What were your first thoughts on VLVODAAHF?

[odeonmaniac]

i liked the songwriting and production, brian eno was a very good choice for a producer

[flickahidalgo]

I actually thought it was a good album. It was creative enough. Maybe I'm just a sucker for the whole historical aspect of the album. (If you want to call it that.) But, there are certain songs on the album that I liked but now I don't really care for them (Lost!, Strawberry Swing, Viva la Vida) but, I never got tired of Life In Technicolor, Death and All His Friends, and 42. :smiley:

[aarontennies]

I actually thought it was a good album. It was creative enough. Maybe I'm just a sucker for the whole historical aspect of the album. (If you want to call it that.)

Yeah, I love the historical aspect, as well. Somehow it makes the whole album seem more epic and more colorful.

[Corkus]

I honestly liked it better two years ago than I do today. Upon first listen, I was a bit iffy about the shift in sound for the band. After a few listens, however, I was convinced that it was the best thing that could ever happen to Coldplay, especially after X&Y kept things so similar. I really wore out the title track over time, though, but other songs like Strawberry Swing quickly climbed onto my list of favorites.

 

Of course, another listen to AROBTTH gave me a reality check months later, but I still think Viva is a great album. Just not as flawless as I once thought.

[Bluejay]

I thought: '' :awesome: ''

[RachieSound]

Another one of my thoughts.

 

"these lyrics sound like the words of God." I think I may have worshipped it.

[aarontennies]

Another one of my thoughts.

 

"these lyrics sound like the words of God." I think I may have worshipped it.

Well said!

[Arantza]

"I think I need to listen it a few more times :thinking:"

[NumbersGirl]

^ :lol:

 

EXACTLY

[Ahlem]

i am a fan of X&Y.

i like it much more than VLV, but VLV is also great.

i am a Coldplay fan since 2003.

[footyfan10]

:shocked2: Holy crap. This is seriously SOOOO similar to what I was going post, it's INSANE. Even right down to the colors I see when I listen to the whole album... amazing that you can feel the exact same way as I do about this album without ever having met.

 

It is quite amazing! :) And even if you had liked the album for completely dissimilar reasons, it would have just been great to see a positive thought because it appears a lot of people aren't big fans of it (more than I had previously realized). But I guess we can thank Coldplay and Coldplaying, the band for causing such a strong reaction and the site for bringing those reactions together. I also see you're from the DC area, which is where I attend college.

 

I think, not to get too off the thread topic, that you can tell a lot about Coldplay fans from what albums they like. I've noticed a few different groups pop up in terms of which albums they like and don't. Also the vehemence with which they hate an album.

 

There are those that only like Parachutes and AROBTTH.

 

There are those who vehemently hate X & Y (and a larger subset that just remember it less fondly than the other albums).

 

And I suppose there are those who hate VLV.

 

Then, obviously, within those there are people that like different combinations.

 

For example, I think Viva is a masterpiece, AROBTTH is a masterpiece but in a different way, that X & Y is mostly pretty paltry but that it has some excellent songs in there, and that Parachutes was a perfect start for a band I now call my favorite.

 

That said, I think the groupings sort of have a lot to do with how people listen to music. I see a lot of people who seem to pine for the Coldplay of old, but still (from being on this thread) have quite a passion for them.

 

I'm the most surprised by these people I suppose, because I feel like as a music listener I have not fallen for a band that much in their first 2 albums that I would still care to follow them in hope of a return to a past sound. I suppose that speaks to the appeal of Coldplay, which is an amazing thing. But it must be very tough to be disappointed by their newer albums.

 

Then there are people who want them to do new things. Not part 2s of past albums. I fall under this category. I loved that Viva seemed like a record that wasn't coming from stagnated musicians. It was so vibrant! I want that new feeling again. I completely agree you, jelynch2, they need to do something completely different for LP5. I certainly hope they do and that it comes off as a new masterpiece. Although I'll be happy with even just very good.

[Lu'kaa]

All this is very interesting, and I agree with jelynch2 about LP5... That's gonna be a really huge challenge for Coldplay.

 

I personally became a fan with the Viva la Vida song. I know it sounds cheesy, and what comes is even more : it is and will probably stay my favorite song. I find it so perfect, exciting, and for fuck's sake, how many artists today are able to make a worldwide hit with the desperate story of an old king of Jerusalem ?

 

So I love the Viva song and downloaded the other songs of the album. And then I remember very well that I went to bed, switched off all lights and put my headphones on. Life in Technicolor began. TIN-TIN-TIN-TIN, TIN-TIN, TIN-TIN-TIN TIN TIN TIN ! "Great melody", I thought. And that great little melody came back a second time, and a third time... I remember smiling, and thinking "That's a fucking great song". I was entering a whole new universe, and I won't forget that moment.

I don't really remember the rest of my listening, except for the very end of Death and all his friends, with the little melody of the beginning of LiT coming back and which made me think "well, that album is definitly masterpiece".

 

I didn't really like all the songs - I found Lovers in Japan was very weird; I hated Yes, a song that completely broke the harmony of the album to me. And the strings chords at the beginning, awful... But I really learned to love them, like everything else Coldplay made, and I didn't stop doing that until now - although I'm a fan for a year and a half, I just learned yesterday how to really enjoy clocks by seeing the Live 2006 in Toronto version -. Now Lovers in Japan is one of my very favorites, and Yes is as amazing as the others, but it took me a few months to realize it.

 

Viva is always gonna be a kind of a #1 for me I think.

[l0wxo2]

I liked it... but didn't love it. When I first listened to it certain songs caught my eye, Strawberry Swing, Lost, and Cemeteries of London, became instant favorites. Other songs like 42 and Death and All His Friends took awhile for me to like. I honestly didn't start liking Death and All His Friends and 42 until I heard them live for the first time.

[Craigie-J]

Well, I'm in a strange category of the fans that have been mentioned here then.

 

I only became a fan of Coldplay in about July/August 2008 :'( ... and VLVODAAHF just blew my mind back then. Even today, if I listen from LiT all the way through, it is a wonderful journey and there are some powerful things in there, like Lovers in Japan which I loooove ;) ... but, I kind of feel that the journey is a little bit short. I feel it is all flowery and colourful, but lacks integrity, and lacks emotion. I hear no cries from Chris to fall for, I hear no distinct progressions this time. And I hear no freakin ballads!!!

 

The Viva-era was superb, the only era I have first hand experience of, but even now, even after falling so far for LP4, and it making me discover my favourite ever band... I still prefer the previous albums by a long way. And I can say that without the bias of actually feeling the hype and stuff from living through the viva times.

 

Head on forward and discover new sounds guys, but please, seriously, give us a taste of the old. We know you still have it in the locker, we know it is not all about album-sales and just-getting-bigger for you guys in your hearts. Tell EMI to go fu-ck themselves, and do what you know you are capable of, and "take us back to the start" :')))

 

 

Wow, what a deeeeeep thing to write haha, apologies if that sent you into depression or something :P

[Lu'kaa]

I never realized there were no ballads in the VLV era :thinking:

 

Anyway, I don't feel like EMI or whataver kind of a producer had anything to do with that. Well, actually, let me explain that.

With LP3, Coldplay became a very bankable band, and I really, really and really think that 99% of the producers, like always in such a situation, would have that kind of thinking : "OMG, this is giving me so much money. Please, guys, don't touch anything, do the same thing again, people like it, the numbers are showing it ! We're gonna be so fucking rich !"

 

'Know what I mean ?

 

But they did something really new with Viva. They reinvented themselves. They took huge risks. What if people don't enjoy it ? -And quite a few didn't !-

That's something producers don't like.

 

So, they moved on, and I think that yes, they're able to do again what they did in the past, but that would be a kind of a regression... They would be "chasing their tales" ;)

Everbody, including us, should let them doing what they want and showing us how far they can go. They are such in a growing phase - not commercially, but artistically. And as long as they keep playing ballads in their live shows like they did on the Viva Tour with The Scientist I think it's okay.

[footyfan10]

I never realized there were no ballads in the VLV era :thinking:

 

Anyway, I don't feel like EMI or whataver kind of a producer had anything to do with that. Well, actually, let me explain that.

With LP3, Coldplay became a very bankable band, and I really, really and really think that 99% of the producers, like always in such a situation, would have that kind of thinking : "OMG, this is giving me so much money. Please, guys, don't touch anything, do the same thing again, people like it, the numbers are showing it ! We're gonna be so fucking rich !"

 

'Know what I mean ?

 

But they did something really new with Viva. They reinvented themselves. They took huge risks. What if people don't enjoy it ? -And quite a few didn't !-

That's something producers don't like.

 

So, they moved on, and I think that yes, they're able to do again what they did in the past, but that would be a kind of a regression... They would be "chasing their tales" ;)

Everbody, including us, should let them doing what they want and showing us how far they can go. They are such in a growing phase - not commercially, but artistically. And as long as they keep playing ballads in their live shows like they did on the Viva Tour with The Scientist I think it's okay.

 

I agree with all of this. The band hasn't "sold out". It's crazy to me that people would think that. Honestly, doing one song with Jay-Z does not mean they've sold out - especially when no one outside of us even knooooooows they did it. It wasn't a radio release.

 

I'm honestly surprised by a lot of fans on this thread, for not seeing the emotions of songs on VLV. Truly, Chris has grown up folks. I don't mean that it any way like, he's beyond writing ballads. I'm saying he's at a different stage of his life.

 

He has a wife, so there aren't any Shiver's coming our way. He has a wife so there aren't any The Scientist's coming. There were songs like Fix You, A Message, Swallowed in the Sea and Till Kingdom Come. FOUR SONGS ON ONE ALBUM ALL DEVOTED TO HIS WIFE.

 

AND, on this last album, his emotions were more complex. He was worried about death. He was worried about a lot of things. It wasn't all art. The songs Strawberry Swing, Life in Technicolor 2 and Now My Feet Won't Touch The Ground are all tremendously emotional. Except in that feeling of bliss.

 

I think it's perfectly fine that there won't be another The Scientist. It's my favorite Coldplay song. But I'm happy without them trying to imitate it.

 

 

ALSO. I think people are forgetting that X & Y was easily the album that had the least organic feel. It was a studio album in so many ways.

[geekchic]

"Whoa. This. Is. Amazing."

[trevgreg]

I was more or less impressed by it for the most part. Lost! jumped at me on the first listen and hit close to home, especially at that point I was at in life. The rest was an easy listen for me: Life in Techinicolor, Lovers in Japan, Yes, etc. Even songs like Cemeteries of London grew on me overtime. And like footyfan mentioned, songs like Viva La Vida and Violet Hill definitely showed a growth in Chris' lyrical expression (or whatever you want to call it).

 

Overall, I guess I liked the vibe of the album, and it'd probably fall at 2 or 3 on my ranking list. And I definitely don't think the band succumbed to any label pressure on this one either. They just made the music they wanted to make at the time, and imo, it worked out for the most part. Considering Parachutes is my least favorite album by them too, the further from that is fine by me, haha.

[ViVA Child]

i was like

 

 

 

 

but then i started to like it

theres not a single song on the album that i wouldnt like to listen to

which usually doesnt happen with ANY album even in parachutes and a rush and x & y i skipped over a few songs like high speed and x &y or a whisper

 

it was more consistant in being good throught but i prefer X and Y where its hit or miss

because when it "hit" it blew me out of the fucking water

 

i think its ok but its certainly not their best.

[Pockets]

I have been a fan since I was 8. So nearly 10 years! :o

 

My first impression of VLVODAAHF was something like "This album is terrible, Viva and Violet Hill are the only good ones." And I remember at the time it was early summer and I was moving out of my house, and I kept on listening to it more and more as I was packing things... the 3rd song I liked from there was LiT, then Lovers in Japan. It realy just started to grow on me, and now I love it! :D

[anacaren08]

yea i actually first didnt like it much. my first thought was :/ i miss AROBTTH and i want to listen to it instead.

 

but since i didnt like all of AROBTTH at first, and then I realized i was an idiot for not liking it, i knew i was bound to realize i was an idiot for not liking VLV.

 

and one day at work while folding clothes i heard all of the album and i had my moment of "yup im an idiot for not liking it at first"

 

maybe its just a tradition for me now:P since with every cd i have always had to realize that i was an idiot for not liking some songs or the cd. :lol:

[Cyan Kat]

I actually thought it was a good album. It was creative enough. Maybe I'm just a sucker for the whole historical aspect of the album. (If you want to call it that.) But, there are certain songs on the album that I liked but now I don't really care for them (Lost!, Strawberry Swing, Viva la Vida) but, I never got tired of Life In Technicolor, Death and All His Friends, and 42. :smiley:

 

Exactcly the same, I Think viva la vida got too much radio broadcast which can ruin a song. Death and all his friends has always been my favourite from the album and it's a song that never gets old no matter how much you listen.

[Cyan Kat]

Wonder whether LP5 Will have the same mixed views as VLVODAAHF :\

But I'm just looking forward to see what Coldplay come up with.... I Might be dissapointed at first then discover it some time later. When I first get a CD I Tend to skip bits and miss great songs which I Later learn to Love.

[Lu'kaa]

yea i actually first didnt like it much. my first thought was :/ i miss AROBTTH and i want to listen to it instead.

 

but since i didnt like all of AROBTTH at first, and then I realized i was an idiot for not liking it, i knew i was bound to realize i was an idiot for not liking VLV.

 

and one day at work while folding clothes i heard all of the album and i had my moment of "yup im an idiot for not liking it at first"

 

maybe its just a tradition for me now:P since with every cd i have always had to realize that i was an idiot for not liking some songs or the cd. :lol:

 

I don't think you're an idiot, actually I'm quite surprised to see how many people like me need sometimes a little time to really enjoy some songs or albums. Although I completely fell in love with Viva when I first heard it, it took me a few months to like the Live 2003 DVD. I couldn't help but falling asleep while watching it ! And today I don't understand how I lived before loving it ! :lol: