===The ultimate Oldplaying Thread===S, BS, TBR, P, AROBTTH, X&Y, VLV, PM===

[Famous Old Painter]

Songs like Coloratura and Arabesque frustrate me because they prove Coldplay can still make powerful, boundary-pushing and highly creative music, but they actively choose not to 90% of the time. 

Edited July 23, 2021 by Famous Old Painter

[Captain Crieff]

Yeah it's so weird My Universe and Coloratura are going to be on the same album, I feel like track track 10-12 is going to be very this:

[Famous Old Painter]

I’m listening to Viva la Vida again for the first time in ages. I used to think of it as a pretty cool album, now I rank it up there with the greats of the 2000s alongside Funeral and In Rainbows. I wish the music critics of the world would get past their “cOlDpLaY bAd!” prejudices and recognise this. 
 

I’m tearing up at points. A part of me wonders why they can’t still be like this. A part of me admits it’s the nostalgia talking. I’m really showing my old age here (Chris once said bands shouldn’t continue past 30, well guess how old I just turned). But there are so many memories come flooding back. High school parties. The old coldplaying community (I used to post here all the time back in 2008). All the hype, all the paintings, all the leaks of acoustic versions and the like. What an era. Newplayers have no idea what they missed out on. 
 

Coldplay have gone on to achieve many great things since then, honestly. Ghost Stories and Everyday Life make me just as emotional in their own way. But here’s the thing. Chris made a big deal of MX and AHFOD being colourful and joyful. But he seems oblivious to the fact he fucking nailed it on Viva la Vida. Probably the reason I think of this album more fondly than say, AROBTTH (which I also deem a classic) is because of how alive, joyful and colourful it is. It’s pure happiness in audio form, but it’s natural unintentional happiness. They didn’t set out to paint a rainbow, it just happened. There’s nothing forced about it whatsoever. 
 

Strawberry Swing just came on, it might be a bit too much for me lads ?

 

Edit - Another thing. I was reminiscing on when I discovered Coldplay. It was 2000, I was 9 years old, and I was gifted a copy of Parachutes. That like turned into love when I got AROBTTH in 2002. I think back to how many of my favourite bands back then are still around. Most of them split up or vanished into obscurity more than a decade ago. The fact Coldplay are still selling tons of records, generating hype and are a major part of so many peoples lives to this day is an extraordinary achievement in itself. 

Edited July 24, 2021 by Famous Old Painter

[nvdmm]

On 7/23/2021 at 7:05 AM, JM-42 said:

What do you guys think about Coloratura? Beats almost anything from AHFOD and Ghost Stories imo.

I hope they play it entirely when they go on tour, even if we all know it's going to be full of backing tracks lol

I talked about it in the thread for the song. I think it's pretty okay but not what people are making it out to be. Some are comparing it to Pink Floyd which is fucking ludicrous! It also not get as good as anything on EL.

[Comrade Mike]

LeftRightLeftRightLeft is popping up on Spotify and elsewhere, in timezones where it's now Friday. Looks like it's streaming-only, like the Christmas songs.

[Coeurli]

1 hour ago, Comrade Mike said:

LeftRightLeftRightLeft is popping up on Spotify and elsewhere, in timezones where it's now Friday. Looks like it's streaming-only, like the Christmas songs.

Thank you so much for your warning!!

[Xyloband_99]

They added Live in ... after name of the songs. After all years we finally know which concert the songs from. Also i hope they Lhuna too. If they add, all the studio releases will be on streaming services. (Only Wish I Was Here is not available in Spotify but it's on there)

[Comrade Mike]

On 8/13/2021 at 6:02 AM, Xyloband_99 said:

Also i hope they Lhuna too. If they add, all the studio releases will be on streaming services. (Only Wish I Was Here is not available in Spotify but it's on there)

Both versions of How You See the World are missing too. There's also several B-sides where "on streaming services" actually means "just on Spotify".

[42Escapist]

On 8/12/2021 at 11:02 PM, Xyloband_99 said:

They added Live in ... after name of the songs. After all years we finally know which concert the songs from. Also i hope they Lhuna too. If they add, all the studio releases will be on streaming services. (Only Wish I Was Here is not available in Spotify but it's on there)

I'm not sure if Proof is on Spotify anywhere in the world. Here in the US, they took it down a couple years ago. I don't think the Ghost Stories bonus tracks were ever available. But at least most of the B-sides and EP tracks are available. Even obscure ones like A Spell A Rebel Yell.

[lennyrott1]

Following up here to agree & relate with some recent posts. As a fan for like 17+ years now, it really took the AHFOD era to come to terms with the fact Coldplay will forevermore release a hodge-podge of genres, which will occasionally include stunning moments like Coloratura, Trouble In Town, and Arabesque -- tracks almost every fan can agree are next level in songwriting, production and artistry. I too feel a bit of pain knowing they are capable of making music that would potentially be 10/10 classic level for most critics, but they can't help but put out some bad lyrics and corny choruses on other songs. 

TLDR below about my thoughts of MOTS from an Oldplayer's perspective following Coloratura. 

Spoiler

 

This upcoming era is going to be really interesting because the rollout has some similarities to EL -- the two "singles" so far are the alt-pop song and the huge alternative song (Orphans, Arabesque) (HP, Coloratura). EL ended up being more alternative than I was expecting, because I thought there'd be more tracks like Orphans. So there's a shade of optimism I have about MOTS. If one song is 80's pop and the other is prog-rock, then it would stand to reason that the rest of the album is somewhere in between?

Yes, MU is gonna be a big dance pop single, and having heard it, idk if I'd say it will be as well-received or as popular as other big singles even if it's fun. But then there's Infinite, Humankind, People of the Pride, Human Heart that taken together could be a really solid and strong core to the album that has more rock music than we're expecting. So I have cautious optimism. The caution is that as an Oldplayer, Higher Power lacks the soul and excitement of Viva, Yellow, Fix You, Speed of Sound, ETIAW imo, and the production is good but I fear some other tracks could suffer from lack of extra instrumentation or something with extra oomph.

What's so confusing and frustrating to me is that they'll work with an orchestra on Coloratura, they'll work with Femi Kuti on Arabesque, they'll build off of songs with Jon Hopkins, they'll collaborate with Beyonce and Noel Gallagher on the same track. But then on a track like Higher Power, which has a great beat & a catch chorus, what's special? They could have added a guitar solo at the end, or brought in an 80's style brass section at the end when Chris sings "For so loonggg..." But no -- same beat, same synths, and a tambourine. It's hard for me cuz unlike other artists, they just seem to refuse to maintain a consistent sound throughout their albums which means creative moments are just a drop in the bucket.

 

 

[42Escapist]

On 8/18/2021 at 2:12 AM, 42Escapist said:

I'm not sure if Proof is on Spotify anywhere in the world. Here in the US, they took it down a couple years ago. I don't think the Ghost Stories bonus tracks were ever available. But at least most of the B-sides and EP tracks are available. Even obscure ones like A Spell A Rebel Yell.

Well, this just changed. Now the ASFOS EP, which included the Ghost Stories bonus tracks, is on Spotify here in the US. Just added a couple days ago. Funny coincidence ? Ghost Story in particular is on par with Oldplay. No question. It's darker than most Oldplay, but the actual instrumentation doesn't sound too different from songs like GPASUYF and AROBTTH. All Your Friends sounds like a fusion between Viva and Ghost Stories, with war-themed lyrics, electronic beats from Will, a prominent yet somber bassline from Guy, ethereal guitars, and ambient sounds throughout. It's pretty good.

Edited August 22, 2021 by 42Escapist

[Comrade Mike]

Proof is on Spotify everywhere but in the US, where it's only available on Apple Music/iTunes.

Does anyone know if Lhuna played on the SiriusXM station from last year? That would be a good sign for it showing up elsewhere at some point.

[prospekt46]

Proof is what I imagine Coldplay sounds like to people who hated Coldplay in the 00s

[Guilherme]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiLTeoZkWRY

 

 

 

Edited August 27, 2021 by Guilherme

[I ran away]

On 8/27/2021 at 2:52 AM, prospekt46 said:

Proof is what I imagine Coldplay sounds like to people who hated Coldplay in the 00s

No Proof slander under my watch

[TheBigBadBono]

1 hour ago, I ran away said:

No Proof slander under my watch

I wouldn't say its slander, but even though I like this song it has a lot of the trademark complaints people made about 2000s Coldplay: high Chris Martin falsettos, really slow tempos, predominant use of the piano, honest lyrics that aren't complex, etc. Like how most people still see (and hate) Coldplay as a boring, whiny band with basic lyrics that only uses piano in really slow songs.

I still really like Proof, though. Second best X&Y b-side after Gravity, which is one of their best.

[prospekt46]

On 8/27/2021 at 10:49 AM, Guilherme said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiLTeoZkWRY

 

 

 

there's something so cursed about the late 00s moving from film and tape to digital distribution. We have these amazing high quality sessions from 99-03 and then all of VLV is bitcrushed 240p from BBC iPlayer or some other service that didn't think far enough ahead.

Edited August 29, 2021 by prospekt46

[Famous Old Painter]

I’d say Proof is the worst song of the X&Y era, personally

[42Escapist]

Proof sounds a lot like Gravity. But Gravity is superior. 

[Comrade Mike]

How You See the World No. 2 (from the Help: A Day in the Life charity compilation) is back on streaming/download. There's also pre-orders for vinyl releases of the album at https://warchildrecords.tmstor.es/, for anyone into that kind of thing.

[prospekt46]

well speaking of that Shiver performance, here's the full session

just watched it, good stuff

[nvdmm]

So what do you guys think about 'People of the Pride'?

[harrisonrules]

10 hours ago, nvdmm said:

So what do you guys think about 'People of the Pride'?

I absolutely love it 

[42Escapist]

16 hours ago, nvdmm said:

So what do you guys think about 'People of the Pride'?

Apart from Coloratura, POTP is my favorite of the new songs. It reminds me of One I Love, GPASUYF, Major Minus, and Violet Hill in particular. The lyrics in particular are some of the coolest Chris has ever written... on par with the best of VLVODAAHF. Which makes sense, doesn't it? The Man Who Swears had some amazing lyrics and deserved to be revisited like this.

[only.your.imagination]

I never would have guessed from Overtura that they had reused that VLV demo in People of the pride. I appreciate that they have worked on that old material. The song clicked with me almost immediately (I love the the lyrics in particular). Can't wait for the studio version now