Music Of The Spheres - My Final Thoughts

[Doomotron]

It's close to two years since MOTS (1) was released and I was one of the seemingly few people who actually liked the album when it came out. And two years later, I still like it. However, my thoughts on it are different compared to other albums. Other than Coloratura, I don't think there's as much range in the quality of the music here than in other albums. In Coldplay's first three albums, there are songs I absolutely love (Everything's Not Lost, The Scientist and Square One for example) but in each there are a number that I don't like as much, and occasionally don't like at all. Viva La Vida, Mylo Xyloto and Ghost Stories had the same effect but to a lesser extent, where I like every song on each album but like some especially. On A Head Full Of Dreams, there are a few songs I really like, such as Kaleidoscope, Army Of One, Up&Up and Hymn For The Weekend, and some I tolerate, and some I don't like, but my overall feeling is that the album is not produced well enough and almost everything on it could be so much better if they'd taken more time working on the album. Everyday Life only has a few songs I'd listen to out of context, but when listening to the album in one go I think it's probably the best album Coldplay have done, even if I think they got Everyday Life and Champion Of The World the wrong way around in the track listing.

Each song on MOTS is worth listening to out of context, but as an album it doesn't work as well. I think I remember seeing some reviews calling it a 'collection of songs' which fits I think. So, let me go song-by-song and give my thoughts like I did with my previous Everyday Life review.

Music Of The Spheres 1:

MOTS1 was one of the first songs from the album to be heard even if it was only released when the album came out. It was played at some concerts and was uploaded to YouTube early on, alongside Human Heart and a weird version of MOTS1 that was modified to incorporate different sections of other songs including O. The song itself is a very good opening to the album, if not one to Higher Power. On its own I love how atmospheric it is - I remember when it first leaked playing Cities Skylines and inspecting my city at night in the snow. The two fit perfectly together.

Higher Power:

Higher Power was controversial when released but I think its reception has improved over time. I like the song; I think out of the pop songs Coldplay have made Higher Power is probably the closest to their traditional sound that they've done.

Humankind:

Silly lyrics aside, Humankind is a great song with the highlights being its choruses. I know it sounds ironic but my favourite part is the ending which I find is a nice exit out of what is a fast-paced song. Indeed, beyond this point in the album it gets a bit slower for the time being.

Alien Choir:

Leading on from Humankind directly, I don't think Alien Choir is as good an interlude track as MOTS1, there's just not much going on. I reckon it would have been better if it was cut down and just used as an ending to Humankind.

Let Somebody Go:

I think this is the most heartfelt song from the album. However, I think it only becomes memorable at the climax of the song, otherwise it would be a slightly pathetic collaboration with Alex from Waverly Place. Overall it is a good song, even if it feels like it would be better on a Selena Gomez album rather than a Coldplay one.

Human Heart:

Human Heart is a song with a very good base but I feel it goes on for a bit too long, which is odd for a three minute long song. After the first chorus, it feels like the song is repeating itself, and not in a good way like Daft Punk.

People Of The Pride:

Seeing people's thoughts on this song, it's either one you love or hate. I think the critic reviews of the song were a bit harsh, I think the song does a good job of being aggressive and possibly their best effort at it depending on how you compare it to other aggressive Coldplay songs.

Biutyful:

This is a song that a lot of people hate - naturally, it's one of the songs I listen to the most from the album. When it first came out I did treat it as a bit of a meme song but eventually I came to like it by itself. My biggest flaw with it is that they never released the extended version.

MOTS2:

Unlike almost everything else on this album, I would not listen to it on its own as its only justification for existing is as an intro to My Universe. In fact, if I remember correctly the leaked version of the song included MOTS2 inside My Universe, and that worked a lot better.

My Universe:

My Universe is a song I like.

I know that's a controversial take but I find it to be completely fine. Not bad, not amazing. Do I think The Astronaut would have been a better choice? Absolutely. Ironically I prefer the Supernova 7 remix and would have preferred that to be on the album instead of the normal version, but I'll survive either way.

Infinity Sign:

This was another controversial one. While it connects to Coloratura I think it's best listened to on its own (although I do listen to it as an intro to Coloratura as well) and on its own I find it fits in well with other semi-nostalgic sounding electronic songs on my playlist. I'd rather have it than not have it.

Coloratura:

Nobody expected Coldplay to make one of their best songs, if not their best song entirely. It's a very complex song that's best listened to with good headphones in a high quality. I'd recommend buying the single on iTunes for that. I think it's best listened to in one go rather than skipping to the 'good bit' (of course, the entire song is a good bit!). I have more thoughts on the song but that's going to have to wait for the next section.

 

The Lead-up to MOTS:

Prior to its release the community was busy speculating, and boy did we get this album wrong. Not only did our predicted track list be entirely wrong, songs we expected to be definitely on the album... weren't. Oh well, maybe The Race will come on the next album...

However, something that I was most interested in was Overtura, the trailer for the album. The day it released was one of the worst days of my life and to be blunt it probably did help me from doing something stupid, but more on that later. Each song was previewed in the trailer, but not all in the most accurate light, mostly to do with My Universe and MOTS2. Let me explain...

In the trailer, MOTS2 was not actually MOTS2. Instead, what was played was the (very nice) bridge between the main part of My Universe and its reprise. Then, My Universe's preview was the reprise (from the instrumental version for some reason), and when the song came out I was disappointed to find My Universe sounding completely different to the preview except for a short section at the end - or as I like to call it, the best part of My Universe.

Other disappointments included Infinity Sign. Close to release there was some brief excitement that it might actually be a renamed and reworked version of Life Is Beautiful, which other than the backing track being the same was not the case. I like Life Is Beautiful, and am disappointed it was never released or had a high quality recording.

Going back to Overtura, the format of it was very good. While it was horribly compressed, the presentation was lovely and Coloratura's section was brilliant. It felt nostalgic even though the song was new, and I listened to that section on repeat that day and it helped me feel slightly better.

Ultimately, MOTS is an alright album in my opinion that may also be partly responsible for me being alive today.