3/5

 

That the timing of Coldplay's entrance in the late 1990s was fortuitous is not in dispute. Arriving when both U2 and Radiohead were absent from the field on one of their periodic navel-gazing exercises, they were able to present themselves as the Radiohead or U2 you could have without the troublesome bits.

 

So Coldplay did a bit of angst without trauma, landscape guitar without fiddling, social consciousness without either grumpiness or shaking popes' and presidents' hands and, eventually, stadium-hosted events without guilt or gilding.

 

What this scenario doesn't credit, however, is that Coldplay have been better than merely the softest option. Sure, they haven't been as adventurous or dangerous or as thrilling as those two giants can be at their best. But only the thick skulled would deny that, while they could be limp at times, Coldplay have consistently supplied good and sometimes really good songs that stick to you. Only the most ungracious would ignore that while they lack a spark of real genius, they've also taken risks and made mistakes that mainstream successes rarely do any more.

 

Risks such as going over the top on X&Y and getting arty and Eno-esque on Viva La Vida. Or, with this offering heavily inspired by the sounds and shapes of modern R&B (of the grand-gesture type rather than the bootylicious variety), creating a concept album about two characters making sense of love and its worth in a CCTV-dominated world.

 

There is just one problem: these songs aren't very interesting.

 

They aren't stupid or bad or downright dull. The propulsive piano hook in Charlie Brown, the reach-for-the-sky feel of Don't Let It Break Your Heart and the Edge-lite guitar line of first single Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall have already done sterling service on several Coldplay (and for that matter, Keane) tracks over the years. And you can imagine the leap-to-grand-chorus vibe of Major Minus lighting up a big room, with its wooh-wooh vocals counterpointing the choppy razor guitar, soon after the same room has been swooning in the attractive intimacy of U.F.O.

 

But there is no excitement, no shivering thrill, no real newness. This is not helped by the fact these are some of the flattest and most obvious lyrics Chris Martin has yet written, full of constructions such as ''and all the kids they dance, all the kids all night/Until Monday morning feels another life'' and ''once upon a time we fell apart/you're holding in your hands the two halves of my heart''.

 

That wouldn't necessarily be a significant issue if the songs flew but they don't. And it's disturbing when you could say that the R&B power ballad, Princess of China, all jabbing synths, heavily treated drums and the guest vocals of Rihanna, could easily have appeared on one of her albums. That is not a compliment.

 

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/review-coldplay-20111020-1m8mq.html#ixzz1bRYHvjuC

A few mistakes, Charlie Brown doesn't have a propulsive piano hook, it's guitar with a layer of synth.

 

Still, I understand what this critic is getting at. Good review. Glad I could say that before 90% of Coldplayers rip this review to shreds just because it's negative.

A few mistakes, Charlie Brown doesn't have a propulsive piano hook, it's guitar with a layer of synth.

 

Still, I understand what this critic is getting at. Good review. Glad I could say that before 90% of Coldplayers rip this review to shreds just because it's negative.

 

This ain't a game.

 

Seems like the naysayers and the fan boys/girls are involved in some sort of cringeworthy war of empty words on here!

This ain't a game.

 

Seems like the naysayers and the fan boys/girls are involved in some sort of cringeworthy war of empty words on here!

 

What do you mean, I was just saying that I agree with the review and I predicted the general reception of this review by Coldplayers. Did I go too far? I don't blame anyone for liking the album, really, they are as right as I am in a way, plus they have the pleasure of loving MX.