First Impressions of Mylo Xyloto (and vote in the 1-10 sliding scale poll!)

[MX&Yellow]

:pleased: I give it a 10/10 :thumbsup:

 

Received MYLO XYLOTO at home on October 22th, but already had all songs since October 17th... :nice:

 

CAN'T GET ENOUGHT OF IT :heart:

 

My fav albums are :

 

1rst : X&Y

2 : Parachutes

3 : AROBTTH

4: Mylo Xyloto

5 : Viva La Vida

[kiwiboy527]

Still fucking waiting for the MP3 version to come FML

I ordered the £50 version and now I must wait for 2 working days?! FUCK OFF :'(

but i've heard the songs - certainly some VERY memorable songs...

Charlie Brown, DLIBYH, UWTB, MX, Paradise WHICH I LOVE! then there's MMIX which is nothing, and UIF which would be good if it had more than 20 lyrics

[rousi]

Still fucking waiting for the MP3 version to come FML

I ordered the £50 version and now I must wait for 2 working days?! FUCK OFF :'(

but i've heard the songs - certainly some VERY memorable songs...

Charlie Brown, DLIBYH, UWTB, MX, Paradise WHICH I LOVE! then there's MMIX which is nothing, and UIF which would be good if it had more than 20 lyrics

 

Check your spam inbox...my email with the instructions was there!!

[Maneki]

Well I'd give it a 8/10.

There were some song, I really loved, such as Hurts Like Heaven, Paradise, Charlie Brown, Us Against The World, Major Minus and Don't Let It Break Your Heart. I still don't get the point og MMIX. Okay, I got that they have Mylo Xyloto as their opening instrumental track, but I don't get the point of MMIX. :blank:

So my ranking now would be

1.) Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends

2.) A Rush Of Blood To The Head

3.) Mylo Xyloto

4.) X&Y

5.) Parachutes

:nod:

[Keddie]

Since this is a "first impressions" thread, I ranked MX even though I've only listened to it twice so far. I gave it a 7. It was surprisingly good. Love the flow it has and the mix of more synthy songs with the acoustic ones. Didn't like the lack of diversity in sound compared to VLVODAAHF, and absolutely did not like PoC. Well, the song on it's own isn't so bad, for a pop song, but it simply doesn't fit on the album at all. If they could replace that one with Moving To Mars, I might even give this album an 8. I for sure enjoy this album more than X & Y, which is all I was really hoping for.

[IloveChris]

I gave it a 7. It definitely is more lively than their other stuff and I loved Up With The Birds most. I suppose other songs will have to grow on me, but I feel the songs that I'd already heard over the summer like Hurts Like Heaven and Charlie Brown are the best and are amongst my favorites. :)

Still an incredibly great album, if a little too over-produced on some songs.

[nancyk58]

I have not yet bought it, but expects to do it either tomorrow or Wednesday.

 

But I have noticed the reviews in Danish papers:

 

 

Urban - a Danish free paper: ** out of ****** (2 out of 6) and a description of the band based entirely on an interview posted here

 

 

MetroXpress - another free paper: **** out of ****** (4 out of 6) with the headline: Falling in love at the first listening. Reviewed by SOUNDVENUE Music & Style.

 

The review ends like this: "It is easy to fall in love, but more difficult to stay in love when the initial ecstasy is over".

-------------

Tabloid paper Ekstra-Bladet (already on Friday 21 October): **** out of ****** (4 out of 6)

-------------

 

Danish tabloid paper BT under the headline: Party and Free Fantasy - Coldplay gives a hug to the entire world: ***** out of ****** (5 out of 6)

 

"Together with their old friend and producer Brian Eno, Chris Martin and the rest of the arch-British band Coldplay have made their so far best album".

 

 

 

So I have seen reviews of Mylo Xyloto ranging from disappointed Urban (**) to ecstatic BT (*****).

 

 

I might translate some of the reviews one of the next days - tomorrow is rather busy (maybe while listening to the new album if I buy it tomorrow). I am going out tonight - in 30 minutes.

[Saket]

Not a review. Just a track by track impression of the album.

 

Mylo Xyloto/Hurts Like Heaven: Coldplay could have easily played it safe after the success of Viva La Vida. They decide not to. Evident in the opening track, Jonny takes control with the gorgeous sounding guitar riffs. Over produced? pfft more like tweaks to the song to sound it more beastly and it also helps in providing right falsettos at the end by Chris.

 

Paradise: The RnB, hip-hop elements are clear (especially with the drumming) but I never understood what's wrong with being versatile. Piano and guitars (although in minority) comes at required places. This was clearly designed with the context of the album rather than a proper single.

 

Charlie Brown: This > Clocks. Why? It manages to keep you hooked with an addictive guitar rhythm, marvellous string arrangement and an outro which suprisingly doesn't seem out of place rather completes this energtic song. The only thing that angers me is that this hasn't been released as a single yet.

 

Us Against The World: One of the most beautiful songs to come out from them. This hypnotises in ways more than you can imagine. The lyrics are the most impressive part with Jonny (yes, he is the one in control in majority of the songs) filling all the neccesary gaps. The organ in the later half adds to the emotional ride that the song is. Stunning.

 

MMIX/Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall: We all know about this, don't we? First single blah bleh. Took a lot of time to grow but it did. This is their attempt at making something which is uplifting, raising hope and a dance track at the same time. Still loses me at the "wa-wa" part.

 

Major Minus: Hello Jonny (again?). Much dispute has been done with live and album version. What people fail to realise is that when bands make changes to sounds (muffling, adding sounds etc.) it is in context to the album. Paranoia, fear, being watched etc. This one is like the bad a** song of the record.

 

U.F.O.: A short, simple acoustic track reminscent of "Prospekts March" more than "Parachutes"

 

Princess of China: The most talked about song even before release. Many would have hated it before listening. No Jonny here, it's all Rihanna with Chris (and it works surprisingly well). The string arrangement is impressive (isn't it always). Synths, crashing and uneasy computerised sounds. This one is different than anything they have done before, it's bound to polarise views and deep down Coldplay knew this would happen. They are happy to risk it and that's what credible in an artist.

 

Up In Flames: A last minute addition. Again simple but immensly tragic (highly deeprisive at times too). This conveys hopelessness until Chris slowly whispers at the end "Can we pour some water on?" .Beautiful.

 

A Hopeful Transmission/Don't Let It Break Your Heart: An explosive penultimate track very similar to some Killer songs. The drums are heavy. Lyrics seem to be taken from "X&Y" era but Jonny's persistent play (minimal but at important points) makes it very likely single in times to come. The ending with flashy sound patches and heart-beat bass again makes it more graphical.

 

 

Up With Birds: In the first part of this song Chris almost gives in but slowly with the bird call (yes, there are bird noises) it turns all optimistic with Jonny adding the turning point. "A simple plot but I know one thing. Good things are coming our way". Indeed.

 

The attention to detail in this record is much more than any. They have worked their heart out to get the details right to convey a message, to paint a picture, to make it more graphic. Many call that "over production".

 

It is very important to know that everything (from addition of noises to effects) was carried out to say a story. I wonder how many tried to follow the same from Track 1 to 14. It's a concept album (howsoever simple).

[_Broken_Doll_]

I've been a die hard Coldplay fan ever since AROBTTH. I love Parachutes, X&Y and Viva. And I mean LOVE.

 

But I have to say, I am disappointed by this album. I by far prefer the acoustic tracks and popier tracks than the full out electronic ones. I really loved the singles that were released, and figured the whole album would resemble them. But there are tracks in there that are just filled with so many synths and electronic drum sounds that it's just....where's the band? What happened to the music being the four guys playing, not Chris with a bunch of keyboards and electronic effects?

 

Hurts Like Heaven and Charlie Brown sound too much like Arcade Fire, which isn't a bad thing to sound like someone else. But I feel like I've heard these songs before because Arcade Fire released an album earlier this year and Coldplay seem to have taken a lot of influence from them. Up In Flames has a chord progression for the chorus that has already been used before.

 

I've never been so harsh in my thoughts about a Coldplay album. With every other album, I LOVEd it after the first listen. But with this one, I'm very unsure. :( I sincerely hope this album grows on me, because I've never skipped Coldplay songs before due to the fact that I didn't like them (which means that I really DO love all of Coldplay's material until now...)

[Tom8]

I really like the album. It has the right mix of sounds, blending acoustics and synth heavy songs. It's definitely up there with my favourite albums of the year. Probably joint with Viva la Vida as my favourite Coldplay album so far. I just hope they can kick on and make another great album.

 

It would be interesting to hear some of the tracks that were on the scrapped acoustic album.

[Jedi Leo]

I only listened to the album twice and am looking forward to re-post after several listenings. I remember being excited about VLV already after the first listen and loving it right then and there, even though it took time to really get into some of the songs. As for MX, my first impression was that the A-side (up to Major Minus) is probably the greatest A-side ever made: it truly feels and sounds like a collection of greatest hits. Each song is super solid: pure gold. The B-side is, in my opinion, less impressive, though featuring excellent tracks like PoC and MM. The fact that the b-side contains all the really new songs make me think that I will have to listen to it a few more times before making up my mind about them. I found it very weird to be able to sing on most songs, due to the intensive early live promotion, EP and songs streaming on iTunes. Time will tell whether this is a good thing or not. So far then a great A-side and glimmers of brilliance on B-side. Will report back :)

[The Philosopher]

I've listened the album for the first time and with no doubt I can say that my favourites are: Hurts Like Heaven, Charlie Brown, Us Against The World, DLIBYH and Up With The Birds. Oh and Major Minus too, of course!

[Philibob]

I voted 10 - too early to compare it properly with their other albums yet since I've only listened to it a few times, but there isn't a song that I don't like and there's a few songs that I know I'll be listening to for a long time so it's definitely worth a 10 for me :)

[James.]

It would be interesting to hear some of the tracks that were on the scrapped acoustic album.

 

I think Chris said in an interview that Charlie Brown was going to be an acoustic song with Will playing the accordion, which was probably going to be on the acoustic album. I would guess that U.F.O. and Us Against The World probably were as well, as they are the most acoustic-sounding songs on MX. Who knows, maybe Wedding Bells may have ended up on it as well if it hadn't been scrapped? :shrug:

[The Final Track]

It's a real pitty they scarpped that. From what's left it could have been their best.

[Valentina]

I've listened to the whole album just twice, so right now I can't say a lot, but as first impression I have to say that emotionally I'm into MX from the beginning to the end of it. It's an explosion of so many feelings, from sadness to happiness, from despair to hope. Every single song has its meaning in MX, they set every song perfectly in the tracklist,above all I find ETIAW after UATW so well-chosen.

About the duet with Rihanna, it's not that bad, but I have to disagree with Chris: this song is more near to Rihanna style than Coldplay one, I could easily listen to Princess of China in one of Rihanna album. I think this song is the symbol of Coldplay's change (or experiment as you wanna call it) and it's not a case they chose Rihanna to sing the female part,maybe she's not the best,but right now she's the major representative of this genre.

Finally I can say that UATW is my favorite, I just burst into tears when it begins and when Guy comes up with the bass it's totally heartbreaking.

[IloveChris]

I'm a bit peeved there are no hidden tracks.

Or maybe there are, and I'm just too stupid to realize ?

[Jack1505]

My preliminary verdict is: (takes a few listens to give my real opinion)

 

I think its a strong album, I gave it a 7 on the above scale. It would have damn been an 8 if Up in Flames (monotonous almost embarrasing) was switched with Moving to Mars.

But overall I think the album sounds great! well done guys!

[Blue Nails]

@Blue Nails: Nice review, love how you're so schizophrenic about it, your mind says "don't fall for it" but you admit that you can't help falling for it anyway. :)

 

Thanks. Yeah, schizophrenic is exactly how I feel. I only just noticed how often I used 'love' and 'hate' in the same post (which is annoying to read), and I didn't even exaggerate. :lol:

I just have to get over myself and enjoy it, because I feel like the only reason why I might not like this album, is because my mind is in the way with 'they're going pop'-like reasons. Which should not even be a problem, because I can enjoy listening to songs like Judas or Sweet Dreams as much as, say, Everything In It's Right Place. (Without trying to sound like a certain Mr. Martin, btw.)

 

I really like how everyone keeps posting their opinions, I think I read all of them.

Some random things I agreed on:

 

 

Up in Flames is devastating in its simplicity, that is why it is so good. You can feel the emotion of someone realizing their love is "Up in Flames" and that all they can think about is that fact. Any more explication would be forced

 

Exactly. I hope more people give this song a second chance, because it's like The Scientist, the moment when that guitar comes in. I'm gonna campaign for this song, so beware. :sneaky:

 

I also thought of mentioning how I wished they included Moving To Mars on the album, but I've tried slipping it into different places on the tracklisting and it doesn't seem to work anywhere :thinking:. It's one of my favourites from this era (this is evolution, people) but it's almost as if they knew it was on another level compared to the rest of the tracks, which is why they left it off. It's the most mature and original track of this era, and it's just a shame they didn't decide to create an album in the same vein. It could have been their masterpiece.

 

Agreed 100% on the bold part, and hoped for that too... LP6, maybe? ;)

As much as I love Moving To Mars, I honestly think it's the most 'classic' Coldplay song of this era, and in that way not a step forward. But yes, I would prefer it over the Princess Of China direction as well.

 

I'd give it an 8/10, but Coldplay: Watch your step.

 

:nod:

OTOH, maybe more like: don't watch your step at all, and create a masterpiece.

 

This time, I was quite worried about the whole thing, even though we'd heard most of the songs in some form, and was very pleasantly surprised. There was no hurdle of equating high expectations with reality and bringing them more down to earth: this time it was the opposite, and that was refreshing.

 

This. I feel like most people are relieved and surprised it turned out to be a pretty good album after all, which makes me happy. It really could have been a whole lot worse (not just the album, I mean the vibes on the board too).

 

 

[Tonsu]

I'm sure I'll grow to love it, and so these are just first impressions after my first listen. I didn't 'get' most of x&y at all until multiple listens compared to the first two albums, and hated Violet Hill and disliked Viva until the penny dropped for me (took about 30 plays for Violet Hill - now one of my most favourite live songs - and many more for Viva - which I enjoyed on that tour but am now happy to see the back of).

 

Pluses and minuses:

 

+ PoC is a great triumph imho. A huge nice surprise!

 

+ (Fairly) consistent production throughout. If Viva was a rainbow of individual tracks, then this is (mostly) a rainbow throughout, from start to finish.

 

+ Paradise and Every Teardrop really find their place here. I never liked ETiaW and Paradise was better and had no desire to listen to them again since release, but hearing them here they're like long-lost friends and fit in perfectly.

 

+ Studio MM is much better than the (imo) very flat live version (I still think it should have stayed a B-side and been long forgotten though).

 

 

- Horrible production on HLH kills the song stone dead for me. Awful, awful, awful. CB fares better, and is still good, but the live is far, far superior. The studio version kills a lot of the passion for me. Both should have been re-recorded after being honed on the live circuit imho. Death of two of their best ever songs for me :cry: UAtW also is horribly neutered - again, live, one of their best ever for me.

 

- I think the production, overall, is just horrible.

 

- It's no Viva, is it? :\ That album had so many flavours, and nooks and crannies to explore and grow to love over time. This doesn't seem to have any space to grow into. In that sense, it's pop in the purest sense. What you first see is (perhaps) all you get...(?)

 

- Lyrically it's insane. A great friend of mine told me to look them up online to see just how bad they are, but I can't bear to :(

 

- Wasn't it Up In Flames that made it as a song written and recorded just a few weeks ago? HOW ON EARTH DID IT GET THE NOD?! :o

 

- It's x&y lite - the theme and production consistency are there (and this time the production is much more 'colourful'), but generally not the ideas, songs or development of those ideas (I won't even mention lyrics again at this point).

 

- Overall: over three years for this?!!

 

This IS just a reaction to the first listen. I was wrong about quite a lot of Viva after just a play or two, I'd be the first one to admit it. And so, of course I pray I'm wrong (as previously proven by the boys) but I just can't see where this album can grow given more time.

 

For the mainstream press, compared to all other pop/rock releases, I can't see how they can give it less than 6/10. For Coldplay alone, I can see arguments ranging from 3s up to 7s or 8s tops, though I would have to hear very convincing arguments for ratings of 8...

 

Right, onto second listen, I very much hope and pray to be proven wrong by this :)

[Drew42LP5]

I think it's hard to hear Chris in DLIBYH and the last part of UWTB. Good album, it will grow on me, PoC is my favorite. I give it an 8.

[Harondor]

Just listended to the album. I gave it a 8

My first impressions :

 

- UFO and Paradise are awesome,

- PoC isn't that bad,

- Charlie Brown failed me, I don't know why I probably should have more listens (it's the first time I listen to it)

- HLH is a good song but spoiled by overproduction (we can hardly hear Chris).

- MMIX is an awesome intro to ETIAW

- The end of the album is very good but I need more listens to catch the 2 last songs in their whole complexity.

 

In conclusion, MX is a solid 5th album, but Viva is better.

[JordanHH]

Major Minus is the only song I don't really enjoy listening to on the album

 

The rest are fantastic!

[Cheese Nip 2]

I've only heard it once AND I LOVE IT!

 

It's very shoe gazing-y:D

[TryWhistlingThis]

I've just been listening to the album a lot more and i've arrived at my final verdict. Originally it was a 4 out of 5, i've taken it down to a 3.5. It's not a bad album, but at the same time that's the inherent problem with it, it's absolutely impossible for this album to offend because it ticks all the appropriate "pop" boxes that are relevant for 2011. That's not to say that's all it does, but the effect is noticeable.

 

As I said in my previous review, there's no disputing the talent of this band and the boundaries they can break. You can hear elements of it on this album and can just imagine where they can go, but they don't because the pop sensibilities kick in. With absolutely any band or artist, that pisses me off. It's like a tease, you know they can go further in a way that would both be interesting and non-compromising to their identity as a band, but they just don't. For this reason, I disagree with the comparisons to U2 because they experimented with their sound in the 1990s and took it as far as they could as a quartet and at no point did they ever fail to be U2. For me, it worked and I admire them for it. This is what i'd like to see Coldplay do next.

 

I stress again, not a bad album at all, but it could have been so much more especially in light of this being the follow up to Viva La Vida, my favourite Coldplay album.

 

In other news - my 100th post!