The Adversary

To me AHFOD just sums up everything wrong with modern Coldplay -It’s produced horribly and does the songs no justice -You can’t hear any guitar or bass -electronic drum kit -terrible lyrics -collaborations -corny, hollow, one dimensional messages about “love” that make 14 year old girls cry -No edge or grit Could go on and on

Nah, it wasn’t bad. It was absolutely abominable. I don’t think the English language can do justice in describing how loathsome it really is.

They could always have their own work with one cover on the album, plenty of bands do that.

I’f it was a cover of that song I would be immensely happy.

Well, I always have a (probably unjustified and unrealistic) hope that the album will be good at this time when we have seen track lists, artwork etc but not have heard anything. Before LP7, like others I had convinced myself that it would be a psychedelic indie album but alas. Hopefully this album will have a few of those darker tracks we have all been longing for. Expectations wise, I fully expect this album to be blighted with all the problems of modern Coldplay from tracks that go nowhere, 30 second instrumentals that are worthless, bad production, Chris centric etc but I think we will get a couple of gems on this one, so there’s that. By any means, the lead single always tends to be“a bit rockier” so all we can do is hope.

Mate, we’re getting an album in a months time.. why are you more concerned about next year?

I sincerely hope you’re right! I’m actually very partial to the titles and album artwork. The cross between old timey/Arabic influences seems very strange to me but I guess it will all make sense in due time. From some of the titles it looks like war may be a central theme, I love the alternative music video for Violet Hill and the video which was used for Politik on the last tour, if this is a commentary on the wars in the Middle East I think we’re going to be in for a big treat. Then again, before LP7 a lot of people were convinced we were going to get a psychedelic rock album from the artwork and track list so this could very well still be a new play album. Cautious optimism is the feeling of the day for me.

It’s nuts how this band is now talked about in the same breath as the likes of One Republic, Imagine Dragons, Maroon 5 etc when it was once in the same league as the likes of Radiohead, Oasis and The Stone Roses.

If by “Political” we’re talking a vibe similar to Politik/Violet Hill I’m definitely all for that. However, I’m thinking it’s going to be more along the lines of “Life is beautiful” and “We are all one” corniness we’ve come to expect from Chris. If it is indeed Frederic Nietzsche on the cover I can see a darker direction in the vein of the two aforementioned tunes, given Nietzsche’s philosophy of nihilism. I think “political” is a scary buzzword to throw around because if it’s not done right it can alienate a lot of people. Could be make or break but I think the band have the tact to do it right.

Sounds like a Blur title.

At least we’re going to get an album longer than 40 minutes again!

I mean, to create something like that would need in depth knowledge of the band, all the rumours and the source code of the website.. plus time and money needed to create and send that letter. If it is a troll fair play for the dedication in trolling a few hardcore Coldplay fans.

I doubt it, To me it looks similar to what U2 did with Songs of Innocence (2014) and Songs of Experience (2017) Two companion albums, one of which revisited their core sound, the other more experimental. It could very well be an interesting way for Coldplay to compound both aspects of their discography and fan base. First LP an Oldplay album and the second one a stadium pop album that they tour on. Then again could all be fake.

That’s very interesting but still doesn’t answer the question as to what the album will sound like. The 100 years thing is definitely a head scratcher.

The suspense is killing me. LP8, in my opinion needs to really be a palette cleanser. It seems in Coldplay’s universe nowadays “experimental” does not mean a Kid A (or even a VLVODAAHF for that matter) It means what genre of bland, aneurism inducing rubbish modern chart music Coldplay is going to ape this time. From the very little we have seen from the artwork and tiny twitter snippet it’s looking good . I seriously doubt we’re going to get any sort of acoustic, post Brit pop, limestone rock but at the very least we might get some classical arrangements in the vein of Viva/jazz elements. For the love of God please no more collaborations.

I love this thread. I look back on the things we were all discussing when it started and nothing’s really changed since then. I really hope LP8 will deliver for Oldplayers.

Well, Monkeys Paw is a famous story about a cursed monkey paw that grants three wishes, the wishes come true with terrible outcomes. How that relates to the album, who knows?

All Your Friends, Ghost Story and Oceans are my favourite Coldplay songs from the last 3 eras. Definitely. Travesty how the former were not even on the album.

I don’t know but the vibe I’m getting from that Twitter snippet is an ambient electronica/classical album that’s an uplifting, awe inspiring symphony. A mix of feeling between AROBTTH/VIVA and a bit of the ambience that was so good on MX. A man can dream.

Apparently, the black and white turned songs were all released on a day corresponding with a lunar phase.

Which is exactly what people were saying about Stargate before LP7 and we all know how that turned out...

Catching up on this thread has been a roller coaster of emotions... I must say I am extremely encouraged from what I’ve seen thus far, the album artwork.. the poster and the choice of song thumbnails changed on YouTube all screams “Oldplay” to me... perhaps it’s finally that time Coldplay go back to their roots! The time travel theory is quite interesting and really screams “Chris Martin” to me. Since Viva there’s always been some sort of concept album “gimmick”.. some better than others. My own personal theory is Coldplay doing a 1920’s-30’s swing/pop album with Rinky dunk pianos, trumpets, in the vein of the Inkspots etc I think that would be nothing short of amazing!

Coldplay in its purest, most undiluted form.

Agreed. I think the last while Coldplay have a way of paying homage to Older fans on each release without actually ever delivering what they really promise.

I’d also like to add that there is a very famous, genre defining britpop song by The Stone Roses called “Fools Gold” Maybe getting a bit ahead of myself already, but I could definitely see an “arty” Coldplay album being a shoegaze/electronic mashup in the vein of A Spell A Rebel Yell would be fantastic. One thing I have learned with Coldplay that is with each new album they love to make a statement. I can just imagine the look on the haters faces if they dropped a proper old play album. To me it all hinges on how the album is produced. We all know too well how some of the newer Coldplay tunes are ruined by horrendous candy floss production. I remember being very excited about Up&Up when the song was first played live and Noel Gallagher was a co-writer, however the studio version of the song sounds like something you’d expect to hear from a Chainsmokers album (not to mention the single version that cuts out half the guitar solo) These production decisions have killed Coldplay in the last 5-6 years.