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

[42Escapist]

speaking of Philly, thought i'd drop these off here for you guys...

 

 

 

 

Oh my, you got soooo lucky ! Especially AROBTTH, what a gem to have heard. Thank you for your videos. Why does Coldplay torture us by not playing that song regularly in their concerts ? :-/

This is ridiculous, they have been teasing us with soundchecks like this for months. :(

[MidnightSpies]

speaking of Philly, thought i'd drop these off here for you guys...

 

 

 

 

Ohh myy...

[42Escapist]

Ohh myy...

I wish they could rock the stadium like this during an actual concert. One I Love sounds like it could be just as good live as it was 13 years ago.

[The Adversary]

I look up to Chris a lot.

Now that I'm the same age Chris was when X&Y was released I can relate a lot to him the way he was then, an anxious but lovable dork (although I've yet to sell 30 million records and become a multi-millionaire!)

 

But now I feel as if my 12 year old sister could relate to the current Chris better than I can. I always imagined that by this stage in Coldplay's career they would have matured considerably and thus would be reflected in the music, I envisaged Pink Floyd style prog-rock but it's gone completely the other direction.

 

If you would have given me AHFOD when I was 15 and said it was Coldplay I probably wouldn't have thought you were well...

 

When you look at it from that lens the complete 180 in terms of output is actually slightly comical.

[coldplayisawesome]

But now I feel as if my 12 year old sister could relate to the current Chris better than I can. I always imagined that by this stage in Coldplay's career they would have matured considerably and thus would be reflected in the music, I envisaged Pink Floyd style prog-rock but it's gone completely the other direction.

 

i think this makes perfect sense, because who does Chris spend a lot of time with these days? his 12-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son :P

Chris himself has talked about how much of an influence they are on what he writes. it is very interesting, though, the path Coldplay has followed over the years. there's so much less anxiety and helplessness in their music - even in VLV i feel like it started shifting from "they're out to get us" to "we're out to get them back" and then i guess to something more like "actually, maybe we can all just be friends instead" :P i'm at the age they were between Paracutes and AROBTTH and while the angsty songs might more closely represent the way my life is right now, i generally prefer the ones that are less angsty, because with those my brain can sort of take a break from the stress

it's cool to go back and hear songs like Don't Panic, which is definitely a song about togetherness, and i understand what Chris means when he says AHFOD is the album they feel like they were always working toward, at least thematically. it's like they've changed in so many ways, but also haven't changed much at all.

 

sorry, i didn't mean to get on a soapbox about this :P i just think it's interesting what other people connect with in Coldplay's music (i guess i tend to go more for lyrics than style) and also looking at all the different eras and trying to connect the dots.

[prospekt46]

I always imagined that by this stage in Coldplay's career they would have matured considerably and thus would be reflected in the music, I envisaged Pink Floyd style prog-rock but it's gone completely the other direction.

 

If you would have given me AHFOD when I was 15 and said it was Coldplay I probably wouldn't have thought you were well...

 

When you look at it from that lens the complete 180 in terms of output is actually slightly comical.

 

I fluctuate between accepting their new music and holding ASFOS in one hand and Everything's Not Lost in the other and trying to understand what happened.

 

Now that I think about it, it actually is kind of difficult to piece together a timeline that led them to ASFOS, which to me is the most difficult to swallow track from the new albums if you were to compare them to the first four. I've heard a lot of people say VLV was a transition but aside from VLV itself having a thumping drum and a few studio tricks on Chris's voice I'd argue that the rest of the album is pretty firmly planted in their old design. I guess it would help if people would list what makes the first four Oldplay and what makes the new albums Newplay.

[I ran away]

I guess it would help if people would list what makes the first four Oldplay and what makes the new albums Newplay.

Great idea ! Maybe this can also revive this thread a bit. So people, what characteristics define Oldplay for you and which ones define Newplay ?

[beastwars]

Great idea ! Maybe this can also revive this thread a bit. So people, what characteristics define Oldplay for you and which ones define Newplay ?

Lyrics

Arrangements

Perfectionism

Detailing

[coldplayisawesome]

I fluctuate between accepting their new music and holding ASFOS in one hand and Everything's Not Lost in the other and trying to understand what happened.

 

Now that I think about it, it actually is kind of difficult to piece together a timeline that led them to ASFOS, which to me is the most difficult to swallow track from the new albums if you were to compare them to the first four. I've heard a lot of people say VLV was a transition but aside from VLV itself having a thumping drum and a few studio tricks on Chris's voice I'd argue that the rest of the album is pretty firmly planted in their old design. I guess it would help if people would list what makes the first four Oldplay and what makes the new albums Newplay.

 

VLV to me seems like more of a transition in the band's mindset and how they perform live than the music per se, but those things are definitely linked when it comes to Coldplay. that's when they really first started on the road of trying not to care too much about what other people think of them, experimenting with music they thought they weren't allowed to make before, and adding new elements to their live shows, like the C-stage, to help connect with the audience more.

to be honest, i have a bit of a hard time thinking of VLV as Oldplay, especially since when it came out there was so much criticism from the people who were bigger fans of Parachutes and AROBTTH primarily (poor X&Y doesn't get enough love). so it was interesting to see it be included in here :P

 

Lyrics

Arrangements

Perfectionism

Detailing

 

could you give some more detail? like do you think perfectionism is Oldplay or Newplay? :wacko:

[beastwars]

could you give some more detail? like do you think perfe

ctionism is Oldplay or Newplay? :wacko:

Oldplay. We already did this discussion a thousand times on these pages; the first 4 albums (except for a few songs) have in common a good balance of melodical skills, creativy, versatility, different music genres combined, lyrical depth, sound fidelity and originality.

If you notice, there's a huge difference in terms of quality since MX, especially in lyrics and ripetitiveness of words and parts of song.

Before MX they embraced a lot of styles and influences of great artists/band they listened to through the years: even in VLV you can find glimpses of shoegaze (Chinese Sleep Chant), Arcade Fire-like strings, IDM (Jon Hopkins's Light Through The Veins excerpt in LiT). They used clapping, they recorded songs with different metrics (DAAHF and Glass Of Water in 7/4), they also tried to use a nearly-prog structure in 42, their early days sound formula was inspired by alternative rock bands from the 90's (Radiohead, Ride, Travis, The Verve, My Bloody Valentine), they worked and played with people like Richard Ashcroft, Micheal Stipe, Brian Eno, they where nearly having a duet with Johnny Cash (who died before they could record it), in fact they even tried to go country with ballads like Green Eyes and Til Kingdom Come.

But the thing I miss the most is that I never experienced that sensation of emptyness (even in the songs i like the least) I feel almost everytime I hear something from the Newplay catalogue, especially in AHFOD. That's because their creation process changed, they don't merge all of their influences into an original and unique key like they did before, but they follow the mainstream aesthetic, with this R&B-electropop-boombastic-singalong music without soul and originality. That's the kind of music you can hear from anybody.

Let's be honest: Coldplay have never been the best band in the world, but during the first decade of the 21st century they managed to do something that only a few did, which is defining the sound of their actual days, being the main influence for the bands that came after them (think of people like The Script, Kodaline, Amber Run, Imagine Dragons, Bastille, all people that without Coldplay woud never existed). Their latest efforts send them in a music sector where they are out of place.

All of this is obviously my humble opinion, but what I want to say to people like the ones that are part of this community nowadays is that the nostalgic ones like me don't criticise for the sake of it or for fun, I really feel bad when I talk about them because I feel "betrayed" by the band of my adolescence.

[coldplayisawesome]

Before MX they embraced a lot of styles and influences of great artists/band they listened to through the years: even in VLV you can find glimpses of shoegaze (Chinese Sleep Chant), Arcade Fire-like strings, IDM (Jon Hopkins's Light Through The Veins excerpt in LiT). They used clapping, they recorded songs with different metrics (DAAHF and Glass Of Water in 7/4), they also tried to use a nearly-prog structure in 42, their early days sound formula was inspired by alternative rock bands from the 90's (Radiohead, Ride, Travis, The Verve, My Bloody Valentine), they worked and played with people like Richard Ashcroft, Micheal Stipe, Brian Eno, they where nearly having a duet with Johnny Cash (who died before they could record it), in fact they even tried to go country with ballads like Green Eyes and Til Kingdom Come.

But the thing I miss the most is that I never experienced that sensation of emptyness (even in the songs i like the least) I feel almost everytime I hear something from the Newplay catalogue, especially in AHFOD. That's because their creation process changed, they don't merge all of their influences into an original and unique key like they did before, but they follow the mainstream aesthetic, with this R&B-electropop-boombastic-singalong music without soul and originality. That's the kind of music you can hear from anybody.

Let's be honest: Coldplay have never been the best band in the world, but during the first decade of the 21st century they manage to do something that only a few did, which is defining the sound of their actual days, being the main influence for the bands that came after them (think of people like The Script, Kodaline, Amber Run, Imagine Dragons, Bastille, all people that without Coldplay woud never existed). Their latest efforts send them in a music sector where they are out of place.

All of this is obviously my humble opinion, but what I want to say to people like the ones that are part of this community nowadays is that the nostalgic ones like me don't criticise for the sake of it or for fun, I really feel bad when I talk about them because I feel "betrayed" by the band of my adolescence.

 

gotcha. i think they really hit a high with VLV, like it was a great time for them to do something totally different from the previous three albums and maybe they've just been riding that wave for a bit too long. :P it feels like Stargate had a big influence on AHFOD's sound, like i wonder what it could have been if they had gone back to working with for example Brian Eno, Markus Dravs, etc.

 

i'm gonna try to read through this whole thread so i don't ask any more redundant questions :P :escaping:

[prospekt46]

If you really do read the whole thing I'd love to hear what you think are the central themes of it and maybe some of the highlights, I hopped on about halfway through right now I think but I do recall reading most of it.

[coldplayisawesome]

If you really do read the whole thing I'd love to hear what you think are the central themes of it and maybe some of the highlights, I hopped on about halfway through right now I think but I do recall reading most of it.

 

so far the past two hours has gotten me ten pages in. this might take a while :dizzy:

[beastwars]

gotcha. i think they really hit a high with VLV, like it was a great time for them to do something totally different from the previous three albums and maybe they've just been riding that wave for a bit too long. :P it feels like Stargate had a big influence on AHFOD's sound, like i wonder what it could have been if they had gone back to working with for example Brian Eno, Markus Dravs, etc.

 

i'm gonna try to read through this whole thread so i don't ask any more redundant questions :P :escaping:

I wasn't saying it in that way to be rude, sorry if my post left that sensation :D

[coldplayisawesome]

I wasn't saying it in that way to be rude, sorry if my post left that sensation :D

 

no worries ;)

[coldplayisawesome]

well, while i'm still trying to make it through the thread (on page 71 now - whew!) here is the beautiful performance of A Message from the Hope for Haiti concert in 2010. :heart:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iHjkxPU1Vg

Mobile Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iHjkxPU1Vg

[The Adversary]

Listened to Prospekts March today for the first time in about a year and a half.

 

I was completely blown away, It's refreshing to get out of the "album only" frame of mind and realise there is more Oldplay after VLV, it's just hidden away in the Extended Play's.

 

It does make you think however, how great it would have been if they took the better tracks from MX (MTM, Us against the world, Paradise) and had them produced for PM making a full length album!

[beastwars]

Listened to Prospekts March today for the first time in about a year and a half.

 

I was completely blown away, It's refreshing to get out of the "album only" frame of mind and realise there is more Oldplay after VLV, it's just hidden away in the Extended Play's.

 

It does make you think however, how great it would have been if they took the better tracks from MX (MTM, Us against the world, Paradise) and had them produced for PM making a full length album!

I'm surprised you consider Paradise one of the best tracks of MX... :D

[The Adversary]

I'm surprised you consider Paradise one of the best tracks of MX... :D

 

It doesn't take much to be one of the best tracks of MX :|

[cpm619]

It doesn't take much to be one of the best tracks of MX :|

Ah man I'd say Paradise is a defining moment of Newplay and not in a good way :borg:.

 

MX could have been great had they my removed the likes of Paradise, Prince of China and Up in Flames and replaced it with other songs from that time period. Imagine the following:

 

HLH

Spanish Rain (debatable since it was played at end of viva tour)

Charlie Brown

Us Against the World

M.M.I.X

ETIAW

Major Minus

U.F.O

Moving to Mars

Wedding Bells

A Hopeful Transmission

DLIBYH

Up with the Birds

 

I think you have to keep ETIAW since it wouldn't be Coldplay album without one bombastic pop rock song

[prospekt46]

I'm a big fan of the guitar and bass on PoC. It's enough to carry the song really, very catchy.

[karvi22]

I've been reading your previous messages and I agree with you in many aspects. When I was at the concert I was surrounded by people who didn't know CP songs which weren't the typical ones (AOAL, HFTW, VLV...). As you've said, most of the people were probably there because nowadays it's a cool thing to do. It seems like they attend only to post photos on the social media and say "look how cool I am, I went to a CP concert!". This is so sad because probably there were a lot of people who really love the band but weren't able to go (me myself I almost couldn't go and I would have been devastated) because tickets were sold out or because the price was too high... while there were guys like these that went to the show but didn't give a shit about they were about to see.

 

I have to say I really loved the experience, but when you say these are overloaded shows you're totally right. All this Xylobands and confetti thing was awesome, but sometimes people went so crazy about it that it was impossible to fully enjoy the music. I had this feeling specially in Charlie Brown, Hymn, AOAL... and I was a little dissapointed because I also really like these songs, but I'd wish I could have lived them in a different way. That's the reason why the songs I enjoyed the most were Trouble and See You Soon. This time it was only music and almost nobody didn't care about them but me and a few more. Sometimes I think fans should pass a test before going to a concert... in this way only truly fans would be allowed to enter lol :laugh3:

 

So I think it would be great they would go back to the X&Y era style. These days I'm watching a lot of shows of those times and they were pretty awesome. Wish I would have been a huge fan back then...

[iamsue]

I've been reading your previous messages and I agree with you in many aspects. When I was at the concert I was surrounded by people who didn't know CP songs which weren't the typical ones (AOAL, HFTW, VLV...). As you've said, most of the people were probably there because nowadays it's a cool thing to do. It seems like they attend only to post photos on the social media and say "look how cool I am, I went to a CP concert!". This is so sad because probably there were a lot of people who really love the band but weren't able to go (me myself I almost couldn't go and I would have been devastated) because tickets were sold out or because the price was too high... while there were guys like these that went to the show but didn't give a shit about they were about to see.

 

I have to say I really loved the experience, but when you say these are overloaded shows you're totally right. All this Xylobands and confetti thing was awesome, but sometimes the people went so crazy about it that it was impossible to fully enjoy the music. I had this feeling specially in Charlie Brown, Hymn, AOAL... and I was a little dissapointed because I also really like these songs, but I'd wish I could have lived them in a different way. That's the reason why the songs I enjoyed the most were Trouble and See You Soon. This time it was only music and almost nobody didn't care about them but me and a few more. Sometimes I think fans should pass a test before going to a concert... in this way only truly fans would be allowed to enter lol :laugh3:

 

So I think it would be great they would go back to the X&Y era style. These days I'm watching a lot of shows of those times and they were pretty awesome. Wish I would have been a huge fan back then...

 

Totally sums it up!

[coldplayisawesome]

found this in my recommended videos today :wacky:

 

[42Escapist]

I stumbled upon this video and it's absolutely gorgeous! I knew Prospekt's March had been soundchecked but I never knew somebody had actually filmed it. The band even added on Poppyfields at the end!

But of course, just like with One I Love on the current tour, they never bothered to play it during an actual concert. :angry: