What Are Your Thoughts On Coldplay's Music Videos?

[jc90]

Let's use this thread to talk about all of Coldplay's previous MVs. I'm sure the talk will also include some thoughts on upcoming LP7 MVs as well.

 

I've got plenty to talk about regarding the band's previous MVs. The tldr would be that in the earlier eras, they were great, and have recently turned to crap. I'll explain in the comments below.

 

Oh, the Coldplay MVs include. I guess posters can copy the list and give it a

 

+ for if they like it

0 for neutral

- for if they don't like it

 

Shiver

Yellow

Don't Panic

Trouble (US)

Trouble (UK)

 

In My Place

Clocks

The Scientist

God Put A Smile Upon Your Face

 

Speed Of Sound

Talk

The Hardest Part

Fix You

 

Violet Hill (Original)

Violet Hill (Dancing Politicians)

Viva La Vida (Original)

Viva La Vida (Anton Corbijn)

Lost

Lovers In Japan

Strawberry Swing

 

Life In Technicolour ii

 

Christmas Lights

 

Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall

Paradise

Princess Of China

Charlie Brown

Hurts Like Heaven

 

Midnight

Magic

A Sky Full Of Stars

True Love

Ink

[Guest diogo_sg]

My favs:

Parachutes: Trouble and Yellow

AROBTTH: The Scientist and GPASUYF

X&Y: Talk and Fix You

VLVODAAHF: Strawberry Swing and Violet Hill

MX: ETIAW and Paradise

GS: Magic and True Love

 

Coldplay still have the best music videos. They tell cool stories and they are innovative.

My opinion, of course.

 

"I live to see the world"

[jc90]

Shiver 0

Yellow +

Don't Panic +

Trouble (US) +

Trouble (UK) 0

 

In My Place 0

Clocks 0

The Scientist +

God Put A Smile Upon Your Face 0

 

Speed Of Sound +

Talk +

The Hardest Part -

Fix You +

 

Violet Hill (Original) 0

Violet Hill (Dancing Politicians) -

Viva La Vida (Original) -

Viva La Vida (Anton Corbijn) 0

Lost 0

Lovers In Japan +

Strawberry Swing +

 

Life In Technicolour ii 0

 

Christmas Lights +

 

Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall +

Paradise +

Princess Of China -

Charlie Brown -

Hurts Like Heaven 0

 

Midnight 0

Magic -

A Sky Full Of Stars +

True Love -

Ink -

 

LP1: +3

LP2: +1

LP3: +3

LP4: 0

LP5: 0

LP6: -2

 

How they can get better?

 

-INCLUDE THE WHOLE BAND IN THE VIDEO

-stop trying to act, you're not actors Coldplay....

 

[Guest diogo_sg]

-stop trying to act, you're not actors Coldplay....

Well... http:// http://m.imdb.com/title/tt2294256/?ref_=m_nmfmd_act_1

 

Besides, videos where the band just stands/walks and sings are a bit boring. It's a lot more fun to see them acting imo.

 

"I live to see the world"

[jc90]

You know exactly what I meant when I said they weren't actors; meaning they aren't GOOD actors. I agree that if they stand around it'll be boring. But I'll take that over a cringe-worthy performance of Chris in Magic, or True Love.

[Guest diogo_sg]

You know exactly what I meant when I said they weren't actors; meaning they aren't GOOD actors. I agree that if they stand around it'll be boring. But I'll take that over a cringe-worthy performance of Chris in Magic, or True Love.

I was just kidding, man!

You're right, they're not (good) actors, but at least they try to make something creative and different. I think that's worth of praising. They manage to develop stories very well, something not everyone does correctly.

 

"I live to see the world"

[beastwars]

+ for if they like it

0 for neutral

- for if they don't like it

 

Shiver 0

Yellow +

Don't Panic +

Trouble (US) 0

Trouble (UK) 0

 

In My Place 0

Clocks 0

The Scientist 0

God Put A Smile Upon Your Face +

 

Speed Of Sound +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ :D

Talk +

The Hardest Part -

Fix You 0

 

Violet Hill (Original) +

Violet Hill (Dancing Politicians) 0

Viva La Vida (Original) -

Viva La Vida (Anton Corbijn) +

Lost 0

Lovers In Japan 0

Strawberry Swing 0

 

Life In Technicolour ii +

 

Christmas Lights +

 

Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall 0

Paradise +

Princess Of China ---------------------------------------------------------

Charlie Brown --------------------------------------------------------------

Hurts Like Heaven -

 

Midnight +

Magic +

A Sky Full Of Stars 0

True Love -

Ink 0

 

 

There's also the movie for Bigger Stronger (for me is 0)

[The Adversary]

The tldr would be that in the earlier eras, they were great, and have recently turned to crap.

You could use that as a blanket statement for Coldplay in general :laugh3:

 

As for the MV's:

 

Parachutes era: I love the aesthetic of the videos of this era. The videos all contain one overarching theme and really capture the message of the album perfectly. They're dark, ambient and mysterious but most importantly ambiguous. It's really up to the viewer to make sense of what they are seeing in tandem to what they are listening to. Always preferred the UK Trouble version as it better expresses the lynchpin of the album with the themes of alienation and betrayal and also acts as a metaphor for the differences and rifts the band were experiencing at this time.

 

AROBTTH era: Like AROBTTH itself, the videos for this era are minimalist and stripped back. They are perfectly simple and do an effective job- Clocks and In My Place. I think if you were to form an opinion on Coldplay from watching their music videos alone, only from this era would you think "This is a genuine rock band" What strikes me is the "cleanliness" of the videos as a whole from this era, using the colours black and white prominently (If that makes sense) Stand-out from this era is The Scientist video which is probably in the running for the best music video of all time.

 

X&Y era: A splash of colour here (Speed of Sound) the metaphysical, space age theme of the album is captured well and X&Y is well set apart from AROBTTH visually. The Talk video is great.. Fix You has an epic crescendo, Hardest Part is as creative as it is hilarious. The videos are getting more ambitious here and it seems like a stepping stone to Coldplay's best video era.

 

VLVODAAH era: The videos are just perfect here. The creativity on the musical side of things was translating to the visual side of things seemingly. I have to talk about the Violet Hill video which is beautifully shot. The gritty cinematography, The dark grey colour scheme perfectly contrasted with flashes of purple (my favourite colour :) ) The war-like marching and dismal location set the heart break of the lyrics perfectly, definitely my top Coldplay video. The alternate Violet Hill video is my second favourite Coldplay video. The political imagery perfectly synced with the angst of the jagged guitars- Coldplay goes Black Sabbath. Top quality all together. Poking fun at political figures, all very nuanced. Wish they would do more material in this style. The Lovers in Japan video is always fun with its synthpop 80's look. LiTii is this eras comic relief, I just can't bring myself not to love it. Rather ironically, the weakest video of this era is probably VLV, the video is fairly basic and generic and doesn't (for me anyway) do justice to the extraordinary lyrics. My Dad is a massive Depeche Mode fan so I much prefer the Anton Corbijn version.

 

MX: Paradise is very good. Everything else exceedingly average. Getting to see Jonny shredding on ETIAW is always appreciated though.

 

Ghost Stories: Coldplay's worst video era by far. True Love and ASFOS are absolutely atrocious in my opinion (ASFOS less so, because Coldplay fans were involved and you saw all the band, still dislike it though) Magic video is bland. All Your Friends is good as is Ghost Story. Stand out by far is Midnight, its experimental grandeur couldn't infect the rest of the videos (Much like the song and the album) Miracles didn't need that stupid lyric video transposed over clips of the Unbroken film.

 

AHFOD: Expected to follow the trend, I predict we will see more "True Love-esque" videos. I'm waiting to be pleasantly surprised however.

 

Honorable mentions I didn't discuss:

Christmas Lights

Bigger Stronger

Strawberry Swing

GPASUYF

 

"Chris Martin did 10 takes" :P

[jc90]

You could use that as a blanket statement for Coldplay in general :laugh3:

"Chris Martin did 10 takes" :P

 

Haa, nice comments.

 

 

The biggest disappointment for me was how the MV for Viva La Vida was handled. The song is arguably the best known song from the band. They had an AMAZING looking video from Apple that used the song in a 30 second advert. They had TWO attempts to make a good MV. And what did they do? Release an absolutely shite MV followed by another....

 

[video=youtube;O3mYc1m3lsM]

 

I would've loved to see a full song version of that ^ over what we eventually got

[The Adversary]

For anyone who doesn't get the "Chris Martin did 10 takes" reference.

 

[video=youtube;bzQYtpjMjSo]

[jc90]

For anyone who doesn't get the "Chris Martin did 10 takes" reference.

 

I would hint that the reference happens right at the end of the video, but the song (and Noel) is so good, you might as well watch the whole thing.

[The Adversary]

Yes absolutely. Although I think the first album was better. Ballad of the Mighty I is solid (I really enjoyed it live) Anyway that's a discussion for another day and thread entirely.

[jc90]

Yes absolutely. Although I think the first album was better. Ballad of the Mighty I is solid (I really enjoyed it live) Anyway that's a discussion for another day and thread entirely.

 

[video=youtube;R8sFE8_usN0]

 

 

Fo real tho, this is the Noel thread

Bam:

http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/threads/61372-Noel-Gallagher/page100

[The Adversary]

Haa, nice comments.

 

 

The biggest disappointment for me was how the MV for Viva La Vida was handled. The song is arguably the best known song from the band. They had an AMAZING looking video from Apple that used the song in a 30 second advert. They had TWO attempts to make a good MV. And what did they do? Release an absolutely shite MV followed by another....

 

[video=youtube;O3mYc1m3lsM]

 

I would've loved to see a full song version of that ^ over what we eventually got

 

 

Surely the whole song was recorded for the Apple ad? Maybe it exists somewhere. Far better than what we eventually got. Perhaps they thought it didn't address the historical side of the lyrics and was too similar to the X&Y style?

[jc90]

I'm 90% sure that's the full length of the ad.

 

It gives me a vibe a refresh of the SOS MV, which is a good thing.

[Guest diogo_sg]

ASFOS music video vs ASFOS unreleased music video

 

"I live to see the world"

[The Adversary]

Unreleased video definitely. It's actually sort of reminiscent of the VLV apple ad don't you think? (Still not enough to save the song, unfortunately :P)

 

I think there is also an unreleased Paradise video we never got to see.

[Guest diogo_sg]

Unreleased video definitely. It's actually sort of reminiscent of the VLV apple ad don't you think?

Yeah, it does reminds me of that ad. I think the original is better than the unreleased, but they could have done something much bigger for a song called A Sky Full Of Stars. You can say what you want about the song (not that I agree) but the title is pretty nice. I just wish the MV was equivalent to it.

I think there is also an unreleased Paradise video we never got to see.

Idk about that, but I wouldn't trade the released music video for anything tbh.

I think the Paradise MV is iconic.

 

"I live to see the world"

[jc90]

There is an unreleased version of Paradise. The story is actually the same as the ASFOS MV. They had shot a video for Paradise, but Chris didn't like it so they last-minute, rushed a new video and came up with what we see today. And when I say unreleased, it's actually unreleased.

 

I prefer the current version of ASFOS. It's fun, has the whole band. You see a genuine smile from the band and the people. Just makes me smile watching it. Not the the unreleased one is bad, just not as good.

[Guest diogo_sg]

A Sky Full Of Stars

0:47

You know what it is

[emoji23]

 

"I live to see the world"

[Aby_coldheart104]

What? No Bigger Stronger, Moses, Lost +, All Your Friends and Ghost Story. All of which have full official videos (except for Bigger Stronger but track-dub video exist). Or Miracles or even Atlas (which I count, especially Atlas). Which in this case (Extra plus of those that stand out):

 

Bigger Stronger + (I like it for it's pre-Parachutes, low production, charm)

 

Shiver 0 (Awkward Chris is really awkward here)

Yellow + (Simple yet beautiful, the transition from night to day is flawless)

Don't Panic 0/+ (Would have made a full plus if the heads aren't so borderline-uncanny)

Trouble (US) ++ (This and Strawberry Swing's MV here is how I fell in love with Coldplay in the first place. Beautifully animated.)

Trouble (UK) +/++ (I really like this gritty side of Coldplay. And it's kinda funny to see Will and Jonny trying to tie-up Guy and looking like some of henchmen or something.)

 

In My Place 0 (Would love to see more going on)

Clocks + (A powerful video to a powerful song)

The Scientist 0/+ (Nice execution, but the MV is literally a weirdly-done seat-belt PSA)

God Put A Smile Upon Your Face -/0 (Would have made a plus we had a full story behind it, like who's the bare foot guy, why is the man turning invisible, where did he go and what does the band singing has anything to do with this?)

 

Speed Of Sound ++ (Easily one of my top five, excellent use of excessive lighting ;) )

Talk + (It's silly and so campy. I like it)

The Hardest Part + (Really like how well the band fit in the 90's background. In HD)

Fix You 0 (The MV didn't really add anything to the video.)

 

[video=youtube;ieu6zu0pcJs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieu6zu0pcJs ++ (Best tour montage I've seen, if this counts)

 

Violet Hill (Original) ++ (Just the right amount of silly and serious, it perfectly set the tone of the era)

Violet Hill (Dancing Politicians) +/++ (Love the editing and timing on this one)

Viva La Vida (Original) & Viva La Vida (Anton Corbijn) 0/+ (I feel like some parts of the video are strong than the others. The former feels cramped and sort of feels recycled and later is slow-paced and uneventful. I wish to see a video that mash the two together.)

Lost! - (The audio and video makes you feel like you're as tired as them.)

Lovers In Japan ++ (Like Violet Hill, only much more when it comes to visuals.)

Strawberry Swing +++ (If it wasn't for me randomly stumbling on this MV on TV, I wouldn't have think to known Coldplay ever. This MV alone is how I got introduced and it's so beautifully animated and story tolded that I just remember the entire video and not the song nor the band that is shown it the end.)

 

Life In Technicolour ii ++ (It's silliness up to eleven and funny as heck)

Lost+ 0 (The random Jay-Z insert makes the video almost a bit better. Almost.)

 

Christmas Lights + (Neatly edited and as warm as the Christmas spirit)

 

Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall ++ (Colorful, colorful, colorful. It's like you traded the story element of Strawberry Swing with more paint. And this is how I got the band's name.)

Paradise + (Though the elephant was a girl at first... that is all.)

Princess Of China ------------------------------------ (An eyesore of a video, from the mis-opportunity of putting full-on Chinese-inspired look instead of the abysmal design that looks like they put whatever says Asian-ish with no rhyme or reason to the really really awkward chemistry between Chris and Rihanna. Out of all the videos they would have scraped, why not this one?)

Charlie Brown + (The kissing really weirded me out at first but the vid grew on me later.)

Hurts Like Heaven + (It's literally a really colorful motion comic, may buy the comics someday.)

 

Atlas ++ (Truly a video between eras, it's one on the best modern lyric videos I've seen.)

 

Midnight + (A haunting video to a haunting song. What else can you say?)

Magic 0/+ (It's really weird seeing Chris being 'in love' with this another girl. But plus points for playing the evil dude, I hardly noticed it was him when I first saw it.)

A Sky Full Of Stars (Official) -/0 (A rushed video about Coldplay in the streets and fans that happen to be there following them. Meh, the Beatles did it better.)

A Sky Full Of Stars ++ (Unreleased) (Now THIS is how I pictured the video would go. From Chris pushing the 'stars' as the beat drops, to the close-ups at the right moments [like the eye shot], to him being lifted like in the live shows. No joke. My heart skipped when I first saw this video.)

True Love 0 (It's really weird seeing Chris being 'in love' with this another girl. He could have easily just cast another dude like in Charlie Brown.)

Ink 0 (Wish they could have gone with a straightforward story and with the fan's choice gimmick)

 

All Your Friends 0 (It needs more flair Dancing Politicians had, but it's nice to see some WWI for a change)

Ghost Story + (Better than Lost! but not as good as Clocks, it's surprisingly editing well.)

 

Miracles + (Not as good as Atlas, but still nicely edited.)

[jc90]

What? No Bigger Stronger, Moses, Lost +, All Your Friends and Ghost Story. All of which have full official videos (except for Bigger Stronger but track-dub video exist). Or Miracles or even Atlas (which I count, especially Atlas). Which in this case (Extra plus of those that stand out):

 

I was thinking about adding those, but did not for various reasons. Like:

 

Lost+ is just Lost with the Jayz appearance, Atlas was a lyric video not an MV, etc.

 

I wouldn't call any of them very memorable anyways...

[Aby_coldheart104]

I was thinking about adding those, but did not for various reasons. Like:

 

Lost+ is just Lost with the Jayz appearance, Atlas was a lyric video not an MV, etc.

 

I wouldn't call any of them very memorable anyways...

 

Okay, I understand. :(

[thetwinparadox]

I hardly ever watch music videos these days, but when I did I watched every Coldplay video that had been released at that point (which was everything before GS). Still haven't bothered to watch all of the GS ones. But they had some really good and enjoyable videos during their career.

 

Best:

The Scientist

GPASUYF

Violet Hill (Dancing politicians)

Yellow

Talk

 

Worst:

True Love

ASFOS

Princess of China (seriously, did they even know the difference between Indian and Chinese Mythology? Jesus Christ)

Charlie Brown (though there are cool visuals)

The Hardest Part (it's a nice idea for a music video, but it doesn't exactly suit the song)

 

Btw here's an alternative Paradise video directed by Shynola. I think that Hype Williams was initially going to direct the Paradise video but for whatever reason the band wasn't satisfied with it.

 

[video=youtube;0bdr9BxLlG0]

[thetwinparadox]

Btw where can I find the alternative ASFOS video?