🪐 Coldplay: Music of the Spheres 🪐 | Out Now! | Discussion

[Tarkovsky2]

We don't know except Phill will be the host. Can someone record please? 

[LisaFeehily]

It sounds like a streaming party...

[Tarkovsky2]

Yes, but with his comments about songs, i suppose. It will be  in textual form, Phil will be texting, too bad, i was hoping for him to be  some kind of radio presenter, that would be funny

 

Edited October 20, 2021 by Tarkovsky2

[TealAppeal]

Bit of a rant, I'm trying to navigate and browse tickets for the Coldplay concert next year and the official SeatGeek site I'm on only shows me like one option when I select the $50 area. I want to able to choose my seat, I am part of the Coldplay Presale powered by Ticketmaster Verified Fan thing but I'm not happy where they positioned the seats, I can't see the stage well. There has to be more options, I see tons of green on the map for this venue. Whenever I refresh and click, $50 it shows the same seats... argh. 

[GarbageOffice]

These are a couple of highlights from Phil's alien radio broadcast: 

• The Race is coming soon (but then he said later so idk lol)
• Let Somebody Go will receive a music video
• When he was asked about POTP as a single - he answered with a question - which one would you choose - POTP or Humankind?
• Volume 2? "I mean... we've only released vol. 1 a few days ago" - well he didn't say no haha
• MOTS and Mylo Xyloto are connected, more to come soon
• Infinity Sign was based on Life is Beautiful, but the chants are from the Buenos Aires show.
• Champion Of The World is unlikely to appear on the MOTS setlist, Phil said that it could be played on the C-stage or when the band decides to change things up.
• Chris wants Humankind to be the opener
• Coloratura might receive a music video if I understood that right?
• Aurora is not a part of the spheres right now because of it having some trouble but it will rejoin
• We will find out what "FFTF 2024" means in the future

There's a chance I forgot to include something, but these are all from the top of my head. Maybe someone recorded the whole broadcast.

Edited October 20, 2021 by GarbageOffice

[jainharshul96]

Did anyone record it?

[HowCouldIForget]

Clarification- apparently the Infinity Sign version I have does have the Oles in it and my tablet's speaker is just that bad that I'm not hearing it? Apologies to anyone who got excited at the thought of the song not having it. I dont have hearing problems, either. I don't understand. 

 

Will add what I told the two posters who PMed me- Apologies for making anyone think there was a different version of the song. I'll make sure to listen on a device that has better speakers before I make extraordinary claims. ?

Edited October 20, 2021 by HowCouldIForget

[shred]

So after a week of listening to this, these are my thoughts:

Ok, MotS is better than AHFOD but only because the songs are better individually. Conceptually, AHFOD wins because you know exactly what the theme of that album is. I don't for MotS. There is nothing in the songs that has anything to do with space or aliens or planets. Maybe just the one or two? But that isn't enough to establish a theme. I mean, why come up with the planets, language, etc and have nothing to do with it in the songs?

The songs are so diverse that it makes the album so messy. It sounds more like a greatest hits album. On it's own the songs are great but together they don't make sense. (Reminds me very much of the English football team - one their own playing for their own club, they are great when they all come together, the England team aren't very good. Ha!)

The interludes are a waste of space and time on their album. It doesn't flow well into the next song. 

The duets are fine but not necessary. Still can't stand MU and I'm skipping that song everytime. Lol.

I enjoyed this album sure - there are some great songs in there. After EL, I was prepared to be disappointed (and I was). And after the release of MU, I knew I was going to dislike the album (but I didn't).

So I'm not sure where I stand with this one. Definitely in my bottom 3 albums but I feel like I can't say that because you have songs like PotP and Coloratua on it! Haha.

 

*my thoughts are everywhere and I'm doing this at work so forgive the ramble.

 

[IslandToDiscover]

42 minutes ago, shred said:

There is nothing in the songs that has anything to do with space or aliens or planets.

Humankind:

"A DJ playing a star away"

"From another planet, still they call us humankind"

 

Higher Power:

"You've got a higher power"

"The universe is connected"

"Going a million miles an hour"

 

Biutyful:

"On top of the world"

 

My Universe:

"You are my universe"

"You make my world light up inside"

"Come from different sides"

 

Coloratura:

> literally any of the chorus lyrics

 

Every song has some sort of spacey atmospheric sounds, and many have alien like voices too.

I think the album has a very cohesive theme.

 

[HowCouldIForget]

12 minutes ago, IslandToDiscover said:

Humankind:

"A DJ playing a star away"

"From another planet, still they call us humankind"

 

Higher Power:

"You've got a higher power"

"The universe is connected"

"Going a million miles an hour"

 

Biutyful:

"On top of the world"

 

My Universe:

"You are my universe"

"You make my world light up inside"

"Come from different sides"

 

Coloratura:

> literally any of the chorus lyrics

 

Every song has some sort of spacey atmospheric sounds, and many have alien like voices too.

I think the album has a very cohesive theme.

 

I don't understand anyone who says this album isn't thematic or cohesive, as you said. 

I know a lot of people don't *like* the album but I don't know how it affects their opinion on this matter, specifically. 

[Miha]

I don't know about you all but I've grown to love Let Somebody Go....

Humankind would be a good opener if you ask me. That start is begging for a stage. 

 

[gustavothehuman]

I'm kind of already coming into terms with how this is arguably Coldplay's weakest album even though I liked it, but they still delivered Coloratura, their best song, a Knocked Out Loaded by Bob Dylan experience ?

[JackColdplay]

17 hours ago, Yes? said:

Slightly off-topic, but I figure this is where I'm most likely to get an answer - how likely do we think it is that they announce dates for Manchester in the UK? They've always done the city in the past, and the Etihad seems like a safe bet.

I'm torn between booking Wembley tomorrow and travelling to London, or holding out for the M dates...

Don’t see it happening. Would have been announced initially. Every time I’ve seen Coldplay it’s been in manny. 

[Yes?]

6 hours ago, JackColdplay said:

Don’t see it happening. Would have been announced initially. Every time I’ve seen Coldplay it’s been in manny. 

Not sure about that, they always do Manchester. Can't see them only doing Glasgow and London. They've said there are many more dates to come, so...

[nowayme]

BTW, anybody here with digital music production knowledge knows what is the TTS VST plug in used to generate the "Music of the spheres" vocal sample of the first interlude? I know that it used to be a voice generator by Yamaha back in the day used alone in kids games etc but I can't find a VST that reproduces the effect the same way this one does. Fun fact: Stuart Price used the same one on his "Talk" remix back in the day.

[Carrow]

This continues to grow on me and I think it smashes AHFOD. I'd still take Everyday Life over it but I'm really enjoying this. I've had various bits stuck in my head for days.

[HowCouldIForget]

6 minutes ago, Carrow said:

This continues to grow on me and I think it smashes AHFOD. I'd still take Everyday Life over it but I'm really enjoying this. I've had various bits stuck in my head for days.

Agreed.

Biutyfu has grown on me a lot, with the vocals sounding less harsh in my car I can understand more of the verse lyrics and I really like them. 

On some songs (Magic, ASFoS, HftW, MU) the lyrics are very simple (and uninteresting) and meant to appeal to the base of the pop sensibilities of the masses. But I don't ever feel like they're done particularly well. But this is different. I really like how they deliver this part-

 

When you love me, love me, love me

When you love me, love me, love me

I know I'll be on top of the world, man

On top of the world

 

I've found myself singing that a lot randomly the last couple of days. Nothing too deep but how they stress this or that syllable, plus how they're not forcing a horrible rhyme on the chorus (see: Let Somebody Go), it comes off effortless. Reminds me of the small number of modern pop songs I do like, Call Me Maybe and We Don't Talk Anymore being the examples that come to mind. 

[hardti]

On 10/15/2021 at 5:46 AM, hardti said:

Apple Music / iTunes Version doesn't have the proper transitions as well. Includes the single versions of HP and MU.

Guess Parlophone messed it up. Hope they fix that soon.

Transitions are fixed now on Apple Music and for iTunes.

[nowayme]

7 hours ago, nowayme said:

BTW, anybody here with digital music production knowledge knows what is the TTS VST plug in used to generate the "Music of the spheres" vocal sample of the first interlude? I know that it used to be a voice generator by Yamaha back in the day used alone in kids games etc but I can't find a VST that reproduces the effect the same way this one does. Fun fact: Stuart Price used the same one on his "Talk" remix back in the day.

Correction, it's the same voice synthesis used on the popular Texas Instruments Speak & Read:

 

[eddmen]

3 hours ago, hardti said:

Transitions are fixed now on Apple Music and for iTunes.

Spotify is fixed as well. May look like something insignificant but it totally changes the experience ?

[lennyrott1]

So I was thinking last night why MOTS feels like a solid but incomplete album to me, and then it hit. Jonny. I hadn't taken into account how little impact Jonny has on this album as a whole. So I went back to every Coldplay album and asked myself, "does this song have a notable Jonny moment?" That means it could be a guitar solo (e.g. Paradise, Don't Panic) or it could be a driving presence of guitar throughout the song (e.g. A Whisper, Strawberry Swing, Ink). 

This is subjective, obviously, but the differences are stark. I am excluding all interlude tracks from the count (MMIX, MX, MOTS), including important thematic tracks like Kaleidoscope, and short tracks on EL. The tracks I think don't have much Jonny guitar at all are in parentheses. 

Songs with Jonny

Parachutes -- 8 of 9 songs (Parachutes)

AROBTTH -- 9 of 11 songs (Clocks and Amsterdam -- Jonny's guitar is very muted)

X&Y - 12/13 (Til Kingdom Come)

Viva - 8/10 (LiT and Viva La Vida)

MX - 10/11 (UFO) 

GS - 6/9 (Midnight, O, and Oceans)

AHFOD - 8/9 ( Army of One)

EL - 9 of 12 (Daddy, Cry Cry Cry, Guns) note, this one is tough because I'd argue Jonny does additional acoustic guitar on Eko and Old Friends, so I'm counting those. I'm not counting Sunrise, WOTP/POTP, BrokEn, or WINAF

Mots - 3 of 9 (Higher Power, Let Somebody Go, Biutyful, Human Heart, Infinite, My Universe)

Now obviously there are other elements that make some of these songs great without Jonny. Guy for example, has great moments on MOTS. However, I find it pretty wild that on 6 of the 9 songs on MOTS, his presence is barely felt. Arguably, there's only one guitar solo on the whole album -- Coloratura. People of the Pride's solo is very muddy and hard to hear.

[HowCouldIForget]

3 hours ago, lennyrott1 said:

So I was thinking last night why MOTS feels like a solid but incomplete album to me, and then it hit. Jonny. I hadn't taken into account how little impact Jonny has on this album as a whole. So I went back to every Coldplay album and asked myself, "does this song have a notable Jonny moment?" That means it could be a guitar solo (e.g. Paradise, Don't Panic) or it could be a driving presence of guitar throughout the song (e.g. A Whisper, Strawberry Swing, Ink). 

This is subjective, obviously, but the differences are stark. I am excluding all interlude tracks from the count (MMIX, MX, MOTS), including important thematic tracks like Kaleidoscope, and short tracks on EL. The tracks I think don't have much Jonny guitar at all are in parentheses. 

Songs with Jonny

Parachutes -- 8 of 9 songs (Parachutes)

AROBTTH -- 9 of 11 songs (Clocks and Amsterdam -- Jonny's guitar is very muted)

X&Y - 12/13 (Til Kingdom Come)

Viva - 8/10 (LiT and Viva La Vida)

MX - 10/11 (UFO) 

GS - 6/9 (Midnight, O, and Oceans)

AHFOD - 8/9 ( Army of One)

EL - 9 of 12 (Daddy, Cry Cry Cry, Guns) note, this one is tough because I'd argue Jonny does additional acoustic guitar on Eko and Old Friends, so I'm counting those. I'm not counting Sunrise, WOTP/POTP, BrokEn, or WINAF

Mots - 3 of 9 (Higher Power, Let Somebody Go, Biutyful, Human Heart, Infinite, My Universe)

Now obviously there are other elements that make some of these songs great without Jonny. Guy for example, has great moments on MOTS. However, I find it pretty wild that on 6 of the 9 songs on MOTS, his presence is barely felt. Arguably, there's only one guitar solo on the whole album -- Coloratura. People of the Pride's solo is very muddy and hard to hear.

I like a lot of the research you did here. That said-

 

Whatever him contributing to a major part of the song is, seems subjective. 

I love his guitar parts on Clocks, mainly the last 1.5 minutes. Chris even talks about how important they are to the song in one of the Coldplay books I read. They're a big part of why it was my favorite song of all time for many years. Whether you consider it as prominent as his guitars in Everglow or Another's Arms or ASFoS I guess is up to you? But I'd take it over those first two any day of the week. Especially since we know just how much MORE guitar there was supposed to be in Everglow.

I get the sense of a general bias against MotS in this sense. His guitar playing in Infinity Sign is my favorite part of the song and I'm under the impression hes actually playing two different guitar melodies that are at least tuned a little different if nothing else. I definitely notice his guitar on the last chorus of Higher Power, the big build up in Let Somebody Go at the end and also on the verse parts of My Universe, with the last of those three standing out the most to me.  

Maybe your definition of "Barely felt" is different than mine. But the parts about Clocks and Infinity Sign specifically do confuse me. 

[TealAppeal]

It was a real bummer with the result but I had to try

[HowCouldIForget]

I'm not going to edit what I said in the first post, specifically. I'll just add here:

His guitar on ASFoS is definitely there on the chorus but I don't find it all that interesting.

Another's Arms might be the most frustrating song for me personally, in this sense. It's clear hes playing something very interesting in the second half of the song but it's barely audible for me because of the production.

On Everglow he has a short solo near the end but I also feel like I can't hear it well between Chris' singing and other parts of the song.

Then you have Princess of China, where I wish he wasn't playing guitar at all. It's by far my least favorite part about the whole thing and I didn't realize it was a guitar at first. 

On Amazing Day, it's a very big part of the song but I don't like how it sounds. Which is a shame, the live version is amazing. 

All this is to say that I'd take the sprinkles of guitar in Higher Power or My Universe over something more prominent like Another's Arms or Everglow where his talent is being absolutely wasted by the band or Princess of China where the melody makes my ears bleed. 

Quantity vs Quality. 

You said *prominent*, though. 

I still disagree about Clocks. Those little outro riffs are legendary to me. Infinity Sign, too but I guess that one is more debatable. ?

Edited October 22, 2021 by HowCouldIForget

[The Jordanator]

4 hours ago, lennyrott1 said:

So I was thinking last night why MOTS feels like a solid but incomplete album to me, and then it hit. Jonny. I hadn't taken into account how little impact Jonny has on this album as a whole. So I went back to every Coldplay album and asked myself, "does this song have a notable Jonny moment?" That means it could be a guitar solo (e.g. Paradise, Don't Panic) or it could be a driving presence of guitar throughout the song (e.g. A Whisper, Strawberry Swing, Ink). 

This is subjective, obviously, but the differences are stark. I am excluding all interlude tracks from the count (MMIX, MX, MOTS), including important thematic tracks like Kaleidoscope, and short tracks on EL. The tracks I think don't have much Jonny guitar at all are in parentheses. 

Songs with Jonny

Parachutes -- 8 of 9 songs (Parachutes)

AROBTTH -- 9 of 11 songs (Clocks and Amsterdam -- Jonny's guitar is very muted)

X&Y - 12/13 (Til Kingdom Come)

Viva - 8/10 (LiT and Viva La Vida)

MX - 10/11 (UFO) 

GS - 6/9 (Midnight, O, and Oceans)

AHFOD - 8/9 ( Army of One)

EL - 9 of 12 (Daddy, Cry Cry Cry, Guns) note, this one is tough because I'd argue Jonny does additional acoustic guitar on Eko and Old Friends, so I'm counting those. I'm not counting Sunrise, WOTP/POTP, BrokEn, or WINAF

Mots - 3 of 9 (Higher Power, Let Somebody Go, Biutyful, Human Heart, Infinite, My Universe)

Now obviously there are other elements that make some of these songs great without Jonny. Guy for example, has great moments on MOTS. However, I find it pretty wild that on 6 of the 9 songs on MOTS, his presence is barely felt. Arguably, there's only one guitar solo on the whole album -- Coloratura. People of the Pride's solo is very muddy and hard to hear.

Disagree with MOTS, idk how good your headphones are, but I can clearly hear Jonny on HP and MU. He is in the background more, but he’s still audible