The Adversary

I find the live versions of Oldplay songs these days to be nothing short of insulting. Truncated, broken lyrics and gaffes in the performances. I'm also not a big fan of the "hybrid" acoustic shtick they're doing (What's the point of In My Place without the drums? Sucks out all the energy) I've been re-listening to VLV recently and the songs on that album are so very strong. Every time I listen to it I pick up new details I didn't hear before, so much attention to detail in the production. They've done a complete 180 in that regard now. Violet Hill is Coldplay's finest moment in my opinion. You can just tell it was an older song (Was written Pre-Parachutes If I remember correctly?) Really stands out on VLV. I only wish it was included on AROBTTH to be honest as I think it fits in better with that grouping of songs: I really hope Coldplay will get out of this phase they're in the last while. All the glitter and faux-optimism really doesn't suit them, I want to see an album filled with songs like Violet Hill, Politik, GPASUYF, Twisted Logic, Trouble etc. A Head Full of Nightmares wouldn't go astray!

I've been listening to Coldplay interviews for years now and the question was finally put to him straight. While she sugarcoated it a bit it's essentially the thing I would ask him about if I ever had the good fortune of meeting him. His response seems a bit misguided ("It only changed in certain ways") and mentioning R.E.M and U2 in the same breath as Arianna Grande is just really disingenuous in my opinion. I would love if an interviewer would really press him on the fact that some older fans are so disillusioned with the newer material they are forsaking Coldplay altogether. The new version of Everglow has a more Viva vibe to it in terms of production but to me sums up everything that is wrong with the current Coldplay. You can tell that was the way the song was originally meant to be, but the album version we got had to be "popped up" to make it more viable for the easy listening market. The last 3 Coldplay albums just emanate corporate meddling. I look forward to the upcoming E.P as I find Coldplay put all their best material on E.P's and "Extended Editions" these days (Which is a rant for another day)

Something different for the Oldplayers ;)

Yellow

Not at all, I find it only makes the connection stronger. Interesting how it diminishes the original "image" for you. Some songs on X&Y are so emotional for me I can't listen to them on any sort of regular basis because a certain person/place/time are seared into my memory despite me loving the songs otherwise. I find once the original connection is made it's very hard to shake because even though other images/connections may be made with the song they're a lot less potent compared to when you first experienced the song.

This is very true. I know for me, AROBTTH as an album always reminds me very strongly of home. The streets just seem to permeate the songs on that album, it's a very surreal experience for Clocks to come on the radio and be transported back to where you grew up. If I'm ever homesick it's the first album that goes on.

Well, it was more of a hipster type bar. They had a picture of Thom Yorke on the wall so not too much of a stretch :D

66673

The setlists are no where near as good as they were in the MX era, I'll give you that. For me at least, hearing Yellow, In My Place, Clocks, Fix You and VLV (Guaranteed) and then maybe one or two other Oldplay songs is worth the price of admission. I've never used Instagram in my life but I think I'd make an account solely to request Violet Hill for the Irish gig :thinking:

Oh yeah, it will definitely be Dublin. Unless it's Slane they're planning on playing which is in Meath. They supported U2 there on the Parachutes Tour in 2000.

Croke Park or the Aviva Stadium I'd say. During the Viva tour they played The Phoenix Park which would be a fantastic setting again, I'd also love to see them in the 3 Arena but they're way too big of an act for there me thinks. To be honest I don't really care where it is once I'm firmly stood right in front of C stage ;)

Ireland!!!!!!!!

Pre Parachutes EP's would be fantastic.

This is perhaps more of a random Coldplay thought but I think it's perhaps better suited here. I was in a bar during the week. The barman had spotify on and my friends were requesting songs (Oasis, The Verve, The Stone Roses, The Smiths. Your typical Britpop) I love this type of music so I decided to keep the tunes coming and requested Yellow. The barman flat out refused to play the song. When I asked him why he just grunted "Cause Coldplay are shit" I was absolutely stunned. I think it just goes to show the level of Coldplay hate. Parachutes and AROBTTH are just as good as anything The Verve have released and AROBTTH is arguably as good or better than anything Oasis have released (Apart from What's The Story (Morning Glory)It just goes to show, if you release two or three shit albums like Coldplay have, it denigrates your better work. I promptly left the bar.

Was a long and dark December From the rooftops I remember There was snow White snow Clearly I remember From the windows they were watching While we froze down below When the future's architectured By a carnival of idiots on show You'd better lie low If you love me Won't you let me know? Was a long and dark December When the banks became cathedrals And the fox Became God Priests clutched onto bibles Hollowed out to fit their rifles And the cross was held aloft Bury me in armour When I'm dead and hit the ground My nerves are poles that unfroze If you love me Won't you let me know?

I think Chris going solo would be fantastic, following in the footsteps of Noel Gallagher. Oasis's last couple of albums were hit and miss, much like Coldplay's last few efforts. Coldplay are a band in rapid decline, it's gone stale. I'd expect a similiar output from Chris as NGHFB, I think it would really rejuvenate him as a songwriter.

I think Ghost Stories underpins this more than anything. Ghost Story and AYF are the best songs Coldplay have produced since 2008. Is it just me or is GS the most forgettable, unnecessary album Coldplay have ever produced? 2 albums in the space of a year and a half was ridiculous and left us having two sub-par albums. If they had just taken the better songs from both sessions and made one album we would of had something a lot more refined and collected. I wouldn't go as far as saying VIVA 2.0 but it would have certainly been closer. 1. A Head Full Of Dreams 2. Always In My Head 3. Midnight 4. AOAL 5. Magic 6. Oceans 7. Amazing Day 8. HFTW 9. Ghost Story 10. AYF 11. Up&Up 12. O (Hidden Track) I am crazy in saying that would have been a much better album?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHlMDVh_2mA The lip syncing there is so blatant. Jonny doesn't even bother attempting to hide it. A younger Chris once penned 'We never change, do we?' Unfortunately you have.

Anyone remember Bloodless Revolution? "Let's not rework this for the album, I have this song called X Marks The Spot instead!" :|

So what is the general consensus on r/Coldplay? I browse through the threads over there and lurk a little bit but in general prefer the atmosphere and discussion over here. Anyone a routine contributer there?

It doesn't take much to be one of the best tracks of MX :|

Home. As an album, AROBTTH reminds me of the town I grew up. Part of why I love it so much Violet Hill

Listened to Prospekts March today for the first time in about a year and a half. I was completely blown away, It's refreshing to get out of the "album only" frame of mind and realise there is more Oldplay after VLV, it's just hidden away in the Extended Play's. It does make you think however, how great it would have been if they took the better tracks from MX (MTM, Us against the world, Paradise) and had them produced for PM making a full length album!

I look up to Chris a lot. Now that I'm the same age Chris was when X&Y was released I can relate a lot to him the way he was then, an anxious but lovable dork (although I've yet to sell 30 million records and become a multi-millionaire!) But now I feel as if my 12 year old sister could relate to the current Chris better than I can. I always imagined that by this stage in Coldplay's career they would have matured considerably and thus would be reflected in the music, I envisaged Pink Floyd style prog-rock but it's gone completely the other direction. If you would have given me AHFOD when I was 15 and said it was Coldplay I probably wouldn't have thought you were well... When you look at it from that lens the complete 180 in terms of output is actually slightly comical.

Today I was wearing my AROBTTH t shirt and a young woman came up to me and struck up a conversation. She asked me why I was wearing that particular t shirt and I expected a typical anti-Coldplay spiel you tend to hear from music snobs all the time. Instead we had a very thoughtful and intriguing conversation about the early band. It was clear to me that she wasn't a massive Coldplay fan, just someone who loved British indie music. It was one of those typical Oldplay venting sessions that I've had with many members on this board in the past but she had a very interesting insight I thought I should share. Many oldplayers like myself tend to think of things going off the rails at MX, or at the very earliest certain elements of VLV but in her opinion it all went sideways with X&Y. I was a bit taken aback by this as I always zealously thought (probably without questioning) that X&Y was the last 'true' Coldplay album. But allow me to explain her thinking. She maintained all the typical criticisms contemporary critics had at time, Speed of Sound was a re-worked Clocks. The album was too long and bloated, the lyrics were awful compared to AROBTTH and Parachutes etc. While all this is technically true, it's something I tend to forgive as X&Y still manages to capture that same magic as album 2, albeit to a lesser degree. What she said next was more interesting though, her theory on why X&Y was so plagued during the production stage was because Coldplay actually produced THREE albums over those three years. First she claims, that Coldplay had attempted an OK computer, remnants of this can be found in the opening of Square One, Kraftwerk melodies and the elements of space rock throughout. When EMI viewed this as unprofitable, Coldplay went back to the drawing board and produced a hard rock album (Twisted Logic, also the claim Violet Hill was a leftover from this session. This could actually be true as Chris suggested the name "Carnival of Idiots" as a band name in an interview as early as 2006) again rejected by EMI who forced their hand in producing a more "Coldplay like" album. This would explain the similarities to AROBTTH, the albums length (having to rework songs from 3 different LP's) and then the bands worst fears being confirmed by the backlash against X&Y. They became determined to shake off themselves, latching onto the first non rock influence they were allowed to attempt (Pop) and losing the run of themselves. She also claimed Chris started to become more egotistical during this era, acting like Bono/Thom Yorke, where previously it had been about the stunning music, it was now all about the celebrity front man marrying famous actresses and naming children after fruit/global corporation. The other 3 were pushed to the background where previously they had contributed alot to what made the first two albums such masterpieces. Whereas before it was a creative fusion between 4 talented young men it became the Chris Martin assembly line. We both agreed though that if they released something half as good as X&Y today it'd be nothing short of a miracle. It was a great conversation and definitely gave me some food for thought!