Review thread (please post your findings!)

busybeeburns · June 3, 2011

Hi everyone, there will be hundreds of reviews for ETIAW after today floating around the internet, newspapers etc. If you see any please post them here, or scans or whatever you get. Please include the source link and any article titles, marks out of 10 etc.

Thankyou and enjoy the new single! :D

busybeeburns · June 3, 2011

One day, we hope that Coldplay will release a track of quite staggering magnificence just so we can stop being called predictable for telling them off. Unfortunately, this isn't it. There's something about Chris Martin's vocal in the first bit over the dodgy ravey piano (see below for more on that) that feels very familiar; someone in our office said "what are all those Scottish guitars?" and, perhaps most strangely for Coldplay the thing that even their detractors will give them credit for, that ability to write a gaseous everyman sentiment over a daytime radio melody, is submerged in the strangely lumpen production. There's something about this track that sounds like a boy band whose star is on its wane, which is probably the weirdest thing about it. "I'd rather be a comma than a full stop," Martin sings. And that, essentially, is the problem with Coldplay. They're a group so massive they have their own momentum now, operating in a bizarre celebrity stratosphere that, in a way, is even odder than the one Bono flies through now and then. Coldplay are a corporation, monolithic and unstoppable, and this is what it sounds like.

Oh, and that piano bit at the beginning? As our Twitter followers pointed out, check this:

http://thequietus.com/articles/06365-listen-new-coldplay

busybeeburns · June 3, 2011

New music: Coldplay – Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Kf_6BWcOOg]YouTube - ‪Coldplay - Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall (Official)‬‏[/ame]

Chris Martin and co reveal their festival side with a new single

Lest we forget, Coldplay headline Glastonbury later this month. It certainly can't have been a thought far from the band's mind, if their new single is anything to go by.

Ebullient chords and melodic uplift are never far from the kind of non-specific portent that has become Coldplay's trademark. But this one seems to have something of the festival about it; from the ravey intro to the euphoric lyrics ("I turn the music up, I got my records on"), it seems to be an attempt to get as many hands in the air as possible.

We were rather intrigued by the twiddly guitar riff that sounds like bagpipes. But what do you think?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/jun/03/coldplay-every-teardrop-is-a-waterfall

iPsy · June 3, 2011

Coldplay, 'Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall': Review

It’s taken a while, but it finally seems like Coldplay’s formula on how to become one of the world’s biggest bands is finally revealing itself: apparently it’s all down to how you dress.

Back when they first arrived in 2000, Chris Martin and co looked all rather dark and sombre - a mood that was reflected in the brooding anthems of ‘Shiver’ and ‘Trouble’. Then, in 2008, as they teamed up with Brian Eno and Markus Dravs for the military marching songs of 2008’s ‘Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends’, the band returned looking like a gang of army generals.

Three years on and Coldplay are back again with new, apparently graffiti-inspired regalia - and this time it would seem their music is as colourful and explosive as their outfits.

New single ‘Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall’, which debuted today (June 3), is a blossoming stadium-sized dance anthem, propelled in part by the strength of Martin’s lyrics, which spray paint themselves into your conscience.

“I turn the music up, I got my records on, I shut the world outside until the lights come on,” he sings while bashing away on a synth-enhanced piano, which shoots out a simple, yet rave-like hook.

As Martin continues to sing like he’s residing in the happiest place on earth (“Catherdrals in my heart”), the colourful musical symphony is driven by Will Champion’s stomping drums and a highland Fling-esque guitar riff, which sounds not too dissimilar to ‘Life In Technicolour’, from ‘Viva La Vida…’. They all come to a head as the song reaches its evocative conclusion, when everything explodes and Martin lets out “Aaahoooos” amid a storm of uplifting guitars and synths.

As Coldplay prepare to headline this month’s Glastonbury festival, ‘Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall’ is an emphatic litmus test with which to judge people’s readiness for their return.But more poignantly, for a band who already reside in stadiums, their latest incarnation is a splash of colour that sounds like it’s aiming for something a lot bigger - or as Martin puts it: "You can hurt, hurt me bad, But I'll still raise the flag."

http://www.gigwise.com/blog/63637/Coldplay-Every-Teardrop-Is-Waterfall-Review

busybeeburns · June 3, 2011

POPDUST SAYS: 3.5/5

It’s pretty simple, actually—if you like Coldplay, you’ll like this song. (And if not, what are you doing jumping to listen to a Coldplay song the day it gets released, anyway?) It’s got that big, stadium filling drum-and-guitar sound, a fantastically evocative synth intro (which reminds of Alice Deejay’s “Better Off Alone” to our ears, but then again, so does everything) and a crowd-pleasing, hands-in-the-air lyric about the almighty power of music (“I turn the music up / I got my records on / I shut the world outside / Until the music’s gone”). It gets bigger and more anthemic as it goes for its four-minute running time, and then suddenly it’s over. It’s thrills are far from unpredictable, but after the band’s two-year absence, you might be surprised as to how welcome they are nonetheless.

Truth told, the compact swell of “Every Teardrop” doesn’t even sound so much like a comeback single as it does a concert opener, something to announce the band’s presence before delving into the real hits. But if so, we can’t wait for the rest of the gig—over a decade after their mainstream breakthrough, and with endless imitators in their wake, it’s as true now as ever that nobody does Coldplay as well as Coldplay themselves.

POPDUST SAYS: 3.5/5

http://popdust.com/2011/06/03/coldplay-every-teardrop-is-a-waterfall-review-new/

Maj2004 · June 3, 2011

That first review doesn't even know that both those songs were sampled legally.

-_-

oldmuckers · June 3, 2011

from popcrush.com

Coldplay‘s brand new single ‘Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall’ is as big as its title suggests. It is not a ballad, but an uplifting, room-filling Brit pop song laced with the band’s rock ‘n’ roll edge.

While Coldplay have endured plenty of Radiohead comparisons throughout their career, they’ve turned the corner here, going for stadium-sized hooks a la U2 with this bold, bright, guitar-driven new song that is steered by Martin’s inimitable voice. Thanks to its massive size and scope, the four-minute monster more than makes up for all the time fans had to wait for new music from the band.

At about the three-minute mark, ‘Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall’ balloons with layered harmonies and faster guitar work. It’s as though vocalist (and Gwyneth Paltrow baby daddy) Chris Martin wrote the song with the express intent of performing in a stadium or at the Olympics. (Ahem — the 2012 Olympics will be held in London, so…)

When Martin sings, “I turn the music / I got my records on / I shut the world outside until the lights come on / Maybe the streets alright / Maybe the trees are gone / I feel my heart start beating to my favorite song,” he pulls us into his world, where everything around you fades into the background while you focus on what you hear in your headphones. Speaking of which, you will pick up all the nuances of sound via a pair of earbuds.

The song doesn’t fade out, either. It ends on a percussive note. You’ll want to listen to it over and over again. It’s a gorgeous mix of Coldplay’s knack for pretty melodies mixed with some escalating guitar work, despite not being nearly as polished as the band’s previous pop songs.

The song comes in like a lion and goes out like one, too!

4/5 stars

oldmuckers · June 3, 2011

from Rolling Stone

By Jon Dolan

June 3, 2011

Chris Martin says Coldplay's upcoming album is influenced by old-school New York graffiti, and in a recent photo the bandmates are dressed in neon chillwear like they just walked off the set of Breakin' 3: A Brit-Pop Odyssey. But the first single doesn't go for the sound of early hip-hop so much as its sense of year-zero possibility. Over a rave-tinged keyboard melody, leavened by producer Brian Eno's rainforest-of-the-soul ambience, Martin sings of kids dancing until morning and heaven inside his headphones. When the drums kick in fully, it moves like "Sunday Bloody Sunday" by way of the Velvets' "Sunday Morning," a flag-waving ode to change-as-inspiration: "I'd rather be a comma than a full stop," Martin sings. Coming from a guy whose critics take him for a human exclamation point, it's a welcome sentiment.

3.5/5

Coldplaying@Hogwarts · June 3, 2011

from MTV.com:

"You probably didn't need that second cup of coffee Friday (June 3) morning if you heard Coldplay's caffeinated new single, "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall." It premiered while most of us here in the States were just waking up and is certainly the kind of tune that can jump-start a day.

Vaguely trance-y, slightly meditative and most definitely sunny, "Teardrop" is basically four minutes of pure, unadulterated uplift. Beginning with shimmering synth stokes, building steam on guitars both strummed and bent skyward and kicking into high gear on a thumping, four-on-the-floor house beat, it is a song in a state of constant build, growing more massive with each passing second. It's a single more eye-opening than a snoot-full of arabica.

Frontman Chris Martin matches the wide-screen sonics with his lilting vocals, hitting the (many) "woah-oh-ohs" with aplomb and delivering refrains ("I turn the music up/ I got my records on") with a wiry persistence. The latter only adds to the song's dreamlike feel; the lines almost seem like a contemplative prayer, their repetition like layers in an ever-growing mantra that eventually leads to some sort of higher consciousness. The funny thing is, those lyrics -- which are all about finding solace in music and strength in self -- are also incredibly insular, and when paired with the unapologetically over-the-top music, they create a rather interesting dichotomy: This is, one can assume, a deeply personal song that Martin wrote for ... everybody in the entire world.

Then again, that's seemingly the only way Coldplay do things, and "Teardrop" is certainly a worthy addition to their inspirational songbook. It also seems to fit the theme of their still-untitled new album, which Martin described as being "about life, the good stuff, the bad stuff, everything." And really, how can you sum up their brand-new single any better than that? So if I'm being a tad too professorial in my assessment of "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall," you'll have to forgive me ... I guess I really miss that second cup of coffee."

Coldplaying@Hogwarts · June 3, 2011

from the Riverfront Times:

"There's a strange interview lurking somewhere in the unpopulated regions of the Internet in which Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher calls Coldplay singer Chris Martin a "plant pot." It's a weird thing to say for more than one obvious reason: What actually is a plant pot? Should Chris be offended? Would he even care? How many people actually listen to Liam's insults? Does any of this make sense?

The answers, after considerable deliberation, are as follows: I'm guessing just a pot for a plant, probably not, probably not, few and no. The last answer is the most important because it also applies to pretty much the entirety of the pot plant's band's new song, the tongue-out-of-cheek "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall." Fortune cookie title aside, the song is the current zenith of two years of fans and skeptics waiting to hear what comes after Viva La Vida, which was produced by Brian Eno and significantly altered the band's aesthetic and its crossover success.

The aggressively low-pressure jam was released to Americans -- the band's fellow Brits have to wait another day -- early this morning and, let's be real, it's groundbreaking. The early rise was worth it for the moments of stunning lyrical clarity, found in pure, Shakespearean lines such as, "I'd rather be a comma than a full stop" (Who wouldn't?) and, "Maybe I'm the gap between the two trapezes" (Woah).The best part of that last one is that it functions as a rhyme with "knees."

The single clocks in at exactly four minutes, which means you can listen to it fifteen times per hour, depending upon your speed at clicking "Play" and your knowledge of the Repeat option. At the very least, you have a minimum of fourteen chances an hour, and you probably should be doing that for at least three hours today in order to truly plumb the plant pot's depth. As you listen to the song, we recommend making predictions for the full album, debating Chris Martin's expression in the new press photos and considering the literal and figurative implications of every teardrop actually being a freakin' waterfall. Shit gets deep."

busybeeburns · June 3, 2011

Coldplay sample Peter Allen's 1976 single 'I Go To Rio' on new single - video

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kgq1g-2cQ54]YouTube - ‪Peter Allen - I go to Rio‬‏[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Kf_6BWcOOg]YouTube - ‪Coldplay - Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall (Official)‬‏[/ame]

Coldplay sample Peter Allen's 1976 single 'I Go To Rio' on new single - video

Coldplay take inspiration from Australian songwriter on comeback track

Coldplay's long awaited comeback single 'Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall', which you can hear by scrolling down and clicking at the bottom of the page, takes a sample from Australian 1970s songwriter Peter Allen's single 'I Go To Rio', the band have confirmed.

The track, which you can hear below, was released in 1976 on Allen's fourth album 'Taught By Experts' and has since been covered by a number of high profile artists, including Peggy Lee.

Allen, who died in 1992, enjoyed a successful music career in the 1970s and 1980s, releasing over ten solo albums. He has also seen his songs covered by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dusty Springfield and Olivia Newton-John.

Coldplay have credited Allen as a songwriter on the list of writers for 'Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall' on their official website Coldplay.com, possibly as an extra precaution after they were sued by Joe Satriani in December 2008 over claims they plagiarized his 2004 track 'If I Could Fly' for their 2008 single 'Viva La Vida'. The case was settled out of court.

http://www.nme.com/news/coldplay/57066

Mimixxx · June 3, 2011

Ian...you've kept very quiet. What's YOUR review of the song?

busybeeburns · June 3, 2011

Not had time to post a proper review but I did put this earlier :)

busybeeburns · June 3, 2011

The New Coldplay Song is Awesome, if You Ignore the Lyrics

"Every Teardrop is a Waterfall" is as sappy as its name suggests, and that's great

Chris Martin has a cold. Just listen to the guy. His vowels are long and thickly exhaled. His consonants are swallowed. That soft, nasal chest voice breaks every few words into an apologetic, crackling falsetto. There is a kind of permanent head cold in Martin's voice and outlook, which might explain why he writes so much about feeling sorry for himself and finding cures. I was lost, I was lost oh yeah, but everything's not lost, and I will try to fix you and also, stars. That is every Coldplay song in a sentence.

Or, it used to be. Four years ago, the band teamed up with superproducer Brian Eno to make a record, Viva La Vida, that forced Martin and his bandmates to shrug off their mopiness. Sighing syths were replaced by rougher reverb, and symbol-crashing choruses gave way to primal thumps. The critics had a point: You can smear mud on sentimentalist sap, but you're still dealing with sentimental sap. Even so, Eno convinced the group to drop the in-the-gutter-looking-at-the-stars motif and act like a rock band.

And today, the gang is back. Coldplay's latest single, the dreadfully named "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall," begins undreadfully. An angelic synth swell lays the foundation for a jangly electric piano riff that sounds like what you would get if Animal Collective remixed Peter Allen's 1976 song "I Go to Rio" (thanks to Village Voice for the sharp eyes on the song credit, which lists Allen as a co-writer).

Then everything gets very Coldplay. Martin's voice, throaty and self-assured, kicks off a talk-sing verse. A guitar line takes the bluegrassy twiddle-diddle from the band's "Strawberry Swing" and adds a few extra diddles. The monosyllabic thump of the kickdrum that dominated Viva La Vida comes back with clubby untz. There is a battle-hymn quality to the melody, a marching insistence that gamely sets up a chorus written to be sung and heard in a rock hall.

Must we talk about the lyrics? It will not surprise you to learn that a song titled "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall" does not hold up well to textual analysis. As darkness is to Conrad, light is to Martin: He is pathologically incapable of writing two stanzas without multiple references to lights, stars, skies, or other bright shiny things guiding him, always, "home." In the first two verses of "Every Teardrop," we get two lights, one heaven, and one morning (Coldplay bingo!). There are "cathedrals in my heart," and "every siren is a symphony," and it's all pretty horrible if you stop and think about it. But the point is, don't stop and think about it. Martin's words are more like percussion than prose, marking time, filling space, distinguishing verses and choruses.

Listening to Coldplay for the lyrics is like reading a book for the page numbers. Insist on doing so and you're missing the real work. Everything that Coldplay does is big. Even the "small" songs are stadium anthems. But the crux of Coldplay's talent--yes, talent--is subtler than the music sounds. It is, very simply, melody. Or better yet, finding the balance between predictability and surprise that characterizes most successful melodies. Hundreds of bands play wistful choruses over the same four chords and don't get much further than the garage or local bar. Most of them fail because their melodies are crap.

Chris Martin might be a soggy trunk of sap, but he is genetically incapable of writing abstruse melodies. They draw clear lines. They take a shape. They pose a question, and they give a satisfying answer. They open the chord and resolve the fleeting dissonance, and it's all done deftly enough that the hook comes into focus just as it's ending.

Is this song any good? It's a Coldplay song--a carefully orchestrated, melodically solid, hands-to-the-sky, all-around rousing rock anthem about, literally, crying. Does that make any sense? Of course not. Is that description abhorrent to you? Me, too. Which is why I'm carefully monitoring the volume on my earphones to make sure nobody hears me hitting the repeat button again, and again, and again.

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/06/the-new-coldplay-song-is-awesome-if-you-ignore-the-lyrics/239902/

busybeeburns · June 3, 2011

Holy Moly: Coldplay in 'not actually rubbish new song shocker'

It’s all gone a bit rave-tastic. Well, a bit.

It’s been a day for musical surprises, first Kaiser Chiefs released an album that you have to build yourself. Then we found out that Christina Aguilera and Adam Lambert were recording a duet* and then Coldplay released a new single, just like that. And we didn’t hate it.

It’s not going to change the world, but once you’ve cleared the vomit from your mouth that arose when you read the title: Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall, you have to admit, this is a pomposity free, pleasantly spangly tune. Could do without the bits where he goes “ooh!” though. There’s no need for the bits where he goes “ooh!”.

It’s crying out for a banging Tony Lamezma remix, isn’t it?

http://www.holymoly.com/hm15/video/coldplay-not-actually-rubbish-new-song-shocker56811

busybeeburns · June 3, 2011

Coldplay's New Single is Streaming, And So Are Chris Martin's Tears

Sometimes things with stupid names are not as bad as they seem. Sometimes things with stupid names are great, despite their stupid names. And one should never judge a book, a song or a person by its stupid name because that would be narrow-minded and callous, right? Wrong. Well, wrong for today. Coldplay's new single, "Every Tear is a Waterfall" is streaming from their website, and it is precisely as shmaltzy and terrible as it sounds.

The lyrics speak for themselves. From them, and what we can gather, this is how it came about: Chris Martin was sitting in his darkened apartment, listening to his records and crying. Then he decided to write a song about the experience. And that is how "Every Tear is a Waterfall" happened.

How did this happen? How can this have passed through the hands of the band, the record label, the industry execs without someone going, "Uh, what?" And who decided this was good? Because if it was wifey and (apparently) now-country-singer Gwyneth Paltrow, that would be cause for real tears.

Coldplay has had some good songs with artistic integrity. They have. And great, transformative, era-making music has come out of musicians' "blue" periods (i.e. Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake, Elliott Smith, the list goes on). This is not one of those. Words fail. Listen for yourself.

http://www.thelmagazine.com/TheMeasure/archives/2011/06/03/coldplays-new-single-is-streaming-and-so-are-chris-martins-tears

MasoKnight · June 3, 2011

There should really be a bingo card for coldplay articles. Mention crying? Check. Mention Gwyneth? Check. Ignore the music? Check.

I mean, really. I'm not exactly thrilled with this song, but "Words fail" is pretty much music journalism at its worst.

Raaj · June 3, 2011

The new Coldplay song is making the rounds, as you’ve no doubt seen by the frantically excited post on your mom’s Facebook or deafmute music blogs everywhere. And while everyone’s welcome to enjoy their own favorite flavor of color-by-numbers GoopRock, we’d feel that we’re neglecting you if we didn’t address the new depths of seminal gargling Coldplay has achieved this time.

Coldplay are frequent targets of copyright claims, with song-theft accusations brought against them from Joe Satriani, Cat Stevens, Creaky Boards, and then once again with unknown songwriter Sammie Lee Smith. Hell, I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that those motherfuckers might have even stolen from me.

The band have set themselves up for another round of out-of-court settlements with their latest single, My Teardrops Shimmer Like Jelly or whatever the hell it’s called. The simplistic nature of the song’s main chords suggest that they aren’t exactly difficult to stumble upon, but that doesn’t mean these crumpet gobblers should be excused for sounding like U2 on shitty ecstasy at a 1994 rave. The riff is pulled directly from a decade-old track by Mystic, entitled Ritmo De La Noche.

Ziggy · June 3, 2011

The Atlantic's review

The New Coldplay Song is Awesome, if You Ignore the Lyrics

By Derek Thompson Jun 3 2011, 2:20 PM ET 2

"Every Teardrop is a Waterfall" is as sappy as its name suggests, and that's great

Sarah Lee / Coldplay