The Adversary

It's not the BMX bikes per se, it's the principle. I don't think you can sit there and maintain the position that the newer material is not aimed at the teenager market (All you have to do is look at the mans shoes) or at the very least, an extremely mainstream audience. Whereas the first three eras were aimed at a different demographic. I pertain to that previous demographic that has been all but forgotten about. It's the dumbing down of the Coldplay name/reputation into something vapid and childlike which annoys me most. I don't think even you believe the music has the same emotional depth or consistency of character that the earlier work had. It's the continuing erosion and self sabotage of Coldplay's artistry that I lament more than anything else. I think the riding around of BMX bikes will firmly put the Up&Up video into that embarassing category you mention to join the ranks of True Love, AOAL etc.

I don't see the irony there to be honest. It's not like Chris and the boys are doing acrobatics in a bikini. It's very nuanced and has a subtle humour to it, which I think is the whole concept of the video. Let's just wait until we see the video... I'll reserve the full wrath of my judgement 'til then, although I have a sneaking suspicion I'll be proved right.

Well, I seem to recall it only having one old folk in it (Or a very dead one if we're being 100% accurate) ;) and a band in their prime, which I have more of an interest in. I think my point about the BMX bikes (With obliglatory pretty colours) will speak for itself once we see the video.

I completely disagree. The Hardest Part video is very innovative from a technical standpoint, doctering 1980's video footage into a 2006 video and have it seamlessly flow together. The Scientist is very creative, that speaks for itself. The concept of their earlier videos have a lot more creativity than their newer ones. Look at the video for Don't Panic then compare with POC/HFTW. One seems to be an esoteric portrayal of an artists interpretation of an esoteric song and the other incorporates cultural approbation and popstars in an attempt by some corporate head to drum up interest in his product. While I agree not all the newer videos are terrible (I like all the GS videos minus ASFOS) your going to dig yourself a hole by trying to claim the AOAL video (brought to you by the Beats Pil) is more "innovative" than The Scientist video, because seemingly more money was thrown at it. The concept isn't at all new, the band dressing up as wild animals (I wonder where have we seen that before?)

Hardly, The Parachutes era videos were very creative. The Scientist is probably the best music video of all time. The Talk and The Hardest Part videos are extremely unique and I think the Viva era videos speak for themselves. I disagree about the Yellow video by the way, the original video had 50+ extras. Youthful Chris had the common sense to show restraintand go for something more subtle but more meaningful also. The Yellow video is considered a classic by MTV standards (when music videos had a bigger influence then they have now) It's very memorable as it slowly goes from darkness to daylight. Even the IMP video and Clocks have creative elements that similar videos by other bands don't (Two people in the distance, Stoic crowd, interesting lighting and cinematography) You can cherry pick those videos all you like but the fact is every single band in history has videos like this because at the end of the day it's about the music and the musicians musical ability not about all the pretty colours and array of different popstars in the video. The pop extravagence lacks class.

A must watch:

These men are approaching 40 yet they're filming a music video on bmx bikes?! That's not dignified for people above the age of 16 nevermind those in middle age. I really hope the band get over this awkward mid life crisis sooner rather than later. Of course I haven't seen the video yet but can already predict the premise from these clips, they cycle around while fans point their camera phones at them... The ASFOS video on wheels. Everything is so comfortable with them nowadays. The HFTW video is exactly the same premise as POC, They seem to paint by numbers everything except what made them so brilliant in the first place... Can we please go back to making innovative and creative videos like they hade during the first 4 eras?

MX/Hurts Like Heaven

AHFOD

Glass Of Water

Always In My Head

It will be like this: https://www.youtube.com/embed/eBYlPVn9UDs?start=86

Of course but it still stands to reason that people who prefer the older material would think Politik is a much better opener than A Head Full Of Dreams, for example.

Maybe @anthamic could change his vote to Always in my head so we can get rid of these pesky Newplay songs quickly and get down to the real competition? :P Also people like @beastwars and @prospekt46 could join the conversation?

I knew which albums they would be before even clicking into the thread. There's a reason none of the later albums make it onto any of these lists (Even Viva seldom gets any mention these days) The fact is they can't stand up versus these two titans. Truly Coldplay's magnum opus. Although the fact that Hot Fuss lists above AROBTTH is criminal imo. A great album no doubt but can't touch the grandeur of Coldplay's sophomore effort!

Was it similar to the Live 2003 version or closer to TBR version?

^She told me her favourite song is Shiver...

Or the more reasonable assumption that they are waiting to release it to correspond with the American leg of the tour.

Evie got taste: [ATTACH=full]4528[/ATTACH]

To have seen Coldplay in the Viva era....

Always in my head

So how do these requests actually work? With the wide variety of songs that are likely to be requested, from the moronic (Viva la Vida) to the hardcore requesting old b sides it seems that they can pick whatever song they want to play from the requests. A bit pointless if you ask me considering they might as well just recycle different tunes every night rather than picking whatever song they would like to play anyway.... A lot of these requests have been very safe. In My Place, Speed Of Sound, Green Eyes. Not that it's not great to hear these (They should be in the reg setlist anyway but that's an entirely different issue) but they're not exactly pushing the boundaries in terms of playing lesser known material fans like us would be desperate to hear and broadening the horizons of more casual fans who might only be there to hear Yellow>VLV>Paradise>HFTW. I thought this would have been the point of doing requests? :huh2:

So when is someone going to request Talk for the tour already?! When they eventually get around to it I hope they don't do the acoustic hybrid they've done thus far with Speed Of Sound/In My Place. I prefer when it's as close to the record as possible, bit of a purist in that regard.

I hate the way during live performances of Don't Panic nowadays Chris always stops halfway through the song to encourge Jonny to sing. It was funny the first time it was done in 2011 but now it just seems contrived and redundant especially considering Jonny sings backing vocals on the majority of songs. We don't get to hear these old songs very often, is it too much to ask we get an unabridged, complete version of the song like it is on the record?! I'll be so annoyed if Chris continues to do this on the European leg of the tour.

Talk vs Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division)