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Will Ghost Stories be the bands flop album?


Bazza101

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I really want to say that Chris is lowering his standards on purpose but I don't know... one doesn't just start writing badly after Viva and MX (which has some beautiful lyrics in it).

 

Precisely my thinking :( Once you go awesome you can't just go back, there's no logic to that. MX does the stripped-down thing better and that's not even its focus, just listen to the lyrics in Us Against the World, U.F.O. or Up with the Birds.

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Precisely my thinking :( Once you go awesome you can't just go back, there's no logic to that. MX does the stripped-down thing better and that's not even its focus, just listen to the lyrics in Us Against the World, U.F.O. or Up with the Birds.

 

This proves a problem for me. I think they have done too much stripping back in recent years. Coldplay are basically a pop band now. They have been since that Rihanna collaboration. I expected Ghost Stories would be a huge album, not only commercially but musically, with epic songwriting and melodic rhythms. Sort of like how Green Day came back with American Idiot in 2004, Coldplay need a huge lift. They only way Ghost Stories could be better than AROBTTH is to add some proper insstruments instead of synthesizing everything. Seriously Jonny must've done nothing on the entire album i swear.

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In my opinion, Chris' lyrics are always spotty, ranging from poor to great. They have always been as simple and relatable as possible, with a few exceptions, but I find Parachutes and AROBTTH to be solid all around. X&Y had good parts, but it deservedly put Coldplay on the map for having some of the sappiest introspective lyrics ever. Then Viva did great in dishing out the band's most unique lyrical themes and deliveries, with the exception of fishes and barrels.

 

I found MX lyrics to be terribly cliche and often cringe inducing, but the tracks you mentioned were pretty solid. Plus, since the album was meant to be a colourful "story," with strong themes, I was able to forgive entirely, well, except for PoC and Up In Flames, *shudder*

 

So for Ghost Stories has been almost as simple as you can get, but I have really like how chill and well delivered the songs have been. I think Chris is capable of writing more complicated and out of the ordinary lyrics, he has before. I just don't think he really wants to. He has said many times before he is not a good lyricist but he tries hard to do what he feels, even if it reads like a middle school love letter.

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This proves a problem for me. I think they have done too much stripping back in recent years. Coldplay are basically a pop band now. They have been since that Rihanna collaboration. I expected Ghost Stories would be a huge album, not only commercially but musically, with epic songwriting and melodic rhythms. Sort of like how Green Day came back with American Idiot in 2004, Coldplay need a huge lift. They only way Ghost Stories could be better than AROBTTH is to add some proper insstruments instead of synthesizing everything. Seriously Jonny must've done nothing on the entire album i swear.

 

This is the downfall for a lot of bands nowadays I feel. Look at the progression of instrument heavy pop-rock bands like Maroon 5, 30 Seconds To Mars, Fall Out Boy, etc. All of them have succombed to albums that often feel more like the lead singer being backed by several producers and a computer than a live band (I am generalizing of course.) I love modernised sounds, don't get me wrong. Synths, electronics, dance beats, sampling, I really love it all. But when it is simplified and made super generic and spooned into all pop music, I get really frustrated.

 

What is great about Coldplay is that they are able to keep up with the mainstream but also keep their signature sound and style intact, which I feel makes their songs of much higher quality and creative effort than most of what you hear on the radio. Of course I am biased and think this because I have listened to way too much Coldplay in my life, but I totally agree with you. Chris, Jonny, Will, and Guy are all multi-instrumentalists and are extremely talented too. I love when they have jam session sounding songs like 42, Yes, Shiver, A Message, B-Sides, to name a few. Those songs are so much more rich, layered and enjoyable.

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This proves a problem for me. I think they have done too much stripping back in recent years. Coldplay are basically a pop band now. They have been since that Rihanna collaboration. I expected Ghost Stories would be a huge album, not only commercially but musically, with epic songwriting and melodic rhythms. Sort of like how Green Day came back with American Idiot in 2004, Coldplay need a huge lift. They only way Ghost Stories could be better than AROBTTH is to add some proper insstruments instead of synthesizing everything. Seriously Jonny must've done nothing on the entire album i swear.

 

No offense, but have you listened to Oceans, AIMH, or Another's Arms? All three of those songs are guitar based or piano based. I don't disagree with you about going back to a less electronic approach, but they hardly have been "synthesizing everything." You might have been able to make that arguement for MX, but not GS. Jonny has some amazing riffs in this album FYI. GS might have some problems (lyrics for one), but synths is hardly a problem. Also, keep in mind that Ink, True Love, and O are all non electronic songs if what the people who've heard them are correct.

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It's probably the fact that we all know this is definitely not Coldplay's best work, but that's just a matter of opinion i guess

 

yes ur right, its just a matter of opinion. but lets not conclude that this album will flop just because some people in this forum dont like it

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No offense, but have you listened to Oceans, AIMH, or Another's Arms? All three of those songs are guitar based or piano based. I don't disagree with you about going back to a less electronic approach, but they hardly have been "synthesizing everything." You might have been able to make that arguement for MX, but not GS. Jonny has some amazing riffs in this album FYI. GS might have some problems (lyrics for one), but synths is hardly a problem. Also, keep in mind that Ink, True Love, and O are all non electronic songs if what the people who've heard them are correct.

 

I hope your right! Yeah i have heard them a few times, for me AIMH stands out as being the best. What i'm trying to say is that will's drumming for example has been heavily altered to sound pop like, it sounds awful. Atlas would be a great example , listening to that was like an edm track, it built up to these really dupstep like drums which sounded terrible. But yes Coldplay do a great job of altering their sound to sound more modern while keeping their origins with them but i do think the other band members look very pathetic when sometimes all you can notice is a backing track.

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I hope your right! Yeah i have heard them a few times, for me AIMH stands out as being the best. What i'm trying to say is that will's drumming for example has been heavily altered to sound pop like, it sounds awful. Atlas would be a great example , listening to that was like an edm track, it built up to these really dupstep like drums which sounded terrible. But yes Coldplay do a great job of altering their sound to sound more modern while keeping their origins with them but i do think the other band members look very pathetic when sometimes all you can notice is a backing track.

 

Yup, Atlas was not that good at all, as well as much of the pop stuff on MX. I think thats why having a minimalist background in GS is so important because it allows us to notice that great Jonny riff or whatever. I think personally that the next album has to be a return to a more AROBTTH style with a modern twist. So we have that to look forward to.

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The pre-orders of Ghost Stories already dwarf Mylo Xyloto's pre-orders, there is a lot of hype around the album, MX was over-hyped and I think a lot of interest was lost by the time the album was launched and it didn't have a mega hit like VLVODAAHF did or Ghost Stories will probably have with ASFOS.

 

MX as an album may have not gained many fans, it was a good album imo but nothing special, the tour however, impressed a lot of people and we are starting to see a lot more interest in this album now because of it :)

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The pre-orders of Ghost Stories already dwarf Mylo Xyloto's pre-orders, there is a lot of hype around the album, MX was over-hyped and I think a lot of interest was lost by the time the album was launched and it didn't have a mega hit like VLVODAAHF did or Ghost Stories will probably have with ASFOS.

 

MX as an album may have not gained many fans, it was a good album imo but nothing special, the tour however, impressed a lot of people and we are starting to see a lot more interest in this album now because of it :)

 

Hang on, by saying that, Paradise isn't a mega hit? It was a top 5 hit in 16 countries and sold 410,000 copies, and has 70 million spotify listens, of course it's huge

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Hang on, by saying that, Paradise isn't a mega hit? It was a top 5 hit in 16 countries and sold 410,000 copies, and has 70 million spotify listens, of course it's huge

 

At the time MX was launched, it was a slow burner then it became a hit later on.

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i'm starting to think that the older they get, their willingness to be part of the mainstream radios becomes more ridiculous

 

I think they just feel like they have to evolve with the music trends to be honest, also the fact Brian Eno isn't producing for them is something to think about.

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i'm starting to think that the older they get, their willingness to be part of the mainstream radios becomes more ridiculous

 

there's nothing wrong with being mainstream as long as the songs that they put out are of quality. there's really nothing wrong with being POP in my opinion as long as it is done right.

 

whether or not ASFOS is a good POP song is another debate and we wil have to wait and see before we make any conclusions

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To bazza, Sparky and ihaveabono: When MX was released it went to number one in 43 countries.

 

In Denmark it only went to number 2 (because it was released in the same week as Denmark's most popular artist whose album was number one for weeks and 2011's top-selling album). After Coldplay's concert in Copenhagen on 28.8.12 MX returned to the charts and went to number 2 for one week (so 2 weeks at number 2 in Denmark when peaking). But it is correct - the album soon dropped in the charts and only had one major hit in Paradise. Paradise was one of the most played videos on VH1 Denmark in 2012 (and played a lot at the end of 2011 competing with Christmas Lights in December).

 

I think that Ghost Stories will be huge in the countries where the band had these intimate concerts. But I fear that it might be a failure in Denmark. Why? Because in Denmark not much has been written about the upcoming album or its release date. So I fear for its success here. Only Magic has been played on the radio and I have only seen it once on the TV (MTV Denmark) - not in VH1 Denmark. I looked at the Danish chart and it said that Magic peaked at no. 5. Midnight and Atlas were not played / the videos not shown at all. So risk of failure / flop in Denmark.

 

And I can tell you that Chris' and Gwyn's separation was hardly mentioned in Danish media (only in a few and then only in max. 5 lines). I also checked Swedish and Norwegian text-TV in these days (nothing - referring to SVT Text and NRK News).

 

So maybe failure in Denmark - I hope that I am proven wrong. Time will show.

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so you'll be okay in 10 years to be a fan of four 50 years old people playing dubstep music and talking about getting laid in miami or wathever will be succesful

 

am i living under a rock? really? coldplay has a song about getting laid in miami or whatever city?

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Over the past 2 years, There has been a number of very significant bands to climb up the charts. For example Arctic Monkeys had monumental success with "AM" last year and Vampire Weekend had the album of their careers. Seeing "Magic" get released with much uncertainty has brought the question , are they slipping from their highest of heights?

 

 

Commercially speaking Coldplay reached their peak with AROBTTH and have had declining success from there. That said, I'm not really seeing the uncertainty you speak of. Magic has gotten a stronger reaction both critically and from the fanbase than anything released in the MX era and arguably anything from VLVODAAHF as well. It also charted higher in the US and UK than their last 3 singles (the final two from MX plus Atlas) so I don't think the single's success is all that "off".

 

Will Ghost stories be the band's most successful album? Probably not, but they've reached a point in their career where they'll always be a massive band regardless of how their new material does. (Though I think it's almost certain to be at least moderately successful)

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so you'll be okay in 10 years to be a fan of four 50 years old people playing dubstep music and talking about getting laid in miami or wathever will be succesful

 

By then, Coldplay won't be in the mainstream and they'll be forced to either retire or go back to alt rock for their hardcore fans.

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Exactly, it seems as if they knew Magic would do this well in the US and especially Australia, which can make a second single look even better if it's good enough. But the reason why i liked Coldplay originally was that they were a very very good alt rock band around 5-10 years ago, it seems as if they just want all the fame. Ghost Stories is a risk being that fans might think it's different but Coldplay know it will do well in the charts because it's more electric. This also makes me feel that they didn't want to risk doing something completely wild like a guitar driven album which i personally would love. Ghost Stories will no doubt be successful but will it stay in the charts as long as their previous albums did? Only good reviews make that happen.

 

Reviews don't really mean much at all when it comes to commercial success. Certainly not with Coldplay, their last two albums have had mixed reviews.

 

As with any form of art, the most artistically acclaimed work is rarely the most commercially successful.

 

That said, I think a lot of the stuff on this album seems more eclectic and risky than anything they've done in a long time (if ever). I honestly don't see how anyone could listen to Midnight and come to the conclusion that it was created with any sort of commercial appeal in mind.

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