LP7- "A Head Full Of Dreams"

[4cat]

can't help but feel like coldplay are getting too comfortable right now. it seemed like the incredible viva was a direct influence of the harsh criticism they got for x&y. specially chris has said that he doesn't want to be cool anymore and he doesn't care what anyone says. while it may be good for them as people to have that attitude, it may have the opposite effect on their music and creativity. i think trying to fit in with the "cooler" bands, to validate their creativity put a spark on their music when challenged. btw, i'm glad that this discussion started. was wondering if no one else felt this. it is ok for bands to have missteps. everything can't be top notch. but as long as they come back strong.

 

Agreed ROBTTH was so amazing because they still had something to prove and same with viva, but now that there so popular they can pretty much write anything and it will sell. It just doesnt seem like the band challenges themselves on song writing liked they used too.

 

 

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[Guest howyousawtheworld]

It's nice to read opinions like this, because too many people just accept whatever they write. But I see there is a group of Coldplay fans that shares the same critical thinking. We just want them to sound mature.

 

Just wondering, have you heard Ben Howard's new album? He is a great example of an artist that just took the other direction. His first album is more of a mainstream folky album with many radiofriendly songs (love this album very much though, many good lyrics) and now he released a dark deep melancholic album (Song: End of the affair: OMG!). Not following what other young guitar-singersongwriters are doing like Ed Sheeran. That's a brave thing to do, it's only his second album.

 

+ Listening to his album, makes me wish even more that Coldplay would just finally leave the polished computer production and go for a much more natural/organic sound. I miss that!

 

If Coldplay wants to take a alternative/mature direction they can do, other artists do it. If their record label tells them not to, they should leave the label! Come on Chris, you're Devonian like Ben :p

 

Coldplay never sounded more mature than in 2002 when they released AROBTTH. If they continue trying to chase the young listener with cheap tricks in the form of inviting Rihanna and Aviici then it's going to look and sound truly embarrassing for a bunch of men approaching there 40s. If they continue to pursue the sound (or should that just be Chris Martin) of commercialism and back of a pencil case lyrics for LP7 then it's going to be the biggest mid life car crash crisis album ever released.

[nvdmm]

Coldplay never sounded more mature than in 2002 when they released AROBTTH. If they continue trying to chase the young listener with cheap tricks in the form of inviting Rihanna and Aviici then it's going to look and sound truly embarrassing for a bunch of men approaching there 40s. If they continue to pursue the sound (or should that just be Chris Martin) of commercialism and back of a pencil case lyrics for LP7 then it's going to be the biggest mid life car crash crisis album ever released.

An exceptional post and my thoughts exactly.

 

I try to not post stuff that challenges or criticizes the band on here too often. Some people get rather emotional :\

[4cat]

An exceptional post and my thoughts exactly.

 

I try to not post stuff that challenges or criticizes the band on here too often. Some people get rather emotional :\

 

bump

[whenIlookintoyoureyes]

An exceptional post and my thoughts exactly.

 

I try to not post stuff that challenges or criticizes the band on here too often. Some people get rather emotional :\

 

Constructive feedback just helps with growth I guess.

 

I have a feeling LP7 will be a lot more mature & intense. I think us fans will probably be surprised by what CP can really do. I just hope that they aren't in anyway restricted to meet certain commercialised & mass marketing standards set by their record label.

 

A real raw, natural return to a rock/folk sound would be so sexy. An album filled with a unique blend of folky/rock inspired sounds.

 

Coldplay are so good at creating a unique music niche for themselves- perhaps this could be their new genre for LP7.

 

Maybe it's more fitting to where they are at now. The wisdom of all their music & life experience now as the chance to be alchemised into some pure, hardcore brilliance. My foot is starting to tap just thinking about it...oh yay!

[lennyrott1]

Constructive feedback just helps with growth I guess.

 

A real raw, natural return to a rock/folk sound would be so sexy. An album filled with a unique blend of folky/rock inspired sounds.

 

Coldplay are so good at creating a unique music niche for themselves- perhaps this could be their new genre for LP7.

 

 

I totally agree. My favourite Coldplay moments to this day was during the Viva era where they would all jam out on acoustic instruments. Such great songs emerged: Death Will Never Conquer, Don Quixote, Famous Old Painters, their Billie Jean cover!!! Give Guy back that Mandolin/bass, Will a banjo/drums, Chris on guitar/keyboards/harmonica and Jonny and guitar and throw in some fresh production and electronic atmospherics elements from the last two eras! That is my ideal album. It might end up drawing comparisons to more Bon Iver, or War on Drugs or even Radiohead again but that sounds pretty amazing to me!

[lennyrott1]

An exceptional post and my thoughts exactly.

 

I try to not post stuff that challenges or criticizes the band on here too often. Some people get rather emotional :\

 

Yeah I always hate to criticize too much but the truth is, if X&Y didn't get such scathing reviews for its lyricism and overlong nature, we may have never got the masterpiece of VLV. Now I don't think GS or MX or even X&Y was a disaster, but criticism is important because it pushes bands to improve. I know they say they don't, but Coldplay tends to take reviews to heart and try to ameliorate their sound, at least historically they have.

 

It sounds mean, but I hope Chris can look at the critical reception of his overall lyrics on GS and songs like POC, and realize that a lot of his lines are cringe worthy for adult listeners. We need the strict rule of Will Champion again! He is usually the one that isn't afraid to call out a song for not being as good as it could be. How Chris convinced him to let ASFOS be the way that it is, I don't know. That song to me just feels underdeveloped and adolescent in many ways.

 

So finally, I really really hope that they can pull together their most mature effort yet. The whole breakup album is over, so lets get to some new themes in the mix! Hell, why not a redo of Ode To Deodorant?

[whenIlookintoyoureyes]

I totally agree. My favourite Coldplay moments to this day was during the Viva era where they would all jam out on acoustic instruments. Such great songs emerged: Death Will Never Conquer, Don Quixote, Famous Old Painters, their Billie Jean cover!!! Give Guy back that Mandolin/bass, Will a banjo/drums, Chris on guitar/keyboards/harmonica and Jonny and guitar and throw in some fresh production and electronic atmospherics elements from the last two eras! That is my ideal album. It might end up drawing comparisons to more Bon Iver, or War on Drugs or even Radiohead again but that sounds pretty amazing to me!

 

Oh man I'm shaking!!! Banjo/harmonica/mandolin! Seriously how much would LP7 be quietly screaming BRILLIANCE!

 

Only one problem I can foresee & that's having to wait for it! I want it now!!! I guess good things come to those who wait! Arghgghhhh. Hurry up time machine.

[lennyrott1]

[whenIlookintoyoureyes]

 

Gotta love a big brave bear.

'The truly soft are brave of heart'.

 

My heart is ready. My server is ready. My Iphone is ready. My CD player is ready. Yup. Check. I'm ready.

[Jonny and the cake]

I think they are too deep in the Universal shit to create a non-radio friendly album, so don't get you hopes up you might get disappointed.

 

My gut has always a weird feeling regarding odd-numbered albums as they turn out to be the ones that coldplay are not so proud of.

Oh and another thing y'all missing, they did grow since MX, not lyrically but regarding the production, I remember Chris saying he wasn't so proud of MX because it was over-produced, which was the truth! So they weren't all that comfortable while writing GS because they had to improve their production and they did! And GS turned out to be one of the best production a Coldplay album ever had.

Every album it's an album where they show they can improve, Viva La Vida showed us that Chris could write decent lyrics (after all the criticism X&Y received for its lyrics), Ghost Stories proved us they could come up with a mature and most of it all HOMEMADE production (after all the criticism mx received for its overproduction).

What Coldplay fails to do is that when they get criticized they improve only the "part" they criticized about, not giving enough importance to the rest, they need to learn to give the right importance to every part of the album.

[Jonny and the cake]

I think they are too deep in the Universal shit to create a non-radio friendly album, so don't get you hopes up you might get disappointed.

 

My gut has always a weird feeling regarding odd-numbered albums as they turn out to be the ones that coldplay are not so proud of.

Oh and another thing y'all missing, they did grow since MX, not lyrically but regarding the production, I remember Chris saying he wasn't so proud of MX because it was over-produced, which was the truth! So they weren't all that comfortable while writing GS because they had to improve their production and they did! And GS turned out to be one of the best production a Coldplay album ever had.

Every album it's an album where they show they can improve, Viva La Vida showed us that Chris could write decent lyrics (after all the criticism X&Y received for its lyrics), Ghost Stories proved us they could come up with a mature and most of it all HOMEMADE production (after all the criticism mx received for its overproduction).

What Coldplay fails to do is that when they get criticized they improve only the "part" they criticized about, not giving enough importance to the rest, they need to learn to give the right importance to every part of the album.

[Draco]

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Edited September 12, 2020 by Draco

[Harondor]

I think they are too deep in the Universal shit to create a non-radio friendly album, so don't get you hopes up you might get disappointed.

 

My gut has always a weird feeling regarding odd-numbered albums as they turn out to be the ones that coldplay are not so proud of.

Oh and another thing y'all missing, they did grow since MX, not lyrically but regarding the production, I remember Chris saying he wasn't so proud of MX because it was over-produced, which was the truth! So they weren't all that comfortable while writing GS because they had to improve their production and they did! And GS turned out to be one of the best production a Coldplay album ever had.

Every album it's an album where they show they can improve, Viva La Vida showed us that Chris could write decent lyrics (after all the criticism X&Y received for its lyrics), Ghost Stories proved us they could come up with a mature and most of it all HOMEMADE production (after all the criticism mx received for its overproduction).

What Coldplay fails to do is that when they get criticized they improve only the "part" they criticized about, not giving enough importance to the rest, they need to learn to give the right importance to every part of the album.

 

That's why they didn't release their masterpiece album yet. They improve their music with each album and I'm sure the perfect album is coming soon

[MidnightSpies]

I think they are too deep in the Universal shit to create a non-radio friendly album, so don't get you hopes up you might get disappointed.

 

My gut has always a weird feeling regarding odd-numbered albums as they turn out to be the ones that coldplay are not so proud of.

Oh and another thing y'all missing, they did grow since MX, not lyrically but regarding the production, I remember Chris saying he wasn't so proud of MX because it was over-produced, which was the truth! So they weren't all that comfortable while writing GS because they had to improve their production and they did! And GS turned out to be one of the best production a Coldplay album ever had.

Every album it's an album where they show they can improve, Viva La Vida showed us that Chris could write decent lyrics (after all the criticism X&Y received for its lyrics), Ghost Stories proved us they could come up with a mature and most of it all HOMEMADE production (after all the criticism mx received for its overproduction).

What Coldplay fails to do is that when they get criticized they improve only the "part" they criticized about, not giving enough importance to the rest, they need to learn to give the right importance to every part of the album.

 

Uhm, best production? The production on GS is something I am very critical about. It's better than MX, but it's still very crispy/polished computer production, which to me makes the whole album less mature sounding than it could have been.

 

They sure need to improve all of the parts that people criticize yes!

[Jonny and the cake]

Uhm, best production? The production on GS is something I am very critical about. It's better than MX, but it's still very crispy/polished computer production, which to me makes the whole album less mature sounding than it could have been.

 

They sure need to improve all of the parts that people criticize yes!

 

In terms of modern age music its the best production coldplay ever had since Parachutes, its so neat that you can actually hear every instrument that its being played, thing you cant do with X&Y, VLV, MX and A Rush

 

Maybe we have a different concept of production

[nvdmm]

All great points guys :thumbsup: I also think they need to drastically change their approach to making music. The formula needs to change. Chris has always been the prominent contributor in that he comes in with an entire song that is pretty much ready and the rest of the band just put their own layers over it. A slight change occurred during Viva but it didn't alter the dynamics within the band. Coldplay could explore such great arenas if Chris wasn't so dominant in the process.

 

And they absolutely SHOULD listen to what the fans think about their music. They wouldn't be here if not for the support of all the people who got into their music with Parachutes and AROBTTH. I personally find the whole 'we don't give a damn what anyone thinks' attitude worrying. Not giving a damn what anyone thinks is a great cause for mediocrity. The fact that you think you no longer have to prove yourself is very destructive.

[Jonny and the cake]

Guys i have an idea, someone like grids who lives in london should write down or copy past or screen or whatever the last couple pages of this thread, maybe write a lovely letter too saying that we love them but that doesnt mean we cant critize them and she would put it into the door of the bakery or give it to them, idk, it worked for a girl on tumblr, she left a letter in the bakery and they answered it few months after recieving it

 

maybe reading things like this by their fans and not by some shitty magazine like NME would click something in their minds

[grids]

Guys i have an idea, someone like grids who lives in london should write down or copy past or screen or whatever the last couple pages of this thread, maybe write a lovely letter too saying that we love them but that doesnt mean we cant critize them and she would put it into the door of the bakery or give it to them, idk, it worked for a girl on tumblr, she left a letter in the bakery and they answered it few months after recieving it

 

maybe reading things like this by their fans and not by some shitty magazine like NME would click something in their minds

 

Mmmmm I can give it a try :rolleyes:

Just PM me the post you want then I will arrange them if you guys agree :)

[Captain Crieff]

Haha excellent idea! And add a little PS saying we're still patiently waiting for Car Kids.

[lennyrott1]

Maybe we have a different concept of production

 

It all is a matter of taste, you are quite right. After a while I came to love MX for its production style. The xylobrytes, the constant layers being thrown on almost every track really elevated each song for me. That being said, it sometimes went too far. DLIBYH, for example, is a beautiful uplifting track, but the production drowns it out, and Up In Flames is one of Coldplay's weakest songs ever, I think. Every album has its ups and downs. X&Y had some great mixed songs. Low and Square One I think are amazing, whereas X&Y and What If feel over the top. I would say they were nearly perfect on VLV by mixing layers of instrumentation and electronics without giving up atmosphere and natural, raw sound.

 

I think GS's production is on par with MX. Most songs were really maturely put together: AIMH, Ink, Magic, Midnight, AA. My only issue is that of MidnightSpies. In my listening experience, and I completely understand people feeling different, the album is just too clean, which is what I consider a way to overproduce. The piano on O doesn't echo naturally, Chris' voice is too flawless.

 

Of course, the album was supposed to sound a little glassy and sparse, and maybe that is why they chose that style. Whatever the new sonic themes of LP7 are, as long as it isn't a Top 40 playlist, I am betting will be a return to more balanced style. Take the best elements of GS and combine them with past efforts!

[theprospekt]

In terms of modern age music its the best production coldplay ever had since Parachutes, its so neat that you can actually hear every instrument that its being played, thing you cant do with X&Y, VLV, MX and A Rush

 

Maybe we have a different concept of production

 

Given the right tools you can hear everything on every Coldplay album, say a reasonable pair of Grado headphones.

 

To me it seems it not as much about production as it is about not stuffing too much into the songs. You can call it overproduction, you can call it over instrumentalization, whatever.

 

I disagree with you slightly about the production on A Rush which is very very similar to Parachutes. Very nice and simple, very textured and detailed.

 

I can see the point a bit more on X&Y and VLV - and of course a lot on MX. You notice MX' subpar production especially when you listen to it on a playlist with other songs. There's so much stuff going on and Martins voice is so produced that the songs seem sort of muted in a way, they're not coming through, so you have to turn up the volume.

 

I honestly think that GS has in a way even worse production than MX, because while it's simpler it's way too clean. I think that's partly responsible for reviewers complaining that the album seems drained emotionally, and I can definitely see their point.

 

 

[smoke is rising from the houses]

[aschall]

I honestly think that GS has in a way even worse production than MX, because while it's simpler it's way too clean. I think that's partly responsible for reviewers complaining that the album seems drained emotionally, and I can definitely see their point.

 

GS was hit and miss production-wise for me. While I think AIMH and Magic feature some of the best production I've heard in any Coldplay song, other tracks such as Ink and Another's Arms are very very weak imo.

 

How it compares to MX is a matter of preference. For me, MX is just way too dense, and sometimes I feel like the production gets in the way of an otherwise good song. Charlie Brown for example, is fantastic at its core. But there is just waaaay too much shit going on during the hook in particular, and this really undermines the simple beauty of the melody.

[theprospekt]

GS was hit and miss production-wise for me. While I think AIMH and Magic feature some of the best production I've heard in any Coldplay song, other tracks such as Ink and Another's Arms are very very weak imo.

 

How it compares to MX is a matter of preference. For me, MX is just way too dense, and sometimes I feel like the production gets in the way of an otherwise good song. Charlie Brown for example, is fantastic at its core. But there is just waaaay too much shit going on during the hook in particular, and this really undermines the simple beauty of the melody.

 

True, these things are very much a matter of preference. Funny you should mention Another's Arms which really underlines that point. Because that's my very favorite on Another's Arms production wise.

 

I think that's part of the reason why some of the reviewers called it the highlight of the album. It's a great song with production that really supports its mood in a very cool way, IMO.

 

(Oh and sorry for going off topic btw)

 

 

[smoke is rising from the houses]

[HurtsLikeHeaven42]

How it compares to MX is a matter of preference. For me, MX is just way too dense, and sometimes I feel like the production gets in the way of an otherwise good song. Charlie Brown for example, is fantastic at its core. But there is just waaaay too much shit going on during the hook in particular, and this really undermines the simple beauty of the melody.

 

Well said! My thoughts exactly!