[MTV Review] Mylo Xyloto: Their Best Album Yet?

[Mimixxx]

 

Now here's a review that will spark some debate! :P

 

We take a look at Coldplay's least subtle — and perhaps finest — album ever, in Bigger Than the Sound.

 

You can accuse Coldplay of being many things — mawkish, maudlin, bland, boring, grandiose, geeky, preachy, polished, M.O.R., A.O.R., E.L.O. — and more often than not, their (countless) critics do just that. You cannot, however, accuse them of being subtle. Not ever.

 

That's OK, though. None of the hugest bands on the planet (the U2s, Linkin Parks, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc.) are practiced in the art of subtlety. It is simply not in their nature. Instead, they deal in universal themes, paint with the broadest of brushstrokes. That is, one could reasonably assume, at least partially why they are so popular: They make music that is massive and, of course, for the masses.

 

I mention all that not to slag Coldplay, a band I actually like very much, but to A) point out that they have never focused on the smaller aspects of life (their first hit, "Yellow," opened with the line, "Look at the stars/ Look how they shine for you," and even their most delicate singles — stuff like "The Scientist" and "Fix You" and "Clocks" — could casually be described as "arena-size") and B) to defuse any and all criticisms of their latest album, Mylo Xyloto, which is very fine indeed but is not in any conceivable way a subtle thing.

 

And, again, that's just fine with me. My favorite thing about Coldplay has always been their willingness to experiment, to push the boundaries of what a (very) major-label rock band can and should do. They work with Brian Eno (who is credited with "Enoxification and additional composition" on Xyloto) Jay-Z and Jon Hopkins; they put Baudot Code on their album covers; and they are constantly, occasionally frustratingly, trying very hard to be overly complex.

 

Sometimes, like on 2009's Viva la Vida, they try to do too much, which dulls the impact of their tunes. On Xyloto, due Tuesday (October 18), that is not the case.

This is precision-honed Coldplay, which seems like an odd thing to say about a vaguely conceptual album that spans 14 tracks and features more electronic wallop than a dozen Creamfields, more skyward guitars than a million planetarium shows and more vocal chants than a season at Old Trafford. Oh, and Rihanna too. And yet, it all works. The biggest moments, like "Paradise," "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall," "Princess of China" (that's the RiRi track) and "Don't Let It Break Your Heart," pile each of those elements on with aplomb, and the results are gloriously giddy and appropriately anthemic. The several musical interludes on the disc show the Eno influence, each mercury-slick and slipstream shiny (they also serve as excellent onramps to those bigger tunes). And the few quiet moments on Xyloto, like the acoustic "U.F.O." and album-closing "Up With the Birds," draw maximum emotional impact out of minimal dynamic (and, as all quiet songs should be, are genuinely pretty too).

 

Of course, Mylo Xyloto is also Coldplay's most electronic album, a fact that may bother some of their more centrist fans. But it's also their most adventurous, their most gigantic and, at least in terms of both of those things, their most impactful. And that, in and of itself, sets it far apart from most of the other major-label rock albums released this year, or any year. You can continue to criticize them all you want, but that just means you've never listened to their albums. With Xyloto, Coldplay have pulled off the rather impossible feat of expanding their repertoire while, at the same time, honing their focus. And that's a lot more difficult to pull off than subtlety, whether you're the smallest band in the world or the biggest.

 

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1672756/coldplay-mylo-xyloto.jhtml

[foxeh]

Oh god.

Now i see millions of People coming to comment here that it's obviously not their Best.

[Guest howyousawtheworld]

More chants than in a season at Old Trafford?! Surely the reviewer is taking the ultimate piss?! I've heard more chants at a monasteray than at Old Toilet.

 

The reviewer must have meant Anfield. ;)

 

Regardless an intriguing review. I wonder if I will agree with it when I hear the whole album on Monday.

[Bonus_mosher]

I think the title is a shorter fragment of a longer sentence:

It's definitely their best work... in the last three years. :uhoh:

[Nature]

Oh god.

Now i see millions of People coming to comment here that it's obviously not their Best.

 

Then let me be the first one :sneaky:

 

Ofcourse MTV likes this album,it's like Coldplay made this for channels like those,the sound is inmensy big (in my opinion in a negative way) and it contains alot of Ooh's and Aah's like never before.

 

It's the sort of album young people like let's say begin 20 who will like this type of albums.

 

Coldplay was once an band you couldn't catogorize in any way,now you can say it's an 'Electronic Band' i dont hear the R&B influances in this album at all by the way.

 

This is why MTV are clapping their hands for this.

[Major_Love]

Another brilliant review. It shares my view - its Coldplay's most innovative record until now and thats why I love them.

[Brent]

Uhhh...that review was really shitty. It didn't SAY anything! WTF?

[Bonus_mosher]

Then let me be the first one :sneaky:

 

Ofcourse MTV likes this album,it's like Coldplay made this for channels like those,the sound is inmensy big (in my opinion in a negative way) and it contains alot of Ooh's and Aah's like never before.

 

It's the sort of album young people like let's say begin 20 who will like this type of albums.

 

Coldplay was once an band you couldn't catogorize in any way,now you can say it's an 'Electronic Band' i dont hear the R&B influances in this album at all by the way.

 

This is why MTV are clapping their hands for this.

 

Seeing as this is the first serious and coherent post you have made that I have seen, allow me to humour it for a moment;

 

YOU DON'T HEAR THE R&B INFLUENCES??!?!

They're plastered all the way throughout Paradise and Princess of China.

Those two songs in their entirety would be catagorized as definitive 'R&B' hits if they were produced by any other artist.

[Ennosuke]

It's the sort of album young people like let's say begin 20 who will like this type of albums.

 

Coldplay was once an band you couldn't catogorize in any way,now you can say it's an 'Electronic Band' i dont hear the R&B influances in this album at all by the way.

 

Who are you, to say such things ?

[Nature]

Who are you, to say such things ?

 

i'm a critical fan.

 

Who are you?

[Nature]

Seeing as this is the first serious and coherent post you have made that I have seen, allow me to humour it for a moment;

 

YOU DON'T HEAR THE R&B INFLUENCES??!?!

They're plastered all the way throughout Paradise and Princess of China.

Those two songs in their entirety would be catagorized as definitive 'R&B' hits if they were produced by any other artist.

 

Doesnt sound that way too me.

 

this is R&B

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W69SSLfRJho]Life Goes On - Tupac - YouTube[/ame]

 

i hate Tupac,but this is an example.

[bobotheduk]

Interesting article, agree about Coldplay not being subtle, they stick to their strengths.

[Vinze]

Album review:

 

Album is not that nice then i thought, i think the expectations were to high.

The first songs we heard for the album they played it in june in rock am ring, thats 5 songs, they started to early showing the new songs. Why: I likED the songs so much that i played them so much that its broken now

 

Also there are to many accoustic songs, i dont like slow/acoustic songs.

 

What involves most : I played the songs broken like HLH, CB, ITIAW, PARADISE, MM.

Time between first album song release/Showing m live = to long.

 

Sorry Coldplay

 

Song rankings:

 

1. Princess of China.

2. CB

3. MX/HLH

4. Paradise

5. AHT/DLIBYH

6. MM

7. MMIX/ETIAW

8. UATW

9. UWTB

10. UFO

11. UIF (Up in flames = everytime the same thing.)

 

Hope album gets better in the future.

[The Red Army]

never thought I would see a Tupac video in a Coldplay forum

 

Fan of both

[Bonus_mosher]

Doesnt sound that way too me.

 

this is R&B

 

 

i hate Tupac,but this is an example.

 

Try harder.

 

That's old school R&B.

 

it would be like posting a video of The Monkey's and saying Radiohead isn't 'Rock ''n Roll'.

 

Time moves on and so does with it, the genre.

Current R&B is the likes of Rhianna, Kanye West, Paradise & Princess of China.

[Alienbob]

Coldplay is anything but electronic music, and to imply that this album is electronica or something like that is what a 10 year old would do.

[[email protected]]

a potencial good album...rihanna doesn't fit on a coldplay album, like the autotunes in chris martin's voice...the songs are great, but what they have done with it is shit! I'm disappointed ...waited 3 years, had high expectations in the new album.

 

A true, maybe biggest fan of coldplay...from the beginning!

[Nature]

Current R&B is the likes of Rhianna, Kanye West, Paradise & Princess of China.

 

To me that's not R&B that's autotune with rapping in it.

[Bonus_mosher]

To me that's not R&B that's autotune with rapping in it.

 

It's not important what it is to you since a genre isn't defined by an opinion.

That's the genre that it is.

It's not a debate, it's just where it falls.

[CupitorVeritatis]

What a stupid review! I always thought MTV was childish...I love the album but for none of the reasons they say. Coldplay are very subtle with their music, including this album! To say it isn't subtle just shows they're missing the whole bloody point.

[niki_m14]

I have to disagree with you. I think the Coldplay's acoustic work is their best yet. Although I loved HLH and CB, I wouldn't rate them higher to their acoustic songs.

[Guest kmm1482]

"You can continue to criticize them all you want, but that just means you've never listened to their albums." EXACTLY!!! Thank you!!!

 

And from what I've heard so far, I don't mind the production size at all. It's all a natural progression. NO one can name one band that from their very first album sounds JUST like like their fifth (and still sound great!).

[42rock89]

More chants than in a season at Old Trafford?! Surely the reviewer is taking the ultimate piss?! I've heard more chants at a monasteray than at Old Toilet.

 

The reviewer must have meant Anfield. ;)

 

Regardless an intriguing review. I wonder if I will agree with it when I hear the whole album on Monday.

 

He defo meant Old Trafford :) The most feared place to play, where United have won 19 league games in a row :P

 

Good interview, I really do think this is their finest album, its mindblowing.

[para-para-parrotdies]

Coldplay is anything but electronic music, and to imply that this album is electronica or something like that is what a 10 year old would do.

 

Mylo Xyloto is definitely not electronica

[0AdRiAnLeE0]

something tells me that this reviewer supports manchester united