direction. A Rush of Blood was genius and then came Eno and X&Y was created, which is by far Coldplay's weakest album. it was over-produced and the songs weren't great. Viva was a lot better though. Now Eno is taking an even stronger role in the album process to the extent that he's actually credited as a writer now. I'm not happy about that at all. I'm sure it was his idea to add those ambient layers and effects to ETIAW and Major Minus that ruined the songs.

 

I can hardly decide which is my favourite Coldplay album which only confirms I like the band because of the band itself, and not because of who they work with (although it does matter and it does make an obvious difference-it depends entirely on one's attitude how one will take it). I wouldn't call X&Y their weakest album because there came some excellent songs out with it, like (do I even have to mention) Fix You. I don't understand completely how things work out in music industry, but I think the band wouldn't work with Eno if they thought it ruins them or if they didn't like his ideas.

[Cleggy]

^Actually Eno was only involved in one song with X&Y. When he came in, it was at the beginning of Viva La Vida. The albums before were then deemed 'The Trilogy' because Viva's sound was so much more different than the rest (thanks to Eno). But now, with LP5, he has had heaps of involvement... so we'll see where it goes...

 

Yes you're right actually, he was only involved in Low, my mistake. However, Low is probably Coldplay's worst song to date. I just think Coldplay have had an obsession with synths and sound effects since he came onboard. I hope LP5 proves me wrong, but I'd rather if Eno just stepped back a bit and let REAL producers like Markus Dravs and Rik Simpson work their magic with the band.

 

And @RegulusBlack, I think X&Y was a decent album, it wasn't BAD, but there's too many forgettable songs on there that aren't up to standard with the band's other work. Fix You is fantastic and I really like 'Til Kingdom Come. Swallowed in the Sea has a great melody but dreadful lyrics. Although I think the b-sides from X&Y are probably the best from any other era, they're much better than the album itself.

[footyfan10]

Haha eno was not in the picture at all during x & y. Nice try putting that on him. I can't wait for everything they come to us with. People need to get over this idea coldplay would be different without eno. It's not what he's done but what they chose to do.

[Skin&Bones]

I love Markus Dravs! Rik Simpson is great too. You know what I'd really like to see? I'd like to see them drop Eno completely just to see how they get along alone again. I think Eno really helped them break out of their artistic shell and I'd like to see if Coldplay would be able to make their creative bubble last without a producer like Eno to bounce things off of.

 

Producers like Eno aren't really a bad thing, and if the band likes him then obviously they're being pushed in the direction they want to be pushed in. I think you give Eno a bad wrap (rap?) for being too mainstream, but if you actually listen to some of his work, you'll realize that his music creates an atmosphere for his listeners. It's obvious that the two biggest bands in the world (U2 and Coldplay) sound alike. They both have this 'atmosphere'. I think 80% of it are the bands themselves, the rest is Eno.

[Cleggy]

Haha eno was not in the picture at all during x & y. Nice try putting that on him. I can't wait for everything they come to us with. People need to get over this idea coldplay would be different without eno. It's not what he's done but what they chose to do.

 

I'm afraid you're incorrect there. Eno was involved in X&Y. He played (no surprises here) a synthesiser in Low. And Coldplay would certainly be different without Eno, maybe not during Viva but in LP5 he's had a very strong impact on the recording. He's involved in the song-writing process this time which means he's contributed actual music to some of the tracks rather than just offering his ideas. Basically that means the songs would be different without him. Simple.

[Skin&Bones]

^I'm sorry, I have a hard time believing Coldplay would let their music be ruined by someone else. They are a very self-conscious band, and I don't care what you say ETIAW is a great song. If anything it's not the synthesizers that mess it up, it's the lyrics. The lyrics are somewhat useless for most of the song, and the only that keeps it going is the fact that the structure itself replaces any chorus with new verses. Guy's bass jamming near the end of the song really makes it awesome!

[Cleggy]

I actually don't mind the first half of ETIAW. It's not that bad if you ignore the lyrics and I don't care too much that there's a bit of synth action going on. It just gets awful towards the end with the WA WA WA WA WATERFALL part which actually had me laughing the first time I heard it. The way Chris performs it live just emphasises how mainstream it is. He acts like a rapper on stage. I'd much prefer it if he just played a guitar or a synth or whatever like a proper musician.

 

Their music has been no means ruined by Eno, but he's encouraged the band to experiment more which has resulted in adding far too many layers to their music that just aren't necessary. The fact that Major Minus is widely considered to be vastly superior live because it's more simplistic confirms this.