Why Coldplay needed to go 'Mainstream'

[Destrokk]

This reminded me of the Avril Lavigne incident.

[fakfak]

I can see where you are coming from. One of my best friends and fellow Coldplay fan has simply quit and stated a string of similar sentences regarding their lack of heart in music lately. She feels like they have indeed, sold out. However, the way I see it is...they are famous now, so might as well cater to the audiences. Its a smart decision, business wise, popularity wise.

Although, truth be told, whether they stay true to their roots or change for the masses, people wil always be disappointed ie: Radiohead's new album. :(

 

 

I just don't get that though. I mean no matter how I look at it, I just can't see how Paradise could possibly be considered more accessible than say, clocks or fix you. ETIAWF maybe, but nothing else in the new material seems more populist than their classic songs. It just leaves me scratching my head TBH.

[para-para-parrotdies]

However, the way I see it is...they are famous now, so might as well cater to the audiences. Its a smart decision, business wise, popularity wise.

Although, truth be told, whether they stay true to their roots or change for the masses, people wil always be disappointed ie: Radiohead's new album. :(

 

And this is the reason for my disappointment. Coldplay should never feel obligated to cater to the audiences and compromise their integrity as musicians - they should instead focus on expanding their musical horizons and developing their sound. Say what you will about Radiohead but they never cater to what the audiences want.

[fakfak]

But what if making pop music that simply makes people happy is what the band want? What if the sound of these new songs is exactly the kind of music the band finds interesting, inspiring or stimulating? There old sound was so commercially successful, I simply can't see any motive for changing it, unless it's something they genuinely wanted to do.

 

You say the band should'nt feel obligated to make music a certain way and then turn around and basically say they're obligated to operate in another certain way. As far as I'm concerned any band has every right to make whatever kind of music interests them (which may change from time to time.) If I like that music or otherwise find it interesting, I'll listen, if not, I won't.

[para-para-parrotdies]

But what if making pop music that simply makes people happy is what the band want? What if the sound of these new songs is exactly the kind of music the band finds interesting, inspiring or stimulating? There old sound was so commercially successful, I simply can't see any motive for changing it, unless it's something they genuinely wanted to do. .

 

You're absolutely right - if this is indeed the direction they want to go, then it's their prerogative. I'm just expressing my disappointment because the recent singles that we've heard don't exactly come anyone near their potential. Everytime I listen to the new songs, I'm constantly left feeling that if the band was just a bit more daring and pushed the envelope more, they could reach another level musically. Instead, it seems they're content with the songs they are making.

[fakfak]

Fair Enough.

 

Personally, I do like AROBTTH on the whole more than anything they've done since. (although I could've listened to a whole album worth of Chinese Sleep Chant-esque songs gladly,), but for whatever reason a lot of these new tracks have intriguing elements to me.

 

The only thing that gets me is the fact that some people (not you FWIW) seem 110% sure that the band are sitting in a studio somewhere twirling their waxed mustaches like Snidley Whiplash and plotting on how to make their music more "mainstream". That's not the vibe I get from them at all.

[chuck kottke]

:rolleyes::laugh3: What have you got against waxed mustaches? Poor Rollie Fingers would be hurt by that comment were he on this board! :P

Rollie-Fingers.jpg (JPEG Image, 258x366 pixels)

[para-para-parrotdies]

Personally, I do like AROBTTH on the whole more than anything they've done since. (although I could've listened to a whole album worth of Chinese Sleep Chant-esque songs gladly,), but for whatever reason a lot of these new tracks have intriguing elements to me.

 

The only thing that gets me is the fact that some people (not you FWIW) seem 110% sure that the band are sitting in a studio somewhere twirling their waxed mustaches like Snidley Whiplash and plotting on how to make their music more "mainstream". That's not the vibe I get from them at all.

 

Right! Songs like Chinese Sleep Chant might not be everyone's favorite song but at least you see that they're stepping out of their comfort zone and trying to branch out musically, really experiment sonically. This is an example of good "change."

 

An example of bad "change" is a song like Paradise. Honestly, I wonder how many people would admit they enjoy this song if the name "Coldplay" wasn't attached to it but that's neither here nor there.

[fakfak]

Right! Songs like Chinese Sleep Chant might not be everyone's favorite song but at least you see that they're stepping out of their comfort zone and trying to branch out musically, really experiment sonically. This is an example of good "change."

 

An example of bad "change" is a song like Paradise. Honestly, I wonder how many people would admit they enjoy this song if the name "Coldplay" wasn't attached to it but that's neither here nor there.

 

 

FWIW, I would still like Paradise. It does have some neat bits in it IMHO (I especially like the bass part. That said, it's probably more interesting to me because it's coldplay, in short I'm keen to see where they're going with this. One of the reasons I like the band's new stuff is that they actually sound like a proper band now as opposed to just the Chris Martin show. If they did start incorporating some of their old ideas again, it would be neat to see how Jonny and Guy's stepped up roles would fit in.

[Cobalt]

Coldplay have been mainstream for a while, I think you're missing the points in some posts a bit.

[Sienna]

But what if making pop music that simply makes people happy is what the band want? What if the sound of these new songs is exactly the kind of music the band finds interesting, inspiring or stimulating? There old sound was so commercially successful, I simply can't see any motive for changing it, unless it's something they genuinely wanted to do.

 

You say the band should'nt feel obligated to make music a certain way and then turn around and basically say they're obligated to operate in another certain way. As far as I'm concerned any band has every right to make whatever kind of music interests them (which may change from time to time.) If I like that music or otherwise find it interesting, I'll listen, if not, I won't.

 

:clap::clap:

Brilliant post!

 

 

And this is the reason for my disappointment. Coldplay should never feel obligated to cater to the audiences and compromise their integrity as musicians - they should instead focus on expanding their musical horizons and developing their sound. Say what you will about Radiohead but they never cater to what the audiences want.

 

I am a fan of Radiohead above Coldplay, yeah, everyone throw stones at me. Radiohead will never cater to what the audiences want, but that's not the reason why I love them. Otherwise that just makes them pretentious high brow wannabes. Radiohead doesn't produce music hoping now one will like it.

All im saying is, has it ever ocurred to you that maybe Coldplay likes what they are doing and also think they expanding their musical horizons and developing their sound? Millions of other people just happen to agree. Taste is a matter of opinion.:)

[para-para-parrotdies]

I am a fan of Radiohead above Coldplay, yeah, everyone throw stones at me. Radiohead will never cater to what the audiences want, but that's not the reason why I love them. Otherwise that just makes them pretentious high brow wannabes. Radiohead doesn't produce music hoping now one will like it.

All im saying is, has it ever ocurred to you that maybe Coldplay likes what they are doing and also think they expanding their musical horizons and developing their sound? Millions of other people just happen to agree. Taste is a matter of opinion.:)

 

You have completely mischaracterized my post. My argument was that Radiohead doesn't care if their new music brings or loses fans... they draw upon a bunch of creative influences and continually develop their sound. Sometimes this leads to great songs, sometimes it doesn't but they don't resort to releasing Top-40 sounding songs.

[the_escapist]

Ok. I wasn't going to weigh in on this mainstream vs. non-mainstream bulls&^t, but I just can't resist.

 

It's one thing if you don't like the new music, saying so doesn't make you a "hater" (as long as it's new music you've actually heard.) However, IMHO there are a couple things about this "coldplay going mainstream" argument that make absolutely no sense to me. If someone on the other side can answer some of these questions, I'd be genuinely interested in their perspective. Here goes:

 

1. First and foremost how on earth can "old coldplay" not be considered "mainstream" or "made for radio" I'll grant you that perhaps parachutes wasn't a pop record by any stretch (though yellow was the definition of a made for radio 3 minute pop song IMHO), but pretty much everything from AROBTTH was. In My Place, Clocks, The Scientist, Fix You, The Hardest Part, Speed of Sound all of these songs came from the "old" (and thus apparently good) era of coldplay music and ALL of them seem more structurally simple and radio ready than ANY of the tracks on VLVODAAHF. I'm really curious as to the specifics of what makes the old material "not poppy" I love coldplay but they are the most mainstream sounding band in the world and have been for 10 years.

 

2. Seeing as the majority of the live songs played at the summer festivals have been well received, how is all the new material judged by a few polarizing songs? By my count, only ETDIAWF and maybe Paradise have gotten what seems to be a mixed response with the general consensus on the other tracks being fairly well received. Heck, even Princess of China got good reviews from the people who actually heard the sole live performance BEFORE it was discovered that Rhianna was on the studio track.

 

3. Why do people feel they can assume the motives of the band? Chris especially has always had an interest in pop music/pop artists and has collaborated with many of them as a solo artist going back almost to the band's inception. how is that not an organic change? Why do some people apparently feel that there is absolutely no chance the difference in the band's music is primarily due to the fact that this is the type of music they're genuinely interested in now?

 

Like I said, I'm NOT one of those people who thinks you're not a "real fan" if you don't like the new music, but I'm seriously having trouble understanding the main arguments people use on here for why they don't like the new songs.

 

I agree with people who say that this whole direction change thing is Coldplay's version of 80's u2 vs. 90's u2 (also spurred by Eno BTW) I think the band are just interested in different things now than they were before, and people can either be interested along with them or not, neither choice is better or worse than the other, it's just a matter of personal preference, After hearing songs like Christmas Lights and UATW, I think it's clear the band can (and does) still write songs in their "old style", it's just not their primary interest at this moment in time.

 

I would go with:

 

:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

 

As I said before, COLDPLAY acquired the mainstream status because they wrote great songs, not the other way around. I think the boys can reach the mainstream full arena tour status without selling out for way too mainstream and pop-y music. They already prove it with VIVA.

 

Besides, their music is so good that it would be beautiful to see them in an intimate tour, as they promised at the beginning of the LP5 era.

[fakfak]

I would go with:

 

:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

 

As I said before, COLDPLAY acquired the mainstream status because they wrote great songs, not the other way around. I think the boys can reach the mainstream full arena tour status without selling out for way too mainstream and pop-y music. They already prove it with VIVA.

 

Besides, their music is so good that it would be beautiful to see them in an intimate tour, as they promised at the beginning of the LP5 era.

 

 

I'm not so sure they promised that per se. One of the reasons I think people have a tendency to get so worked up on here is they take everything about the band reported in The Sun (which may or may not be accurate) as the gospel truth, only to get upset when it doesn't pan out.

[coldplayisawesome]

yeah, i wouldn't say they promised it so much as Chris said he wanted to do it. and you know how credible/probable things are when they come out of Chris's mouth... :P

[Destrokk]

If this is the case, that you all think that they're not doing this for mainstream with bringing in Rhianna, collaborating with other pop musicians and using catchy simple lyrics then that means that they really are dumb. I thought they were just playing dumb to be popular because I feel like they might think that because they want some kind of respect in future years. It was the only thing that made me feel like they'd come back.. that they're just making the last album for this label to be done with it.

 

:(

[Destrokk]

DP~

[coldplayisawesome]

If this is the case, that you all think that they're not doing this for mainstream with bringing in Rhianna, collaborating with other pop musicians and using catchy simple lyrics then that means that they really are dumb. I thought they were just playing dumb to be popular because I feel like they might think that because they want some kind of respect in future years. It was the only thing that made me feel like they'd come back.. that they're just making the last album for this label to be done with it.

 

:(

 

well, i think that Chris at least is very much a people-pleaser and he always has been... so that seems to play a big part in this...

i don't necessarily think they want popularity exactly... at least, i feel like they want to attract more people to their music so that they have more people to share it with, if that makes sense, rather than to just make more money (and i know you didn't say anything about the money factor; i'm not trying to put words in your mouth or anything :P).

i don't think i explained this right. maybe you'll get what i'm trying to say anyway. :\

 

 

also, i don't think all of their newer lyrics are "simple"...

and i think some of their older lyrics were "simple". :shrug:

[fakfak]

well, i think that Chris at least is very much a people-pleaser and he always has been... so that seems to play a big part in this...

i don't necessarily think they want popularity exactly... at least, i feel like they want to attract more people to their music so that they have more people to share it with, if that makes sense, rather than to just make more money (and i know you didn't say anything about the money factor; i'm not trying to put words in your mouth or anything :P).

i don't think i explained this right. maybe you'll get what i'm trying to say anyway. :\

 

 

also, i don't think all of their newer lyrics are "simple"...

and i think some of their older lyrics were "simple". :shrug:

 

That's exactly why I have such a hard time believing the band would have ever "sold out" intentionally for commercial success. Chris is so eager to please people (and his fans) he seems like the last guy in the music biz to intentionally write something he knew they wouldn't like. He seems to be dealing with criticism better these days, but I remember the days when the slightest hint of criticism in the press sent him into such a public funk, that I have expected to read in the Sun the next day that he had attempted suicide or something.