Why am I not liking this?

[Magnus]

:(

 

Been a Coldplay fan since the beggining. I liked every album release up to date. Even though the albums were different in style, they clearly showed musical progress and evolution of this great band.

 

Heck, I even liked most of the b-sides too.

 

Altough I still regard Parachutes and AROBTTH to be their best work, I listened to Viva La Vida many times because it was a really well composed album, brilliant if you listen to it without skipping tracks.

 

But then came the Prospekt's march EP, and I didn't really like Glass of Water or Rainy Day... They seemed, I don't know.. Overproduced. Brian Eno's influence I suppose?.

It kind of sounded too artifficial to me.

 

Christmas lights gave me a glimmer of hope that this new direction isn't all that bad, but hearing these new songs... I just can't get myself to like them. It's like there's too much going on in a song (like in ETiAW) but it ends up just being a big mess. And the lyrics??..''I'd rather be a comma than a full stop''... Sounds like rather being in a comma than dead.. I know that's not the actual meaning, but that's an awful wordplay.

 

 

 

Anyway, I just wanted to ask, is it just me going insane, or do some older coldplay fans share these views?

[Juanma]

^ uh!

 

you should have been on the forum since ETIAW was release.

 

Many people had the same concern as you.

 

 

Listened to moving to mars song?

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-KsutWy3UU]YouTube - ‪Coldplay - Moving To Mars (Official)‬‏[/ame]

[Major_Love]

No not really. But thats my personal opinion. My favorite albums are AROBTTH and Parachutes, however I like all the others very very much. But I really like the new songs! But its hard to compare them...

[WS]

No,you're not insane,i feel the same,i am dissapointed with the new songs

I don't know,if this is because i was expecting too much of this album and they have taken a way I didnt expect...but the 7,8 songs we heard,they just are for me,songs that can be of any band that comes on the radio.The only song I hear something of "coldplay" is MTM

 

I want to believe that this disappointment is just because i was expecting what I wanted to hear of them (sorry for the bad choice of words) not because they are thinking of the money and then,the music

 

Sorry,maybe you cant understand a word,I am terrible at English xD

[strikie]

other new songs like charlie brown and us against the world gave me new hope for the album.

And I just love Moving to Mars!

I actually can enjoy ETIAW when it's on the radio

[Cyan Kat]

I can't stand ETIAW, never liked Viva too much but there were some pretty good songs still. Some of their new songs I quite like but I think that I'm going to end up listening to live versions more because of how overproduced Major Minus sounds :blank:

[Major_Love]

I can't stand ETIAW, never liked Viva too much but there were some pretty good songs still. Some of their new songs I quite like but I think that I'm going to end up listening to live versions more because of how overproduced Major Minus sounds :blank:

 

Can't understand your statement, don't think that Major Minus is overproduced. Its just the problem that you heard the live version before the studio one in my honest opinion. I love the studio version much more than live.

[Cyan Kat]

Can't understand your statement, don't think that Major Minus is overproduced. Its just the problem that you heard the live version before the studio one in my honest opinion. I love the studio version much more than live.

Meant to put in my opinion, I just thought the voice seems to be altered in the studio versions which I don't really like.

[an angel]

It's a good thing to not like music that isn't any good. :anxious:

[Major_Love]

Meant to put in my opinion, I just thought the voice seems to be altered in the studio versions which I don't really like.

 

Hm ok. Firstly I was also sceptical but after some listenings I really like his voice but I can understand that there are opinions which don't like the change in chris voice by help of new techniques.

[Magnus]

No,you're not insane,i feel the same,i am dissapointed with the new songs

I don't know,if this is because i was expecting too much of this album and they have taken a way I didnt expect...but the 7,8 songs we heard,they just are for me,songs that can be of any band that comes on the radio.The only song I hear something of "coldplay" is MTM

 

I want to believe that this disappointment is just because i was expecting what I wanted to hear of them (sorry for the bad choice of words) not because they are thinking of the money and then,the music

 

Sorry,maybe you cant understand a word,I am terrible at English xD

 

Haha, yes, I totally understand :)

 

I too was kind of hoping they'd be coming back to their roots. But what happened is what I was afraid of, and I could even say that it was predictable: they accepted this new route, exploring a more electronic sound, new techniques, new instruments.

 

I can see why they chose to continue in this direction, Coldplay is all about experimenting right now. I can also see why people could like this approach, it's recevied well, it's not a total bust. But I just don't like it. For me, none of these songs capture something great, something like the song Trouble had (just for an example). They're just your average pop tunes.

 

And I can totally relate to the radio issue haha, it's like hearing a song from a random band.

 

I'll still reserve a bit of hope for the actual release of the album, I mean, it's still Coldplay, they're bound to have a couple of songs I'd prefer. But so far...

[the_escapist]

not you're alone mate. many people having the same concerns around here. Hopefully the album will not be that way.

 

If you want to hear the king of the overproduced Coldplay songs - hear the studio version of Major Minus.

[bearcat1229]

:(

 

Been a Coldplay fan since the beggining. I liked every album release up to date. Even though the albums were different in style, they clearly showed musical progress and evolution of this great band.

 

Heck, I even liked most of the b-sides too.

 

Altough I still regard Parachutes and AROBTTH to be their best work, I listened to Viva La Vida many times because it was a really well composed album, brilliant if you listen to it without skipping tracks.

 

But then came the Prospekt's march EP, and I didn't really like Glass of Water or Rainy Day... They seemed, I don't know.. Overproduced. Brian Eno's influence I suppose?.

It kind of sounded too artifficial to me.

 

Christmas lights gave me a glimmer of hope that this new direction isn't all that bad, but hearing these new songs... I just can't get myself to like them. It's like there's too much going on in a song (like in ETiAW) but it ends up just being a big mess. And the lyrics??..''I'd rather be a comma than a full stop''... Sounds like rather being in a comma than dead.. I know that's not the actual meaning, but that's an awful wordplay.

 

 

 

Anyway, I just wanted to ask, is it just me going insane, or do some older coldplay fans share these views?

 

Because your trying to hard to like it. Many Coldplay songs are meant to be growers. I remember the first time I listened to ARBTTH I thought wow...I like Clocks but the rest of this is blah. Now it is my favorite album of all time. I think the band is falling victim of too high of expectations right now. We automatically curse ETIAW which I did not care of at first, but after the live performances, videos, and really looking at the lyrics for what they are (a pop tune), I don't mind it at all, and think it would fit perfectly at the end of the album after Moving To Mars as kind of a "The world is going to shit but lets not worry about it now and dance" transition.

 

Give it time, we haven't even heard studio versions of 70% of the stuff out there.

 

BTW I thought VLVODAAHF was a very solid effort and I was far from moved by it first listen.

[Blue Room Safety]

I get what you mean. I just listened to Lovers in Japan few minutes ago and i miss Viva era, at that time i got excited about the new direction. But this new direction... it misses that extra "umph" if you get what i mean. The new songs are nice and all but i cannot get excited about it. When Viva era began i literally couldn't get Coldplay out of my head everyday, after Violet Hill and Viva la Vida were released i just couldn't stop playing them all day, but the new songs from new EP just seems kind of... "there", i already try to get excited but i can't.

[anacaren08]

I dnt see the problem with the major minus studio version, well ok after hearing it live I felt there was something missing but I've now.been hearing it many times n can't get it out of my head! I like how his voice sounds I dnt know why :) I dnt know I just like it and I like the live version as well both are great :D

 

I also like the other songs well actualy I love them a lot. But that said I guess can see why you would say its missing something. Its cuz AROBTTH sets such a high standard that, in my opinion, Im still waiting to feel what I do with politik or something. But dnt know if that can be beat :P

Anyway I can never explain myself right. But I love coldplay and what they've done! :D

And this is just the ep so far. Im sure the best is yet to come :)

[Odvan]

This is begin with Eno - more complex sound, less soul and emotional input. I'm looking forward for small, acoustic, with piano LP6 without Eno and bunch of other people.

[Malcolm-Edge]

I will pull out the U2 comparison right here.

 

Look at the Joshua Tree, perfection in my opinion. It has a damn near perfect flow, amazing sound and amazing soul. Then look at Achtung Baby, which has slowly won me over and is a much better album.

 

They have polar opposite sounds. One is an american blues driven album, the other a european alternative sound.

 

Coldplay has done a similar thing. I hate to say it, they are too damn happy. No more women angst, no more angst about being approved by the masses. Coldplay are right now, the biggest band in the world.

 

It took U2 a dissolved marriage and massive criticism to produce another masterpiece. Coldplay need to find the heart and soul again.

 

On that note, I love the new stuff, I think its brilliant. Mind you Im and X&Y fan, not so much Parachutes and AROBTTH...

[Loki0012]

I live the Major Minus studio as the live version i dont think its overproduced

 

bottom line is not every fan will like their favorite bands releases some will love it some will hate it

 

but it all goes down to whos the true fan..:D

[Hartroc]

This is begin with Eno - more complex sound, less soul and emotional input. I'm looking forward for small, acoustic, with piano LP6 without Eno and bunch of other people.

 

Piano is too mainstream. :nod:

[Cartervilla]

I think people shouldnt expect things from bands as your always setting yourself up for a fall. Im a big fan of everything coldplay has released and im really looking forward to the new album, as much as i did before hearing some of the new tracks.

In all honesty id like everyband to completly offer a new sound on every record, see how they venture into other genres and how good they can be. who wants the same album 5 times unless your a jamiroquai fan?

[ryanm]

I will pull out the U2 comparison right here.

 

Look at the Joshua Tree, perfection in my opinion. It has a damn near perfect flow, amazing sound and amazing soul. Then look at Achtung Baby, which has slowly won me over and is a much better album.

 

They have polar opposite sounds. One is an american blues driven album, the other a european alternative sound.

 

Coldplay has done a similar thing. I hate to say it, they are too damn happy. No more women angst, no more angst about being approved by the masses. Coldplay are right now, the biggest band in the world.

 

It took U2 a dissolved marriage and massive criticism to produce another masterpiece. Coldplay need to find the heart and soul again.

 

On that note, I love the new stuff, I think its brilliant. Mind you Im and X&Y fan, not so much Parachutes and AROBTTH...

 

I think they're still very concerned about winning over the masses: that's why they're playing all their new/unreleased material at festivals. Any band, if they aim to be successful, need to be concerned about this.

 

And U2 is still the biggest band in the world. I think Coldplay would agree with that statement as well. Can Coldplay go to any corner of the world and sell out a 70,000 person stadium? They're definitely the heirs to the throne as kings of rock, but U2 still reign and will for a few more years.

 

Furthermore, I feel that Coldplay's soul is shining as bright as ever with their new material. They have gotten better with every release: AROBTTH was better than Parachutes, X&Y was better than AROBTTH, VLV was better than X&Y, and I have no doubt LP5 will be better than VLV.

[Fix42YellowClocks]

:(

 

Been a Coldplay fan since the beggining. I liked every album release up to date. Even though the albums were different in style, they clearly showed musical progress and evolution of this great band.

 

Heck, I even liked most of the b-sides too.

 

Altough I still regard Parachutes and AROBTTH to be their best work, I listened to Viva La Vida many times because it was a really well composed album, brilliant if you listen to it without skipping tracks.

 

But then came the Prospekt's march EP, and I didn't really like Glass of Water or Rainy Day... They seemed, I don't know.. Overproduced. Brian Eno's influence I suppose?.

It kind of sounded too artifficial to me.

 

Christmas lights gave me a glimmer of hope that this new direction isn't all that bad, but hearing these new songs... I just can't get myself to like them. It's like there's too much going on in a song (like in ETiAW) but it ends up just being a big mess. And the lyrics??..''I'd rather be a comma than a full stop''... Sounds like rather being in a comma than dead.. I know that's not the actual meaning, but that's an awful wordplay.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to ask, is it just me going insane, or do some older coldplay fans share these views?

 

Of course you have a right to feel as you do and there are definitely people who will empathize with this same feeling. But I look at it like this.

 

I mean it almost makes me think it breaks down into two general categories of people. Nothing wrong with either side, just differences in opinion. Like politics. This might be weird/random/unrelated but follow me here.

 

In politics there are conservatives. People who look at our country and say hey, there's nothing wrong with this. We are doing great! What's there to change? Changing could make things worse, we should stick with what's been going for us. Just like I'm sure there are people who heard Parachutes, A Rush of Blood to the Head, and even X&Y and thought "wow, music can't get any better than this." And then they heard VlVoDaAHF or the newer songs from the LP5 session and think "why did they have to change it? It was SO DAMN GOOD before. It was practically perfect. This pales in comparison to the greatness they had once achieved. Why couldn't they just go back and keep making that incredible sound where they left off instead of falling off quality-wise completely?

 

There are also liberals. People who look at our country and say hey, it's going bad or it's going decent but we could definitely improve on some things and create a better country. There's a risk in even changing things that might have worked but they could end up functioning even greater. There are similarly people who hear the new music and say "wow, the older albums were great but this is new and fresh." They embrace the new production, new direction, and new vocals as something different and potentially greater than their earlier stages. It was good back then but they keep getting better and expanding their repertoire of musical skills. The different musical styles and twists is positively lovely, I love how they keep pressing and testing their limits to create the best possible.

 

It's not whether one is right and one is wrong. No one is wrong. It's the viewpoint they look at it from and their own personal opinions/biases/feelings/preferences.

[chuck kottke]

In diversity is strength, development is growing into new areas. But there is always the classical sounds, to which they may return on occasion and offer a dusty gem to be polished bright again.

Perhaps what some are searching for is something which is soulful and emotionally gripping and trance-like or drifting off as their earlier works are, which is important as well, but enjoy the sunshine when it's here, and there will always be time for the soulful sounds, be they past or future.

The world is an oyster, but no two pearls are alike.

 

[Corkus]

One thing I don't get is why some people (not all) who argue in favor of Coldplay's newest material say that the skeptics and naysayers have expectations that are too high. What, so we should expect F-grade material so that we can be pleasantly satisfied with D-grade material? If Coldplay has put out quality material in the past, there's no reason to be satisfied with something that isn't quality.

[Xanderp15]

not you're alone mate. many people having the same concerns around here. Hopefully the album will not be that way.

 

If you want to hear the king of the overproduced Coldplay songs - hear the studio version of Major Minus.

 

ABSOLUTELY!...after hearing the batch a new songs for the first time nearly a month ago, a couple I liked immediately, and a couple had to grow on me. One that I liked immediately and even told multiple friends (friends that were concerned about where the next album might go) about how excited I was about the band's approach was 'Major Minus'. I REALLY liked that song, I even ripped it off of youtube so I could put it on a CD. Despite the really crappy quality of the sound I still enjoyed the live version I'd ripped immensely! Excited about the studio version more so than any other song in quite a while, I was on the computer when it aired on BBC radio. My reaction? I was like, "WTF is this?" While it certainly has grown on me a bit, I personally rate the studio version of Major Minus no better than some of their most mediocre of songs. To me, they took a terrific idea, a truly organic and raw rocking (for coldplay) song, and made it very plain by adding in all the tiny details that can often make (or break) a song. In this case, much of that ruined the song for me. Clearly, I was disappointed, I find myself skipping over the track when I listen to my newest Coldplay mix CD.

 

I still have hope for LP5. I have hope for PoC and Charlie Brown, even UATW and Hurts like Heaven. I'm praying, hoping, wishing for a stripped version of Major Minus because I simply do not like the current studio cut. That is the root of my Coldplay frustration. Unfortunately it won't come to an ease for at least another month or two. So much for instant gratification! :laugh3: