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

[cp3176]

Don't wanna break your heart but I'm pretty sure not a lot of thought was put into gone but not f. cotton. It just sounds like they whipped it up to intentionally sound like a stereotypical Coldplay song, rather than a genuine song.

 

True. They probably didn't put a lot of thought or effort into it.

But oh well, if it sounds good it sounds good, and that's what matters in the end. :D Sometimes the best songs are ones that weren't overthought...

 

 

i think if you're considering Gone But Not F. Cotton then you should consider these also:

 

 

 

:P

 

I'll pass thanks. :D

 

There's a lot of trolls in the comment section of that saying "ohhhh they should just sing asfos or viva la vida or clocks blahblahblahblahblahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" Too much Coldplay hate in this world!

 

But I can see why you posted this.

[ColdplayingfromKansas]

As for LP8 being an ambient album that would be so cool. I'd love to see Coldplay step outside their comfort zone once more. They don't have to write these massive pop albums all the time! :P (It would still be great to have that "signature song" from that album though that gets really big.. I don't know how they're going to pull that off with ambient music when the rest of the people who follow mainstream music is completely oblivious to that. If they actually did manage to pull it off though that would be cool and I think would restore Coldplay's genuity. And if it had an impact on mainstream music that would be even better!! But in the end, that doesn't matter if we're going to get a really really good result in the end. Let us enjoy it and let the people who actually care about finding good music find the gem! :D)

 

I see your point about not having that big anthem-like song with an ambient album, but to be fair GS is almost exclusively a quiet, mellow, acoustic/ambient-y album . . . except for ASFoS :P You could potentially even have a song like Life in Technicolor or Fix You, with a really sparse ambient intro that turns into something closer to a rock song.

 

The more we talk about GS/MX/AHFoD, the more I realize how close they could have been to the Oldplay albums. Polish up some lyrics, don't collaborate with certain pop artists, bring in some real drums, maybe straight-out cut a song or two . . . That compilation GS/AHFoD album people were posting about a few pages back would have been killer

 

True. They probably didn't put a lot of thought or effort into it.

But oh well, if it sounds good it sounds good, and that's what matters in the end. :D Sometimes the best songs are ones that weren't overthought...

 

See: Clocks :P

[cp3176]

I see your point about not having that big anthem-like song with an ambient album, but to be fair GS is almost exclusively a quiet, mellow, acoustic/ambient-y album . . . except for ASFoS :P You could potentially even have a song like Life in Technicolor or Fix You, with a really sparse ambient intro that turns into something closer to a rock song.

 

The more we talk about GS/MX/AHFoD, the more I realize how close they could have been to the Oldplay albums. Polish up some lyrics, don't collaborate with certain pop artists, bring in some real drums, maybe straight-out cut a song or two . . . That compilation GS/AHFoD album people were posting about a few pages back would have been killer

 

 

 

See: Clocks :P

 

True. I like ASFOS and Oceans follows up nicely to ASFOS but going straight to Fly On makes no sense whatsoever... you get super energetic then you're ultra calm and quiet with Fly On/O. I agree with that other comment you made, that would be interesting.

 

I agree, with some modifications they would have been closer to Oldplay albums for sure! :)

 

 

 

 

 

True that!

[coldplayisawesome]

True. I like ASFOS and Oceans follows up nicely to ASFOS but going straight to Fly On makes no sense whatsoever... you get super energetic then you're ultra calm and quiet with Fly On/O. I agree with that other comment you made, that would be interesting.

 

i never quite thought about it until i read your comment, but Fly On is kinda like the tl;dr of Ghost Stories :lol:

[beastwars]

You have to consider GS as a Chris solo project, it all makes sense

[LeftrightleftArchi]

Well, the decision to get Stargate on board seems attached to the idea of creating hits for the current radio listeners. I like AOAL but sounds like something Maroon 5 or Imagine Dragons would do. And well, HFTW it's HFTW.

 

I honestly wouldn't compare AOAL to Imagine Dragons. Their first album was mainly dark Alt. Rock with heavy base drums, and well... their second album is just a mess of an album lazily trying to combine too many genres in one album. But my point is, Imagine Dragons isn't THAT pop/mainstream (or at least not as much as Maroon 5).

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cp3176]

You have to consider GS as a Chris solo project, it all makes sense

 

hmm more so than the other albums but not all the way, I can see where your coming from though, Chris is much more dominant in this album than anyone else anywhere else...

[The Adversary]

I think Chris going solo would be fantastic, following in the footsteps of Noel Gallagher.

 

Oasis's last couple of albums were hit and miss, much like Coldplay's last few efforts. Coldplay are a band in rapid decline, it's gone stale. I'd expect a similiar output from Chris as NGHFB, I think it would really rejuvenate him as a songwriter.

[prospekt46]

I think Chris going solo would be fantastic, following in the footsteps of Noel Gallagher.

 

Oasis's last couple of albums were hit and miss, much like Coldplay's last few efforts. Coldplay are a band in rapid decline, it's gone stale. I'd expect a similiar output from Chris as NGHFB, I think it would really rejuvenate him as a songwriter.

 

He wouldn't be able to write anything we'd like. I think he collaborates a lot so he can make music that the band would shoot down but values the music he makes with the band and Jonny, Guy, Will, etc as friends too much.

[I ran away]

I haven't managed to read through all the posts in the Oldplaying thread that have been made since i was gone yet, but about Chris going solo - I think that would be the worst thing to happen. Without the band to constrain him (notably Will, who seems to try and preserve as much credibility as he can, for example by vetoeing the line 'Drinks on me'), Chris could completely live out his musical dreams inspired by EDM and hip hop or artists like Drake, Selena Gomez, Rihanna, Ariana Grande etc. A Chris solo album would probably consist of him singing (in a less crooning and more rap/hip hop style) over forgettable synth and drumloops similar to XMTS. No thanks...

[I ran away]

We missed the anniversary of the thread, whoops.

Oh, you're right ! Well belated happy 1st birthday, Oldplaying thread ;)

 

You know what's sad ? That I like the song "Electricity" by Ricky Gervais feat. Chris Martin, which is a deliberate Coldplay parody and essentially a not particularly original combination of several Oldplay sound elements with sub-par lyrics, a lot more than most of the real Coldplay's recent output !

[cp3176]

I haven't managed to read through all the posts in the Oldplaying thread that have been made since i was gone yet, but about Chris going solo - I think that would be the worst thing to happen. Without the band to constrain him (notably Will, who seems to try and preserve as much credibility as he can, for example by vetoeing the line 'Drinks on me'), Chris could completely live out his musical dreams inspired by EDM and hip hop or artists like Drake, Selena Gomez, Rihanna, Ariana Grande etc. A Chris solo album would probably consist of him singing (in a less crooning and more rap/hip hop style) over forgettable synth and drumloops similar to XMTS. No thanks...

 

True that!! If Chris Martin done a solo album, yeahhh no...

 

In fact I'd be fine with EDM from him since I tend to like most from that genre, but I bet if he did a solo album that would be a small part of it, all the other songs likely being terrible... :(

[ChrisMartinFan]

You have to consider GS as a Chris solo project, it all makes sense

Really? Lyrics aside, musically I feel like GS was a lot more Guy than anyone else (except ASFOS and O which is obviously Chris). AHFOD sounds much more like a Chris solo project imo :P

[prospekt46]

Really? Lyrics aside, musically I feel like GS was a lot more Guy than anyone else (except ASFOS and O which is obviously Chris). AHFOD sounds much more like a Chris solo project imo :P

 

I've said it a few times, I'm pretty sure Guy had a lot of influence in producing GS. Out of the three new albums it's easily the best sonically.

[cp3176]

whaaaat, ok maybe a little bit better than mylo which I still wouldn't agree with but I wouldn't say "easily...."

 

@ChrisMartinFan, I don't see that. The other band members have been more present than ever on this album. Guy is everywhere. Jonny's guitar work has been at the most various it's ever been, and he really shines through in this album. Will has played both electronic and organic drums many times throughout the album and many times the beats he makes really takes the music to new levels.

I know so far this has seemed to be a post loving AHFOD, and really I am pointing out the good points on this album. By no means is this album better then Coldplay's older work in general. That doesn't mean I can't like it, can I?

[ColdplayingfromKansas]

^ I will defend the AoaL riff until my dying day :nod:

[coldplayisawesome]

^ I will defend the AoaL riff until my dying day :nod:

 

the guitar and bass in that song are A++

[cp3176]

True that!

[nvdmm]

BTW, about Obama, what's wrong with him? You rather Donald Drumpf be president?!?!!

One is worse than the other!

Also the kick drum in army of one is most certainly not a real one, Will playing a drum machine really hurts me on a deep level. He's been so good at finding the perfect way to drive a song with a real kit and now it feels like the songs have no life to them.

I was absolutely convinced he's on his proper kit. I understand your take on it though. Not sure what to think of it now!

^ IMO, that's one of the reasons Up&Up sounds so much better live. It sounds much more natural with just Chris and the piano. Plus the tone of the drums on the album is kind of weird? I know we go around in circles in this thread talking about how songs need more organic drums, but honestly Up&Up is one of the songs I think would benefit the most from that.

 

Also Lukas is gorgeous and if the guys had recorded it themselves it would be one of my faves <3 The instrumental alone is sublime

Totally agree. I cannot emphasize enough how much I care about drums and the bass/guitar. This is why listening through AHFOD is like torture for me. I feel like someone's tied their hands behind their back with their mouths taped! We all know what I mean by that "someone"

I haven't managed to read through all the posts in the Oldplaying thread that have been made since i was gone yet, but about Chris going solo - I think that would be the worst thing to happen. Without the band to constrain him (notably Will, who seems to try and preserve as much credibility as he can, for example by vetoeing the line 'Drinks on me'), Chris could completely live out his musical dreams inspired by EDM and hip hop or artists like Drake, Selena Gomez, Rihanna, Ariana Grande etc. A Chris solo album would probably consist of him singing (in a less crooning and more rap/hip hop style) over forgettable synth and drumloops similar to XMTS. No thanks...

I personally think both GS and AHFOD are full on Chris Martin projects. In the future I definitely see him going solo. 100%. As much chemistry as they seem to have (I don't think the desire is there anymore) they never channel the same aura in terms of togetherness and unity when you compare them to U2 for instance.

 

As I said before ideally I'd like to see them finish it before it gets any worse. But IF they're to continue, at least a 5 year hiatus is what they need now.

 

I'd bring back Ken Nelson, along with Rick Rubin and Steven Wilson. Naturally, they would immediately ask Chris to leave the studio and the whole process for a year. They can potentially revolutionize their writing. They will need to spend hundreds of hour just jamming and coming up with instrumentals. What these producers do is spark their curiosity to try and experiment and that eventually leads to creativity. Even if they choose to have lyrics Chris is not necessarily needed, since the rest of them seem to be more in touch with reality and what really matters to you and I. Obviously they need someone to sing and I'd be exhilarated if Jonny, Will and Guy experiment with their voices. It would create VERY interesting dynamics. I envisage huge potentials in all of this.

Chris is obviously needed to sell the album so he'll be on the billboards.

[cp3176]

One is worse than the other!

 

Exactly, and Drumpf will always be worse than all. Any one who thinks otherwise after watching the debate and learning about the inappropriate thing he said on twitter recently seriously has something wrong.

 

 

I was absolutely convinced he's on his proper kit. I understand your take on it though. Not sure what to think of it now!

 

It has to be an organic kit, or at least something that sounds close enough to it. The song sounds a bit clean for me though, I still enjoy it, the production doesn't hit that "sweet spot" for me though (most songs nowadays unfortunately don't, we've got computers too good and perfect nowadays unfortunately, thankfully artists like Radiohead and DIIV don't have this ultra polished clean sound in their music like most other artists in any genre, even rock, do)

 

 

Totally agree. I cannot emphasize enough how much I care about drums and the bass/guitar. This is why listening through AHFOD is like torture for me. I feel like someone's tied their hands behind their back with their mouths taped! We all know what I mean by that "someone"

 

Well I don't quite get it then. I suppose you could argue for the organic kit since it is only used on 4 of the 12 tracks if you separate Army Of One and XMTS. However I don't think you can complain too much about the guitar/bass since I hear guitar on all of the tracks but the two interludes and XMTS, and Guy is perhaps more present then he ever has been.

 

 

I personally think both GS and AHFOD are full on Chris Martin projects. In the future I definitely see him going solo. 100%. As much chemistry as they seem to have (I don't think the desire is there anymore) they never channel the same aura in terms of togetherness and unity when you compare them to U2 for instance.

 

Lol really?! As stripped down as GS is there's definitely involvement from other band members, especially on "Magic" with Guy's work driving the song more so than most previous tracks. I mean, yes, you can say that the spotlight is more focused on Chris than any one else more so than any past album and you'd be right but calling it a "full on Chris Martin solo project" is outright absurd. Sorry. Your argument is even weaker on AHFOD. Jonny did an outstanding job on the album, especially on the riff for AOAL. Will never ceases to make interesting and catchy beats to drive each song along, he seems to be at one of his most diverse points here (key words: "one of the most". Don't think I've forgotten about the Viva era here. :wink2:) Guy is also everywhere on the album, once again AOAL being a nice example of all of this. The band said themselves that they had the least tension and trouble getting this album finished and that Chris Martin was willing to take more ideas from the other band members than ever before. Speaking of that person, there's no way he's going solo and he said it himself that he can only do what he does now because of the other band members support. Now if he in fact did do a solo album I would be highly surprised if it were listenable since he seems to be the one mainly influenced by these big name pop artists while the other band members keep the genuine sound to their work (unfortunately fading with the last few years...) But yeah.

 

 

As I said before ideally I'd like to see them finish it before it gets any worse. But IF they're to continue, at least a 5 year hiatus is what they need now.

 

I wouldn't say 5 years... a bit long. But i do think they will be taking a break. This tour they've been going on is absolutely massive and I would be very surprised if they don't take at least a longer break. Heck my parents were tired after three weeks of a normal laid back vacation, they'd be done in three days if they had to go through what the band has to go through now :lol:

I have high hopes for the next album though. They've adopted a pop oriented sound for two albums now, and kind of a third one but arguably not so much, and if there's one thing we know about Coldplay it's that they like to try something new with every album and so far have drastically changed their sound since quite a few years back. This is on top of the fact that they're getting into their 40s so jumping around on stage I don't think will quite be Chris Martins thing in the future so much as it is now. They've also began to play more stripped down slower songs on this tour which is a sign they might drastically change their sound for the upcoming album. (Don't get our hopes too high now, I think people have said similar things with Ghost Stories and this new album with the leaked info even but got a more poppier and mainstream sounding release then they wanted. Hopefully this time is different!)

 

 

I'd bring back Ken Nelson, along with Rick Rubin and Steven Wilson. Naturally, they would immediately ask Chris to leave the studio and the whole process for a year.

 

I do agree with this. Bring back Brian Eno and Jon Hopkins too. They both are epic and would truly bring new flavors to a new album...

Not sure about leaving for a year tho. That would be a bit long lol

 

 

They can potentially revolutionize their writing. They will need to spend hundreds of hour just jamming and coming up with instrumentals. What these producers do is spark their curiosity to try and experiment and that eventually leads to creativity. Even if they choose to have lyrics Chris is not necessarily needed, since the rest of them seem to be more in touch with reality and what really matters to you and I. Obviously they need someone to sing and I'd be exhilarated if Jonny, Will and Guy experiment with their voices. It would create VERY interesting dynamics. I envisage huge potentials in all of this.

Chris is obviously needed to sell the album so he'll be on the billboards.

 

Or, Chris would just not be so poppy maybe... Look I love the ideas of how creative they could get but I'm not sure Chris Martin is leaving any time soon lol

 

This post took much too long to make on mobile... :D

[The Adversary]

This is perhaps more of a random Coldplay thought but I think it's perhaps better suited here.

 

I was in a bar during the week. The barman had spotify on and my friends were requesting songs (Oasis, The Verve, The Stone Roses, The Smiths. Your typical Britpop) I love this type of music so I decided to keep the tunes coming and requested Yellow. The barman flat out refused to play the song. When I asked him why he just grunted "Cause Coldplay are shit" I was absolutely stunned.

 

I think it just goes to show the level of Coldplay hate. Parachutes and AROBTTH are just as good as anything The Verve have released and AROBTTH is arguably as good or better than anything Oasis have released (Apart from What's The Story (Morning Glory)It just goes to show, if you release two or three shit albums like Coldplay have, it denigrates your better work.

 

I promptly left the bar.

[cp3176]

This is perhaps more of a random Coldplay thought but I think it's perhaps better suited here.

 

I was in a bar during the week. The barman had spotify on and my friends were requesting songs (Oasis, The Verve, The Stone Roses, The Smiths. Your typical Britpop) I love this type of music so I decided to keep the tunes coming and requested Yellow. The barman flat out refused to play the song. When I asked him why he just grunted "Cause Coldplay are shit" I was absolutely stunned.

 

I think it just goes to show the level of Coldplay hate. Parachutes and AROBTTH are just as good as anything The Verve have released and AROBTTH is arguably as good or better than anything Oasis have released (Apart from What's The Story (Morning Glory)It just goes to show, if you release two or three shit albums like Coldplay have, it denigrates your better work.

 

I promptly left the bar.

 

Two at the most. Definitely not three.

It does suck though that Coldplay's new image has caused some to completely forget what they once where..

 

Lol

[beastwars]

This is perhaps more of a random Coldplay thought but I think it's perhaps better suited here.

 

I was in a bar during the week. The barman had spotify on and my friends were requesting songs (Oasis, The Verve, The Stone Roses, The Smiths. Your typical Britpop) I love this type of music so I decided to keep the tunes coming and requested Yellow. The barman flat out refused to play the song. When I asked him why he just grunted "Cause Coldplay are shit" I was absolutely stunned.

 

I think it just goes to show the level of Coldplay hate. Parachutes and AROBTTH are just as good as anything The Verve have released and AROBTTH is arguably as good or better than anything Oasis have released (Apart from What's The Story (Morning Glory)It just goes to show, if you release two or three shit albums like Coldplay have, it denigrates your better work.

 

I promptly left the bar.

Coldplay have become a guilty pleasure, that's it. I remember that some years ago they were praised from other musicians (even from heavy metal listeners), now even their earlier fans feel embarassed about them.

I think that this is the worst case of selling out in the history of contemporary music. Find me another band or artist that did something worse than them, I haven't found yet...

[nvdmm]

Exactly, and Drumpf will always be worse than all. Any one who thinks otherwise after watching the debate and learning about the inappropriate thing he said on twitter recently seriously has something wrong.

 

 

 

 

It has to be an organic kit, or at least something that sounds close enough to it. The song sounds a bit clean for me though, I still enjoy it, the production doesn't hit that "sweet spot" for me though (most songs nowadays unfortunately don't, we've got computers too good and perfect nowadays unfortunately, thankfully artists like Radiohead and DIIV don't have this ultra polished clean sound in their music like most other artists in any genre, even rock, do)

 

 

 

 

Well I don't quite get it then. I suppose you could argue for the organic kit since it is only used on 4 of the 12 tracks if you separate Army Of One and XMTS. However I don't think you can complain too much about the guitar/bass since I hear guitar on all of the tracks but the two interludes and XMTS, and Guy is perhaps more present then he ever has been.

 

 

 

 

Lol really?! As stripped down as GS is there's definitely involvement from other band members, especially on "Magic" with Guy's work driving the song more so than most previous tracks. I mean, yes, you can say that the spotlight is more focused on Chris than any one else more so than any past album and you'd be right but calling it a "full on Chris Martin solo project" is outright absurd. Sorry. Your argument is even weaker on AHFOD. Jonny did an outstanding job on the album, especially on the riff for AOAL. Will never ceases to make interesting and catchy beats to drive each song along, he seems to be at one of his most diverse points here (key words: "one of the most". Don't think I've forgotten about the Viva era here. :wink2:) Guy is also everywhere on the album, once again AOAL being a nice example of all of this. The band said themselves that they had the least tension and trouble getting this album finished and that Chris Martin was willing to take more ideas from the other band members than ever before. Speaking of that person, there's no way he's going solo and he said it himself that he can only do what he does now because of the other band members support. Now if he in fact did do a solo album I would be highly surprised if it were listenable since he seems to be the one mainly influenced by these big name pop artists while the other band members keep the genuine sound to their work (unfortunately fading with the last few years...) But yeah.

 

 

 

 

I wouldn't say 5 years... a bit long. But i do think they will be taking a break. This tour they've been going on is absolutely massive and I would be very surprised if they don't take at least a longer break. Heck my parents were tired after three weeks of a normal laid back vacation, they'd be done in three days if they had to go through what the band has to go through now :lol:

I have high hopes for the next album though. They've adopted a pop oriented sound for two albums now, and kind of a third one but arguably not so much, and if there's one thing we know about Coldplay it's that they like to try something new with every album and so far have drastically changed their sound since quite a few years back. This is on top of the fact that they're getting into their 40s so jumping around on stage I don't think will quite be Chris Martins thing in the future so much as it is now. They've also began to play more stripped down slower songs on this tour which is a sign they might drastically change their sound for the upcoming album. (Don't get our hopes too high now, I think people have said similar things with Ghost Stories and this new album with the leaked info even but got a more poppier and mainstream sounding release then they wanted. Hopefully this time is different!)

 

 

 

 

I do agree with this. Bring back Brian Eno and Jon Hopkins too. They both are epic and would truly bring new flavors to a new album...

Not sure about leaving for a year tho. That would be a bit long lol

 

 

 

 

Or, Chris would just not be so poppy maybe... Look I love the ideas of how creative they could get but I'm not sure Chris Martin is leaving any time soon lol

 

This post took much too long to make on mobile... :D

I loved your post. Very Thorough.

Coldplay have become a guilty pleasure, that's it. I remember that some years ago they were praised from other musicians (even from heavy metal listeners), now even their earlier fans feel embarassed about them.

I think that this is the worst case of selling out in the history of contemporary music. Find me another band or artist that did something worse than them, I haven't found yet...

I can confirm this is absolutely true. I don't really associate my self anymore. Not only because it's hugely embarrassing but also becasue it's a big hassle to try and explain to people what Parachutes and AROBTTH were all the way to before VLV. One of the reasons their last concert I went to was in 2008 is because almost 90% of their live audience don't know anything pre VLV / MX.

[I ran away]

I'm writing this post to share some thoughts on several things different people have said over the last few posts (sorry for not individually picking out the quotes).

 

First of all, it is great to see that our beloved thread is thriving again - for some time there was so little activity I was worried about it.

 

Am I the only one here who is not too enthusiastic about Eno and Hopkins ? No offence to their work, and sure, Eno did help Coldplay to become more diverse in their sound during the Viva Era, but to me this was one of the beginnings of the end. This "open to all sounds and influences" approach still worked in VLVODAAHF, but it imho has also led the way for accepting all kinds of music including the most commercial, superficial pop acts as their influences, and has paved the way for ditching subtlety in favor of the pop-rock/dancepop bombast of MX and AHFOD.

As for ambient, I'm personally not the biggest fan of ambient music and I don't think it suits Coldplay. The ambient pieces we had so far have mostly been Hopkins pieces over which Chris Martin sings, not "real" Coldplay pieces. For example Midnight: It's an interesting song and I like it, yes, but if you listen to Jon Hopkins' original track Amphora (which I have, if anyone needs it) you will be disappointed to see how little "Coldplay" has added to Amphora except Chris Martins vocals to call it Midnight now. All I'm saying is, I am not sure how Coldplay as a band and an entirely ambient sound would fit together...And if you say it's atmospheric, I would argue that Coldplay has been good atmospherically already in the pre-Parachutes (!) era, incorporating dreamy atmospheric sounds while at the same time having a guitar-based sound. It's not something they need one of those big name producers for. But no doubt both Eno and Hopkins would be a million times better than Stargate, who to me are the worst choice and ruined several tracks on AHFOD (with the band's full approval of course, its no use to blame Stargate if the band knowlingy chose their sound to be stargatifyied.)

My favourite producer to come back would be Ken Nelson, but seeing that the band basically split up with him during the making of X&Y, it is never going to happen.

 

About Guy's presence in AHFOD: I'm happy for Guy that he gets into the spotlight more often, but if Guy's increased presence on AHFOD mainly consists in stomping out bass grooves to a disco beat, I prefer the Guy whose bass was more subtle but essential to the incredible soundscapes of the first three albums (and especially AROBTTH).

 

About AHFOD being the album with the least tension and trouble to make for them: Is that a good thing ?

You may think this statement provocative. Obviously, you like the band and you don't want them to go through toil and trouble. So do I ! It's great for them as human beings that they are having that much fun and no pressure. But is it good for the music they put out ?

I ask in the reverse, why were their early albums more stressful or troublesome to make ? Because they were perfectionists and wanted to show the world the very best of what they could do, to make songs that are not forgettable but art in itself. Just look at the selection process for their early albums ! Look at the sheer quality of the B-sides, excellent songs as we all know that were not deemed "good enough" by the band back then, because they had the highest level of demand for themselves. Chris, Jonny, Guy and Will were their own harshest critics. They wanted to be good; when they found they were good, they wanted to be better. This thinking led to a high quality in both the songs themselves and their production.

And now ? Where are these demands now ? Today, they seem to be content with whatever they produce.

I would, by the way, give music critics and the public part of the blame here, because they have mercilessly hunted down the early Coldplay and laughed at the emotionality and sincerity they brought to their songs calling them bedwetters or bland, and who called them boring or did not take them serious as rock musicians because unlike other bands they made headlines about their shyness and politeness instead of about last night's wild party with drugs and groupies, as other bands do (One of the reasons I can identify so much with the band is that, by the way, their kindness, politeness and decency as human beings).

It's funny that the same people who tried to bring them down earlier love their sound now.

Now they can sell whatever music they make. Liberating for them, maybe, but lets face it: If they were to make an entire album full of X Marks The Spots, so to speak, the record would still sell millions and millions of copies and hit No.1 in many countries because it has the sticker with the name "COLDPLAY" on it. They have become so big that that name alone is enough to sell any music. They say they don't care anymore what people think about them (which, as I argued above, is partly to blame on the critics and public's earlier reactions), but they also don't seem any more to care about how good the songs are in terms of artistic value.

At the moment they just want to have a good time themselves and give people a good time at the concerts (and Chris said that for ASFOS, for example). There is nothing wrong about thinking the latter, but it is not a criterium of quality. The truth is that almost any cheap Eurodance song will give people a good time, this doesn't mean it is artistically valuable. But since Chris Martin only seems to care about how much he can jump around during a track and make people dance, it appears that these are his new "quality" criteria. Actually when I think about it like that I see no hope for Coldplay in the near future.

 

Now that was an opinionpiece from the bottom of my Oldplayer heart...