Massive overreaction

[Ronnabe]

Music is all about opinions, right, I get that, but so much of the stuff I've seen posted about Paradise on here today has been nothing short of BS, essentially accusing the band of selling out and laying claws into Brian Eno.

 

Why? Sure this song is more poppy than the stuff from Parachutes, but so what? Coldplay have changed as a band, 11 years is a long time in music and every band that has been successful for a prolonged period has changed its style along the way. Muse and Radiohead most recently spring to mind, and thank the good lord Coldplay aren't going down the road of attempting acid-jazz like King of Limbs, or playing an almost entirely unheard set to soaked fans at Glastonbury who waited hours for a good position at the Park stage (I'm not bitter...), right?

 

The most glaring error that seems to be taken as a logical conclusion is that mainstream = selling out. I don't believe Coldplay ever set out to be different from the status quo in the same way they're wavering to and from it as they develop. If you think they're trying to be too much like the charts, I present to you Us Against the World & Major Minus and ask if you still have the same view.

 

If you don't like it, fine. I can't honestly believe there is a single person who likes everything Coldplay have ever produced, it doesn't happen. To level personal insults at the band, the record label, large swathes of the music industry & listening public and Brian Eno is way too far and completely unfair.

 

If you're that angry about it I'm sure you'll be ignoring the rest of the singles, album and tour as Coldplay have 'sold out to the mainstream', right? Thought not.

 

edit: to clear up any confusion... I don't have any issue with disliking the song as I made clear in the very first sentence of my OP! Some of the reasonings coming out and conspiracy theories are ridiculous, this is the issue.

[Jedi Leo]

I like how people are coming back to the forums to stand up for Coldplay´s new direction hehe :nod:

[filiprasmusson]

@Ronnabe Im with you! Support coldplay no matter what! :)

[getithom]

Amen, brotha!

[the_escapist]

You're right in some sense. However, it's not about condemning the band forever.

 

It's just that in the personal opinion of many Coldplayers, Paradise is the weakest single of Coldplay's history. The lyrics are horrible, in my opinion.

 

I celebrate the fact that they are evolving and making something different, but I guess that this is not what Coldplay fans were expecting.

 

As stated by NME while reviewing Paradise:

 

‘Paradise’ feels both slightly listless and muddled. The “hip” new sonic treatments sound out of date (there's a mid-noughties vibe about the whole thing) and the chorus comes off as a weak facsimile of what Coldplay have done effortlessly in the past; specifically that people-uniting aspect.

 

Whilst Coldplay’s pop makeover may be - for them at least- quite revelatory, it feels like Chris Martin’s populist songwriting tendencies have been clipped. Ultimately it feels like a few steps back rather than forward.

 

Coldplay was amazing, precisely because they made GREAT songs which ended being commercial because they were GREAT, not the other way around.

[Lore]

Why does people get so offended because a bunch of us actually hate this song?

 

 

The "I'll support coldplay no matter what" people makes me want to see them releasing a samba album.

[Ronnabe]

You're right in some sense. However, it's not about condemning the band forever.

 

It's just that in the personal opinion of many Coldplayers, Paradise is the weakest single of Coldplay's history. The lyrics are horrible, in my opinion.

 

I celebrate the fact that they are evolving and making something different, but I guess that this is not what Coldplay fans were expecting.

 

As stated by NME while reviewing Paradise:

 

‘Paradise’ feels both slightly listless and muddled. The “hip” new sonic treatments sound out of date (there's a mid-noughties vibe about the whole thing) and the chorus comes off as a weak facsimile of what Coldplay have done effortlessly in the past; specifically that people-uniting aspect.

 

Whilst Coldplay’s pop makeover may be - for them at least- quite revelatory, it feels like Chris Martin’s populist songwriting tendencies have been clipped. Ultimately it feels like a few steps back rather than forward.

 

Coldplay was amazing, precisely because it made GREAT songs which ended being commercial because they were GREAT, not the other way around.

Coldplay have never had any great commercial acclaim, a single #1 in 11 years tells you this. I don't like the song all that much, and would argue with the NME's rather pretentious viewpoint that CP are trying to sound mainstream, when they're putting out Moving to Mars, MM and UATW at the same time. FWIW I'd rather listen to Paradise than Speed of Sound, but personal preference.

 

 

Why does people get so offended because a bunch of us actually hate this song?

 

 

The "I'll support coldplay no matter what" people makes me want to see them releasing a samba album.

If you're aiming that at me you completely misread what I was saying.

[DukeNewcomb]

I don't get the people treating them as if Coldplay are your children, where you "love them no matter what". They're a band, they make their money from providing music of a certain quality to an audience, the higher the quality, the better their popularity and fame, and the more money they make.

 

I don't get the people posting here today criticising the people complaining with a mentality of "I love the song, because it's by Coldplay" - if that's the case, they may as well save themselves the hassle and record themselves playing a triangle for 5 minutes because either way you're going to love it.

 

IMO it's good that the fans who don't like the song are being this critical of it, because it then gets picked up and they learn from their mistakes, and it shapes their future music. In my opinion it's a ghastly single compared to other contenders which I personally believe would (and will) fare better than Paradise on radio and to a mainstream audience. And please all Paradise-likers stop with the "Get with the times, you all want old coldplay, well this is a new direction, so stop criticising" - Yes we know it's a new direction, I don't think anybody on here dislikes Charlie Brown, Hurts Like Heaven, Us Against The World or Princess of China (minus future Rihanna inclusion that is), so no, we don't dislike it because Coldplay are moving on, because other songs they have produced are fantastic, but because Paradise is very poor both on its own and in comparison to them.

[dburg87]

The fact that I am a Coldplay fan doesn't mean I should be blind to the fact that it is an incredibly underwhelming song. The fact is, they're going in a different direction (the consensus of users describing that as more "pop"), and they're going to lose some fans who are more used to, and bigger fans of their old sound. I am still holding out hope that I will enjoy the album when it arrives though!

[Ronnabe]

I don't have any issue with disliking the song as I made clear in the very first sentence of my OP! Some of the reasonings coming out and conspiracy theories are ridiculous, this is the issue.

[Tom8]

I don't understand why some people are focusing hate on Eno, have these people actually listened to Eno's solo work? he's nowhere near "Mainstream"

[anacaren08]

You're right in some sense. However, it's not about condemning the band forever.

 

 

 

I celebrate the fact that they are evolving and making something different, but I guess that this is not what Coldplay fans were expecting.

 

As stated by NME while reviewing Paradise:

 

‘Paradise’ feels both slightly listless and muddled. The “hip” new sonic treatments sound out of date (there's a mid-noughties vibe about the whole thing) and the chorus comes off as a weak facsimile of what Coldplay have done effortlessly in the past; specifically that people-uniting aspect.

 

Whilst Coldplay’s pop makeover may be - for them at least- quite revelatory, it feels like Chris Martin’s populist songwriting tendencies have been clipped. Ultimately it feels like a few steps back rather than forward.

 

Coldplay was amazing, precisely because they made GREAT songs which ended being commercial because they were GREAT, not the other way around.

 

Wow, I would have to agree :\

Especially agree with the last part u said.

[the_escapist]

I don't understand why some people are focusing hate on Eno, have these people actually listened to Eno's solo work? he's nowhere near "Mainstream"

 

This is not responsibility of Brian Eno or EMI.

 

I have no doubt that Will, Guy, Jonny, Chris and Phil make the calls inside Coldplay.

[DukeNewcomb]

This is not responsibility of Brian Eno or EMI.

 

I have no doubt that Will, Guy, Jonny, Chris and Phil make the calls inside Coldplay.

 

 

 

I bet everything I own that Will absolutely despises it.

[the_escapist]

BTW, for those of you who think that us who don't like so much Paradise are exaggerating, just wait and see, because I think that for the tour of LP6 they won't play Paradise. Precisely because it is not a great song.