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Differing Attitudes Towards X&Y


Guest howyousawtheworld

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Guest howyousawtheworld

X&Y is an album that polarises musical opinion. I often hear people claiming it to be Coldplay's best album and others proclaiming it to be their worst and a Be Here Now moment for the band. I was curious because certain critics here in the UK call it their poorest effort and have often cited it alongside Oasis's 3rd album which is harsh because despite it appearing to be overproduced and too eager to be too big at times, X&Y contains some of Chris Martin's finest melodies. If I'm being honest it probably is Coldplay's best album melodically and I don't feel the album is let down by the anthemic guitar, reverb drumming or in particularly the bass.

 

Where it is let down is probably coherence as an album and inconsistent lyrics. It doesn't feel like an album but more a collection of 13 singles if you know what I'm getting at? Chris Martin's lyrics range from the brilliant (Is there anybody out there who, Is lost and hurt and lonely too Are they bleeding all your colours into one?) to the not so brilliant ("You cut me down a tree And brought it back to me And that's what made me see Where I was going wrong" to much ees!) but that doesn't let down the album into a flop like some have said it was. Where the other band members star in this album perhaps Chris doesn't have his finest moment in Coldplay. Fix You - as good a song as it is, it overflows with too much falsetto. This is something we see little of in Viva La Vida and Death and All His Friends though. I see X&Y more in the mould of Oasis's (What's The Story) Morning Glory rather than the dire Be Here Now. Big sound for big audiences with much pleasurable easy listening (although not as big culturally or in overall songwriting I feel).

 

 

What I find interesting though is how you guys think of it. I've had a lot of friends mention X&Y as being 'amazing' and 'their best' whenever Coldplay have come up in coversation which goes against the general opinion in the music press here in the UK who cast a scournful eye over it particularly when comparing it in the reviews of VLVODAAHF. Is opinion as split in say America where Coldplay topped the album charts for the first time there?

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well, i don't know about other Americans, but X&Y is definitely one of my favorite Coldplay albums... i think that if i was forced to pick an absolute favorite and to not think about it beforehand, i would probably say X&Y. and i agree with what you've said about the melodies and the lyrics (although i think for the most part all of the albums have that contrast in lyrics).

 

my opinion is also probably affected by the fact that i became a fan during the X&Y era -- became a fan because of X&Y, even. :P

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You've got some really interesting points, howyousawtheworld. :wacko:

 

I'll be honest. I'm not a fan of X&Y overall as an album. :blank: Please don't kill me.

 

When it comes to the melodies, I only really like a few songs off of the album. I really can't explain why the melodies of certain songs either annoy me or don't get any reaction out of me.

 

I just couldn't connect with X&Y that much, despite all the emotion that's pouring out of Chris' lyrics (songs of wonderment, loneliness, love, etc.). :\ And while the falsetto can be gorgeous, it just got on my nerves on this album (which is the opposite for AROBBTH, funny enough). Like you said, it's a bit excessive.

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Being an American also, I find X&Y one of my favorites as well. I believe AROBTTH became a much bigger album over here, because of Clocks and The Scientist, meaning there were more "Radio" hit's with that album then X&Y where I hardly heard any songs except Speed of Sound on the radio.

I have been a fan since Parachutes, and I find every album to be so very different giving me as a fan, a great fantasy ride thru each album, picturing a certain scenario with each song.

 

Viva in America"The Album" really got lost with most of the songs, due to Viva La Vida"The Song" being a huge hit here, with so much radio play, I feel the world missed out on some really cool songs, due to the radio stations just playing Viva.

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Guest howyousawtheworld
You've got some really interesting points, howyousawtheworld. :wacko:

 

I'll be honest. I'm not a fan of X&Y overall as an album. :blank: Please don't kill me.

 

When it comes to the melodies, I only really like a few songs off of the album. I really can't explain why the melodies of certain songs either annoy me or don't get any reaction out of me.

 

I just couldn't connect with X&Y that much, despite all the emotion that's pouring out of Chris' lyrics (songs of wonderment, loneliness, love, etc.). :\ And while the falsetto can be gorgeous, it just got on my nerves on this album (which is the opposite for AROBBTH, funny enough). Like you said, it's a bit excessive.

 

Hey - sounds justified to me! That's the puzzle of this album!

 

Also coldplayisawesome - yeah I know what you mean. I was a fan of Coldplay before but not a huge fan until X&Y came out and I think my sympathies towards it lie because it turned me into a massive Coldplay fan. It is my favourite but at the same time looking back I can see it's faults and see that it's not nearly as superior as A Rush Of Blood To The Head. Comes close to VLVODAAHF though...perhaps surpasses that even.

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Guest howyousawtheworld
Being an American also, I find X&Y one of my favorites as well. I believe AROBTTH became a much bigger album over here, because of Clocks and The Scientist, meaning there were more "Radio" hit's with that album then X&Y where I hardly heard any songs except Speed of Sound on the radio.

I have been a fan since Parachutes, and I find every album to be so very different giving me as a fan, a great fantasy ride thru each album, picturing a certain scenario with each song.

 

Viva in America"The Album" really got lost with most of the songs, due to Viva La Vida"The Song" being a huge hit here, with so much radio play, I feel the world missed out on some really cool songs, due to the radio stations just playing Viva.

 

Yeah - Viva had the 'Take on Me' effect with Coldplay on their 4th album which was a real shame because it took away the focus on far better songs on that album. Take On Me with A-ha just took away the focus from all their other fantastic songs in a whole career that are almost all forgotten because of the popularity of that hit. If Viva was the first ever single released by Coldplay like it was with Take On Me with a-ha then they'd probably be in the unfortunate position of a-ha.

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It wasnt a "flop" in the commercial way ,as sold like 10 000 000 :lol:

 

But it was like the most criticized album of the 4 .

 

Personally i think, the songs in the album are brilliant.

Almost all of them.Low and twisted logic for me are the weakest songs of the album.

 

. "Square One" 4:47

2. "What If" 4:57

3. "White Shadows" 5:28

4. "Fix You" 4:54

5. "Talk"

6. "X&Y" 4:34

7. "Speed of Sound" 4:48

8. "A Message" 4:45

9. "Low" 5:32

10. "The Hardest Part" 4:25

11. "Swallowed in the Sea" 3:58

12. "Twisted Logic"

13. "Til Kingdom Come"

 

Probably because of the falsetto of the album,got so critizesed by some haters of the media :lol:

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My only beef with X&Y is that it's too long. Other than that, I loved this album. I think it's time that critics stop comparing and contrasting it to AROBTTH. That album is a classic. That is their masterpiece even though Chris thinks otherwise. They can't recreate another AROBTTH. It would be a mistake for them to keep trying rather than just doing what they've always done which is to continue making the music that means something to them. That's all they can do.

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Guest howyousawtheworld
It wasnt a "flop" in the commercial way ,as sold like 10 000 000 :lol:

 

But it was like the most criticized album of the 4 .

 

Personally i think, the songs in the album are brilliant.

Almost all of them.Low and twisted logic for me are the weakest songs of the album.

 

. "Square One" 4:47

2. "What If" 4:57

3. "White Shadows" 5:28

4. "Fix You" 4:54

5. "Talk"

6. "X&Y" 4:34

7. "Speed of Sound" 4:48

8. "A Message" 4:45

9. "Low" 5:32

10. "The Hardest Part" 4:25

11. "Swallowed in the Sea" 3:58

12. "Twisted Logic"

13. "Til Kingdom Come"

 

Probably because of the falsetto of the album,got so critizesed by some haters of the media :lol:

 

Massive commercial success indeed! But yeah I agree with you about Twisted Logic being one of the albums weakest points, in my view it's weakest point. In fact it's probably the weakest point in any Coldplay album ever! It just seems to plod along like an elderly man on a Sunday afternoon walk. Slow, unspectacular but at the same time doing nothing wrong or offensive - which makes it entirely forgettable!

 

Don't mind Low though. Always been an admirer of that one for some reason.

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Massive commercial success indeed! But yeah I agree with you about Twisted Logic being one of the albums weakest points, in my view it's weakest point. In fact it's probably the weakest point in any Coldplay album ever! It just seems to plod along like an elderly man on a Sunday afternoon walk. Slow, unspectacular but at the same time doing nothing wrong or offensive - which makes it entirely forgettable!

 

Don't mind Low though. Always been an admirer of that one for some reason.

 

I like Low or twisted logic,dont get me wrong.

But not as much as the others.

 

the problem of low is its too long :lol:

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Guest howyousawtheworld
I like Low or twisted logic,dont get me wrong.

But not as much as the others.

 

the problem of low is its too long :lol:

 

Yeah it is strung out to the max. Probably my only problem with that song.

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I love x&y and it came to me as a shock that people didn't like it much. I was a bit younger back then when it caame out, and now I can understand it better. I do see how it was criticized now, because of some some songs being a little too long and things like that. But even though I get their view, I still absolutely love that album as a whole. I still skip a couple songs like twisted logic. But that album has such awesome songs like square one and a message, so it balances the negatives of the album for me :D

 

Its my second favorite cp album. AROBTTH is my absolute favorite because in my eyes it is perfect and it is coldplay's masterpiece :heart:

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I love all 4 albums..but X&Y, although I love all the songs, is the only album of theirs I haven't fully listened to in awhile..

If I had to rank the albums..In my opinion it would be

 

1. AROBTTH

2.Parachutes

3.VLVODAAHF

4.X&Y

 

but I really do love them all. They surpass any other band I like by a long shot.

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Guest howyousawtheworld

I might make threads to share my opinion on their other albums like this one. Just thought X&Y was the most peculiar to discuss.

 

And just another thing on Twisted Logic - that seems to epitomise the general opinion of the whole album. Some think it's fab others think less so!

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I really like X&Y, I agree with what you say about the melodies and regarding lyrics you may even say they are more "personal" that many VLVODALHF ones in the sense of relating your feelings to them. They're more straightforward.

I don't think it's their best album, but I really like it. There are songs I don't care about that much like The Hardest Part or Twisted Logic, and some other songs that have been so overplayed everywhere that I had to give them a rest for a while, like Fix You, which is great and really emotional but it does not have the same effect after hearing it for the 1000th time in 3 months :lol:

Some may critisize the lyrics, well it's a valid point, I guess...but a song it's not 100% about the lyrics- I love some Oasis songs for instance and it's really hard for me to get what the heck they meant by a certain line :P- the melodies and what they do as a whole is what matters, to me anyways. After all, there are lots of non-English speakers who love the songs :shrug: I think Guy, Will and Jonny did a great job, you come to realise this also in the live performances.

Anyways, X&Y was the album that turned Coldplay from "that British band" to "one of the most successful bands in the world", at least that's what I see happened in this corner of the world.

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If you happen to visit The Dublin Castle, "X&Y" is the only Coldplay album they have on the jukebox, so you have to like it.:P

Incidentally, the last time I was there, I spoke to the barman about it and suggested they add at least one more Coldplay CD to the library.

Hopefully the manager will have now done something about it.;)

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Lyrically it is not the best but has some of the most melodic Coldplay songs and "stayers" as proved live on tour. I've said it before and I'll keep saying it until LP5 arrives, that X&Y is my favourite Coldplay album so far! :)

 

And "Square One" is a brilliant concert opener. Far better than "LIT".;)

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X&Y is my joint favorite with Parachutes ... I just can't choose between them.

They're both very different, Parachutes I love for it's lyrics, and the more acousticy feel to the melodies. X&Y has some great melodies too, there's a lot more rhythm from the drums and maybe some of the lyrics aren't the best but I've always been someone who concentrates on the melodies from the different instruments. I think Swallowed in the Sea is an amazing song, it's my favourite coldplay song and it will always have a special place in my heart.

my rank is

X&Y / Parachutes

A Rush Of Blood To The Head

Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends

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