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FIRST THOUGHTS? - Ghost Stories album


mishee90

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Maybe I've missed something, but I can't seem to find a thread for members to post about their first thoughts after listening to the whole album, in its entirety. Or, it could be because I'm in Australia so we got an earlier release date for the album? Not sure?

 

Anyway I thought I would write up what I thought after listening to it. I had pretty high expectations for this album, after hearing "Magic" and "Midnight" - both of which I thought were exceptional.

 

First impressions.... beautiful, soft, relaxed, enticing dark, edgy, haunting, true, forthcoming, honest, heartbreaking, open, sad, happy, enduring... GS has this almost pain-like quality, but yet it is so peaceful and warm. It just takes me back to Parachutes and reminds me why I fell in love with Coldplay all those many, many years ago. It is SO refreshing for Coldplay to strip back the theatrics that was so plagued in their last two albums, and to release some music that errs towards the melancholy, that echoes and gives meaning to what we all love about this gorgeous music, these four gorgeous musicians and what we've known to love and appreciate.

 

Track by Track:

 

Always in My Head - I cannot get past that intro; it is so beautiful and so so soulful. The song itself represents love and also pain. I think it's a great opener for the album.

Magic - I loved this from when I first heard it on YouTube. It has a great beat. It gives us an indication of the breakdown and heartbreak and yearn between lovers.

Ink - Truly honest and gorgeous. You feel so much pain for Chris in this song and what he is going through, he really has put his heart on his sleeve and opened up to us. It has a strange, uplifting beat to it though which I find an interesting juxtaposition to the lyrics.

True Love - On first listen, I didn't rate this song, but on the second listen, it is growing on me. You do really hear the pain in his voice, there's something about this song that irks me, a little - maybe I need some more listens of this track. Jonny's solo is AMAZING though - I prefer the instrumentals over Chris singing.

Midnight - I absolutely ADORED this when I heard it first on YouTube. This is Coldplay at its finest. It represents their progression and reinvention and their ability to trascend times and emotions. I admire how they experiment with music here, but still stay true to that raw sound of Coldplay from the Parachutes era. For some reason, the content of this song and its overall "feel" reminds me of "Spies." This song speaks to me on so many levels. I can feel the melancholy and the sense of neediness and being lost and confused. It is so so beautiful and haunting at the same time. My favcurite off the album, hands down.

Another's Arms - I feel like this song could easily, easily belong on AROBTTH. We can read the climax that the album is expressing now, the realisation of another person in the relationship. I love the beat and instrumentals.

Oceans - One word: stunning. Easily a song that could appear on Parachutes. This song is the beginning of the healing from the heartbreak. This song is so true to what Coldplay was all about.

A Sky Full of Stars - When I first heard this, the intro surprised me, and I feel, with this song, the album closing towards happiness, acceptance and an overall feeling of just 'not caring' anymore; not drownng in sorrow anymore. I can see this being remixed for clubs too, and its a lovely little song which some great instrumentals.

O (Fly On) - A beautiful song to close out the album. It really is about letting go, both figuratively and literally.

 

I've read some critic reviews about GS and many seem to be quite sub-par, and I have difficulty understanding why. I feel as though these critics have heard Coldplay from the XY-Viva-Mylo era and never really understood them back through the whole Safety-Blue Room-Parachutes-AROBTTH era? Maybe these critics feel like Viva/Mylo is more representative of Coldplay, and THAT is what they associate their notion of the Coldplay sound with. But, true fans will argue the complete opposite (in my opinion). GS is integrated, anf feels like a whole from start to finish. When listening to MX, I always felt like I missed the "whole" story of the album, I never really "got it." But I get Ghost Stories. I get the message, I get the story, I get the progression from love to loss to heartbreak to near healing and to near acceptance. I know this album has got Gwyenth written all over it, but I don't care. This is Chris being completely open with us and expressing himself how he does it best: through music.

 

It is so rewarding to me, personally, that Coldplay have essentially gone back to their roots with GS. And maybe it's not as good as Parachutes or AROBTTH, but it's really, really close. I think GS, well this is one for the FANS. This is one for those of us who disliked Mylo, those who felt like Coldplay "sold out" throughout the MX branding and its heavy commericalisation. This is for those of us who felt so betrayed and disillusioned with Coldplay after their previous two releases. This is a record for those of us who remember "Yellow" and all that that the song represented and put Coldplay on the map. It's for those of us who yearn for the raw, un-idealised and ever so simple, yet fluid, progressive and complex sound that is Coldplay today. I call it magic.

 

Ghost Stories: 8.5/10

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Good review! In a recent radio podcast Chris mentioned that this album was not meant for the big arenas but smaller venues instead. With that in mind it's better to understand the scope of the album and what they're trying to do here.

 

So far after multiple listens I'd probably rate the album at 7.5/10, which is still good :)

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my first listen i didnt like it. maybe bc i played out the songs played live and released already that i liked. i was also disappointed bc my fave song i heard live [anothers arms] was a miss with the studio version which made me feel some kind of way (esp because this occurred last album for me with major minus). that was 2 days ago. i needed to listen with earphones to appreciate this album and i did today. im loving it now (or more like the same 3 or 4 songs m stuck on). repeat button raped. been listening for hours at a time. the deluxe edition is a must imo

 

i still feel like im yearning for an older coldplay sound, but im honestly not even sure what that is anymore. maybe im just more emotionally connected to their older songs.

 

i think 7.5 is a reasonable rating for this album

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Ghost Stories is the album I was hoping would follow from Viva La Vida. I know it's a typical fan thing to say "this is their best" etc..., but I do feel that way about this one and I don't say that about many Coldplay albums. Mylo Xyloto, despite some standout tracks, disappointed me in a lot of ways. Although it did build upon the sound of its predecessor somewhat, it did it in a way that would appeal to a mass audience. Autotune, Rhianna, dance synth along with some Mumford and Sons type acoustic made what a fairly tepid experience. There are some great tracks on that album, but as a whole it's the one I revisit the least. It was the toughest album of Coldplay's to really find that "moment" on if that makes sense.

 

Ghost Stories is a gift. I created a thread about this so my opinion of this album is quite biased because of what I am going through with a girl at the moment. But it is moving me. What I really enjoy about this album, aside from the lyrical content that is haunting me, is that Coldplay wanted to make an album for themselves without totally disappearing. It's rich with atmosphere, we have a protagonist that we can feel for and it's incredibly succinct, mores than Parachutes, the band's shortest album.

 

1. Always In My Head: the choral parts appropriately set the tone for what is going to be an etherial (excuse the pun) album. It comes through like a cold breeze, it has a real chill to it where you get a sense of the pain but also a longing to move forward. I won't bother to explain the lyrics because they are just so direct. In fact, I don't think Chris has ever been so direct as a songwriter. There's someone in my life who is in my head at the moment and like Chris' protagonist, i've lost sleep over her and I only have myself to blame. Overall, the song is like a deep breath, like those breaths you take after having a good cry. The guitars are affecting, the bass is suitably rich and deep and there's just the right level of percussion. Though I should warn that his album is definitely the Champion-lite album.

 

2. Magic:we all know this one. I loved this track from first listen and it still hasn't aged. It builds upon that feeling of isolation established by the firs track and, yet again, there's this sense of realisation. Wonderful video too.

 

3. Ink: a very RnB/soul inspired song laden with acoustic. The pattern of a more muted Champion continues but I really can't imagine live or heavy rock drumming over the top of any of these songs. Johnny's electric flows throughout the song and carry's it pretty well. So far, it's the most upbeat track on the album, something you can tap your feet to.

 

4. True Love: this is a strange one because of the guitar solo that drops in out of nowhere. When I first heard this (on the bus listening through earphones) i thought that one of the other commuters had a Steve Ray Vaughn ringtone but it was actually coming from the song. It's just so blatantly out of time and against the tone of the track. Admittedly it does help to break up what is mostly a consistent track it's just such an unusual moment.

 

5. Midnight: another track i've always liked from first listen. Many accused this of channeling other bands like Radiohead and Bon Iver for its minimalistic, electronic vibe. Although I do understand that it may not strictly sound like a band track, it works for Coldplay a lot better than Princess of China. The trouble with the latter track is that Rhianna basically carried it and her presence overshadowed the entire basis of the song. Plus, it didn't entirely fit on the album, it felt shoehorned. With Midnight, it's relevant to the context of the album. It's appropriately small, like a whisper or a moan.

 

6. Another's Arms: probably the weakest track on the album as it revisits a very similar vibe to True Love. The song is backed by drum machine and feels like a lesser track of the ones we have heard. Not a lot to say on this one.

 

7. Oceans:this may have actually worked on Parachutes in a way. In fact, it's the first time on this album I started thinking of early Coldplay. If not for the ghostly vibe to the song, it could have fit on the first two albums given how acoustic and intimate it is.

 

8. Sky Full of Stars: the most upbeat song on the album. Another controversial one for some because of its dancy, club feel. But I love it and the lyrics just ceil it for me. There's someone in my life I think of when this is playing.

 

9. O: as you'd expect, a very subtle, quiet close to the album. It works. That's all I really want to say on this one.

 

 

It's hard to really elaborate on the sounds of this album when reviewing because of how subdued it is. With my reviews of MX and VLV, I was able to go into detail because of all the textures and layers that run through those albums. With Ghost Stories, it's difficult to pin down the sound. It definitely IS NOT a return to the first two albums. It's something else, almost like a trip down a wormhole to some other side of the galaxy. I personally love this album and i'm not saying it because it is new. Already i've found some moments on this album i adore which is more than what I could say about MX when I first heard it, an album that just overloaded the listener with sound.

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Always In My Head is one of the few tracks Coldplay has released that immediately became my favorite from an album. I love it; Jonny's guitar, the ambient intro, and it's like Chris's voice just floats perfectly into place with the

music of the band.

I love a lot of the songs from GS, namely: Another's Arms, Midnight, Oceans, and though I agree that it isn't the best fit ASFOS.

O has to be one of the most hauntingly beautiful and lyrically reflective Coldplay tracks to date in my opinion. It's absolutely gorgeous.

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Personally haunting and motivating! I love this album for the first listen because it tells you a pretty good honest story and the flows between songs are just superb! From the first part (AIMH until True Love) was kinda like a happy-frustrating feelings but until the 2nd part (Midnight to Oceans) turns out to a darker tone and that was something that Coldplay has never even done before. And there goes the ASFOS that completely tells us to keep on supporting that girl we love even we are separated and there goes the epic conclusion, O (Fly On). That song pretty much sums up that love are pretty much like that, there would never be a a beautiful bird if you don't know how to approach them.

 

9/10. For a first listen.

9.5. For eternity! And of course with the bonus tracks.

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