Articles

Chris Martin isn’t coy about it. He freely admits Coldplay gathers its strength from Radiohead the way Superman draws his powers from our yellow sun.   Recently asked how much he paid to download Radiohead’s pay-what-you-want release “In Rainbows,” Martin explained he dropped 10 British pounds three separate times trying to get the album onto his hard drive. Finally, he gave up and bought the vinyl.   “But I don’t mind,” he said. “I owe Radiohead a bit more than 30 pounds. Let’s face it. We owe

According to the BBC, Coldplay has denied in a federal court that “Viva La Vida” was inspired by or originated from Joe Satriani’s “If I Could Fly” off the 2004 album Is There Love In Space? (For the last time, Joe, no: astronauts can’t love), writes Washington City Paper.   Satriani makes a decent living off the instrumental rock circuit and the G3 concert series, and, incidentally, hasn’t written an original melody since he penned the Top Gun theme song. (How bitter he must have been when lis

The corporate juggernaut that is U2 takes over Chicago this week with four sold-out shows at the United Center in-between singer Bono's latest efforts to save the world.   These efforts would have been enhanced Saturday by a concert that relied less on U2's past and more on songs that haven't overstayed their welcome.   On opening night, Bono lamented that a decade ago he would place calls to the White House in the midst of the band's "Zoo TV" tour, but they went unanswered."They take my call no

The corporate juggernaut that is U2 takes over Chicago this week with four sold-out shows at the United Center in-between singer Bono's latest efforts to save the world.   These efforts would have been enhanced Saturday by a concert that relied less on U2's past and more on songs that haven't overstayed their welcome.   On opening night, Bono lamented that a decade ago he would place calls to the White House in the midst of the band's "Zoo TV" tour, but they went unanswered."They take my call no

Guess what, Joe Satriani? Coldplay don’t think they plagiarized you, and they’re willing to swear on a stack of bibles over it, writes American Songwriter.   In a Los Angeles Federal Court on Monday, attorneys for the band responded to guitarist Joe Satriani’s lawsuit, which claims the multi-platinum British Band lifted the melody and chord progression to Satriani’s 2004 album track “If I Could Fly” for “Vida la Vida,” the hit single from their most recent album, Vida La Vida or Death and All Hi

Joe Satriani v. Christopher Martin et al. (Coldplay) is back in the news now that laywers for Coldplay and Capitol Records have filed their responses to Satriani’s copyright infringement claim, writes The Open End.   They list nine defenses, including the tack that Satriani’s song “lacks originality and is thus not protectable by copyright”. This was the argument of their previous post on the case, where they provided several songs, spanning decades, which share the same melodic structure as the

It's been said there are only two sure things in life: death and taxes. Well, you can probably add another item to that list: massive first-week numbers for Coldplay albums.   The band's much-anticipated third album, X&Y, moved more than 730,000 copies in its first week of release (see "Coldplay Beat Peas And Stripes By A Mile With X&Y"), only further cementing Coldplay's status as one of rock's few sure bets in an era of bling, Bentleys and general un-rockingness. In fact, you could mak

Anybody watching BBC1 early Saturday evening would have witnessed a mesmerising display of passion and precision: stirring highs, gut-wrenching lows and a surprise victory by a veteran team whom some had written off but who have recently enjoyed a spectacular return to form.   By which I mean the closing montage screened after England's grimly predictable elimination by Portugal in Gelsenkirchen.   To my mind, the BBC's farewell-England montage is one of the unacknowledged highlights of any int

Think about this for a moment: The iPod is only eight years old. In less than a decade, Apple's portable music and media device has become an absolutely necessary part of modern life, writes MTV newsroom.   The first iPods hit the market on this day back in 2001, with five and 10 gigabyte versions available. The first iPods were hilarious looking, especially compared to current models. They used a clunky mechanical scroll wheel and weighed about ten pounds. They were so solid you could use them

Coldplay’s decision to hold their new album, Mylo Xyloto, from all streaming services was one that record label EMI was reportedly uncomfortable with; but first week sales suggested it was a winning strategy that now hangs a question mark over the place of streaming for blockbuster releases, writes The Music Network in just one of dozens of articles on the subject (just take a look at how much interest there is in the Spotify story). Read on for the rest of this particular article... [Read some

As you will probably know by now it has been reported that guitarist Joe Satriani has sued Coldplay, alleging that portions of Coldplay’s "Viva la Vida" incorporate material from Satriani’s "If I Could Fly", reports Madisonian today.   Read the actual court document detailing the case against Coldplay here [pdf... right click, save as]. For those who didn’t instantly know what the suit is about, Youtube has [Coldplay-Satriani-Verdes-Stevens] comparing the relevant portions of the songs - comp

Led Zep and Metallica aren’t just for classic rockers anymore. Coldplay and Radiohead aren’t just for the musical cool. US record label Baby Rock Records is taking the music to the kids.   And by kids we don’t mean teenagers. The Rockabye Baby albums cover all of the above as well as Bjork, No Doubt, Queens of the Stone Age, Pink Floyd, Smashing Pumpkins, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Cure, The Eagles, The Pixies and Tool.   At the Baby Rock website, the label is described as “transforming t

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin insists he will never smash up a hotel room – because he used to clean them.   The rocker, 31, said: “When you’re a cleaner and you walk into a trashed room, it’s truly annoying. All you want to do is go on your tea break – and you get faced with that.”   Chris has seen the latest Coldplay album Viva La Vida go to No 1 in more than 30 countries. But he begged trash-happy celebs: “Spare a thought for the poor schmuck cleaning the room.”   More on this trashy story h

Chris Martin also has kind words for Nickelback   Coldplay's Chris Martin has said that his band are "less shit than they used to be" in an interview to be broadcast tonight, report NME.   The singer made the comment to DJ Christian O'Connell after their show in Munich last week. The concert is being broadcast in full tonight on Absolute Radio, which has today been re-branded from Virgin Radio. Of the concert, Martin says: "I think our concert is the least shit Coldplay concert at the moment tha

ABU DHABI // Coldplay’s last album was inspired by the sights and sounds of South America, but the next will draw on the Middle East’s rich cultural heritage.   Speaking yesterday, ahead of this weekend’s eagerly awaited concert at the Emirates Palace hotel, the British band’s lead singer Chris Martin described the visit to Abu Dhabi as part of a musical odyssey that typified Coldplay’s spirit.   Huge international acclaim has taken the band to countries as far apart as the US, New Zealand and S

Special guests SFTW are side of stage at Cape Town Stadium as Coldplay prepare for their first ever show in South Africa, The Sun writes, in a new article published today. And as with all their gigs, Coldplay are ready to give their all tonight. After an hour of vocal warm-ups, the band are geeing each other up with just minutes to go. Full discussion on this latest article is at the Coldplay forum now. [thanks Mimixxx])   Drummer Will Champion performs some eye-watering leg stretches before the

Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher once described Chris Martin as a geography teacher with a gawky bird. Yesterday the Coldplay singer confessed he and bandmates Will Champion, Jonny Buckland and Guy Berryman felt like supply teachers in the absence of rock heavyweights at the bash.   The modest star – who along with the rest of the lads picked up the Album Of The Year award and were named Best Act In The World Today – performed his usual tactic of putting himself down when he and the boys deserve e

With Coldplay back on the road this summer for the final leg of its tour behind its most recent album — the Grammy-winning, multi-platinum Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends — Shockhound thought it was the perfect time to catch up with singer Chris Martin and find out how he’s holding up. After all, it can’t be easy touring the world while being married to Gwyneth Paltrow and getting sued by Joe Satriani. Or can it?   Even though the group has been replaced by puppets in its video for “Li

2005 saw what may very well be Coldplay's only misstep in ten years. "X&Y" was Coldplay's way of creating more mainstream music and while it was successful commercially, it lacked in many ways and for a while it seemed as though the band had traded itself in to please the masses.   Then, three years later, Coldplay finally released their fourth, much-awaited album, the oddly but aptly titled "Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends." This fourth effort saw the band aim for the stratospher

Every word uttered by Chris Martin seems to become a trending topic. Chris's recent revelations that he suffers tinnitus from playing loud music and regrets calling his band's fifth record Mylo Xyloto (but later joked this was untrue) both copped a flogging on all good sites where opinions rule, writes the Herald Sun, in another article from down under, ahead of the Australasian shows later this year. Read on for the article... you can also discuss it at the Coldplay forum too [thanks Tash]   He

How do you have a hit without releasing a single?   Coldplay's stirring anthem Viva La Vida is number one on both sides of the Atlantic, making them the first British group to achieve this feat since the Spice Girls in 1997. This would be remarkable enough in itself, but, in a sign that the music business is undergoing top-to-tail transformation, they have done it by accident. Coldplay's current single is officially Violet Hill, which, to complicate matters further, they gave away free. It was d

AskMen.com feature o­n Coldplay that includes pics, pictures, biography, video, related news, vital stats, commentary, and cool facts.   In a music industry overrun with senseless, jarring noise or vacuous glitter pop, it’s refreshing to have a band with a knack for rich melodies and great lyrics. Our need for a British rock band whose members are actually cool was long overdue.   Their first album, Parachutes, was an immediate hit, selling over five million copies worldwide, and their second o

If you haven't yet seen Coldplay's '60 Minutes' slot that aired just before the weekend's Grammy Awards, you can see via YouTube in two parts at the Coldplay forum here. Meanwhile, below is another review of the programme, courtesy of the MinnPost:   I admit to watching an unusual "60 Minutes" story that immediately followed the riveting interview Sunday with the pilot who landed the plane in the Hudson River. I couldn’t believe that the hard-hitting news show was running something on a rock ban

The work is hardly finished in the wake of hurricane Katrina.   New Orleans is just beginning the rebuild process and when everyone has moved on to current events, Michael Stipe teams up with Chris Martin (Coldplay) to splash cold water in our faces to drive us back to reality.   Stipe decided to cover the anthemic ballad "In The Sun" as his premiere awareness method. When it came time to recruit talent to work with him, Chris Martin was first in line on a celebrity filled roster.   "In The Sun"

When Coldplay cut A Rush of Blood to the Head, the rock band didn't want the album's production and distribution to add to the greenhouse gases flowing into the atmosphere. So, working with a small British firm, the CarbonNeutral Co., the group bought 10,000 mango trees for villagers in Karnataka, India. Since plants breathe in carbon dioxide as they grow, Coldplay figures the mango trees will eventually neutralize all the CO2 released in the making and selling of its CDs.   It's a sweet deal al