Coldplay Continue to Grow, Impress with "Mylo Xyloto" (Examiner - album Review - 4/5)

[busybeeburns]

 

Coldplay Continue to Grow, Impress with "Mylo Xyloto" (Examiner - album Review)

 

Coldplay released their fifth full-length album, Mylo Xyloto, today. Billed by front man Chris Martin as being “…about love, addiction, OCD, escape and working for someone you don't like”, the 14-track record builds on the experimentation visited on 2008’s Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, while also re-visiting the band's early career as well.

 

After the ethereal intro Mylo Xyloto, Hurts Like Heaven starts things off in an upbeat manner, with robotic, computerized effects aiding Martin’s voice as he sings about issues like getting the feeling that you’re missing the mark and personal struggle in a life that doesn’t seem like your own. Dreamlike guitars pepper the background of the song, which is a definite first for the band in terms of overall feel: it’s upbeat, dance-based, and mostly led by computerized effects rather than pianos or guitars.

 

The immensely catchy Paradise continues that stylized feel: this is the typical Coldplay stadium-ready smash. Piano, a steady rhythm, a sweeping vocal hook and Martin’s familiar verse structure help elevate the song to “album highlight” status. Despite its slower tempo, the song has so much melody bursting in every measure it’s just impossible to ignore.

 

Charlie Brown visits familiar territory for the band, another “anthem” of a song that could end up being another huge hit for the band. This is a band known for hits with bombastic, sing-along choruses and immediately grabbing vocal melodies, and this song fits the bill.

 

Lyrically, since this is a concept album, the songs touch on similar themes, telling the story of Mylo and Xyloto, two young people living in an oppressive society and dealing with the chaos and hardships of the lives they don’t want. Fans of Coldplay’s debut album Parachutes should love Us Against the World. It mostly ignores the synth and production-heavy flourishes of the rest of the album for a simple acoustic guitar and Martin’s tender voice, making it another highlight.

 

Every Teardrop is a Waterfall, the keyboard-laden first single from the record, fits within the context of the record better than it does as a standalone song, perhaps because of the transition from Us Against the World's subdued approach to Teardrop’s sprawling, epic sound. Major Minus boasts another of the album’s most memorable melodies, while Princess of China is the perhaps unexpected collaboration between Coldplay and Rihanna, whose presence dominates the track. A pounding beat and space beeps set the stage for the song, which is a “branching out” of sorts for the band.

 

The last two tracks, Don’t Let It Break Your Heart and Up with the Birds, close out the album amicably, combining to form a bookend of sorts that matches up with the album’s dreamy opening track in terms of ethereality and hopeful, uplifting melodies.

 

Mylo Xyloto is primed to be another smash-hit record for one of the world’s most poplar pop/rock bands. Coldplay have changed substantially since Yellow first received airplay and shot the band to stardom in 2000, gradually replacing the stripped-down acoustic approach with layers of bombast and powerful walls of sound. This album, then, serves as an amalgamation of all the styles they have employed over the years: there are some quiet, reflective songs as well as the epic, sprawling, stadium-ready anthems that they’re known for. There’s even a song with Rihanna.

 

If you’ve ever appreciated a Coldplay song or record, give this album a chance. There’s a reason they’re still one of the world’s top acts.

 

http://www.examiner.com/music-in-los-angeles/coldplay-continue-to-grow-impress-with-mylo-xyloto-album-review-review#ixzz1bgsz5In5

[rafaelchampion]

Phrase of the century:

 

If you’ve ever appreciated a Coldplay song or record, give this album a chance. There’s a reason they’re still one of the world’s top acts.

[rousi]

Phrase of the century:

 

If you’ve ever appreciated a Coldplay song or record, give this album a chance. There’s a reason they’re still one of the world’s top acts.

 

This!!:)

[Revolverwin]

Phrase of the century:

 

If you’ve ever appreciated a Coldplay song or record, give this album a chance. There’s a reason they’re still one of the world’s top acts.

 

MX !!!

the best album of one of the world's top acts^^

:smash::dance:

:chris::will::jonny::guy:

[Cleggy]

MX seems to very much be a marmite album, critics are either unbelievably harsh or they rate it very highly. Those negative view are definitely having an strong effect though. So far MX has by far the lowest score on Metacritic than their other albums. However, the general public seem to love it and really thet's more important that what one stuck up critic thinks.