Gideon_Mx

I'm like a broken record and I'm not playing right

Next! By the way, this is a great game @harrisonrules, I didn't notice it until now!

Don't Panic! vs Us Against The World

Welcome here!

Politik vs Strawberry Swing

Life In Technicolor vs Cry Cry Cry

Chris' guitars!?! Seems that they also keep Champion Of The World, Guns and Lovers In Japan this era!!!!!! Perhaps for the Live at Worthy Farm set?

Have to agree with that! It's indeed the single riffs and melodies (and solos xD) what makes him shine and that's where he's really at his best!!!

Chinese Sleep Chant vs Army Of One

It's a great single, but I make sure to not hear it 42 times a day or so and not being able to listen to it anymore 'cause you go crazy so I just try to not listen to it for about half a day, then stream the studio version and/or live version and be able to enjoy it a lot!

Amazing and that echo's just beautiful! Taken from the original not the live version right? Hearing it like this, reminds me a bit of U2's Edge!

Careful Where You Stand vs Everyday Life

Talk vs In My Place

Isn't that Will's voice you're referring to? By the way it totally makes sense what you're saying, but it's hard to hear the difference between Guy and Will because they sing the same notes indeed. I think it's actually Will's voice that is so loud. Guy turns away his head from the mic around 4:20 and the level of volume of the voice stays exactly the same. You see?

Lovers In Japan vs Talk

That's right, but, I assume, you knew that parts of ASFOS like the ''I don't care go on and tear me apart'', ''I think I saw youuu'' lines were also lip synced throughout the whole A Head Full Of Dreams tour basically. This is correct! There's a few times where Chris does sing only the outro live, you can clearly hear the difference between the lip sync Chris and the real live Chris.

+1

Exactly, same here! It's just that there is no need for them to sound "perfect" you know. That's why those live performances are always so pure and special, magical if you like. They don't need that heavy post production. I really dislike it, to be honest. Otherwise, every performance (Higher Power in this case) would sound exactly the same. Imagine having 10 more of these pre-recorded or heavy post produced "live performances" of Higher Power this year, that would just be so boring because everything you see wouldn't be played live by the band! Coldplay do NOT need it, they are already PERFECT........

After hearing the official studio version of Higher Power for about, let's say...., 20-30 times or so, I can really say that this is currently my favourite studio version of any Coldplay song to listen to these days. It's really been a long time since I actually love a studio version THAT much (so thanks Max!). To begin with, as we've all seen it everywhere many people were (and still are) quite sceptical about the studio version of HP and there's so much negativity about it since its release which is a shame. Because the studio version is NOT bad, the studio version is actually freaking GOOD. In my opinion, it's awesome! The synths and the 80s vibe of Higher Power is something that makes the song kind of unique. The American Idol and BRITs performances were great. But there's something I really miss in those promo performances of HP is the fact that the synths during the choruses are pretty much gone. The synths are obviously still there but Jonny's guitar (as much as I love it) is so loud that it steals the show and it makes the synths barely audible. You can feel the 80s vibe.... just fading away. It's really disappointing, if you ask me! A good thing about these 2 performances is that we now have a much better idea of what Jonny is actually plays throughout the entire song! With that being said, now it's a lot easier to hear J's guitar work if you listen to the studio version. By the way, I get the frustration many have. The first times I listened to the song I was like ''where is Jonny?''. Especially when you listen through speakers and not using headphones. There are lots of other noises that catch our attention (especially when hearing it for the 1st time). The studio version would not really benefit from the heavy guitar and the band made the right choice to go with synths and with Jonny's guitar more in the background. As mentioned before by CP-EST, the ''heavy'' guitar (like the BRITs / American Idol) is actually a bit overwhelming to listen to being a synth pop song, for radio play. If we go back and listen to the studio version, there is actually quite a lot of Jonny's electric guitar, completely blended between all those different sounds, in the background. Here is a short summary of some bits that contain Jonny's work. I - 1st verse: knowing what J plays live then just listen to this.... Jonny's guitar is actually quite noticeable, BUT very well blended. Coming from the right, those one-note-riffs. II - 2nd verse: this is the only part that literally got rid of the electric guitar, you might say. Especially during the first few lines of this part, you can clearly hear the huge difference between the studio version and 2 live versions. III - 2nd chorus: In the 2nd chorus there's a bit of soft strumming. Don't want to make it sound difficult, so J's guitar is coming from right(not left) side. Not only was his guitar turned up live, he also plays different from the studio version. Same notes but much louder strumming (live). IV - Bridge: exactly at 2:30; when Chris sings the lines ''got my hands up shaking just to let you know now'' right before the 3rd chorus kicks in, there is clearly Jonny's same echo sound but more ambient in the studio version, coming from the left side in your headphones. These are just some examples of guitar bits that we might not notice (if we didn't have more stuff like those (American Idol and BRITs) performances) or don't even recognize as guitar at all.

Exactly this, no other explanation needed

It's not just you! You can clearly hear it at the ''happy that I'm [[ALIVE]]'' part!

If you're deep into this thing + if you have good ears, you'll notice it for sure. Listen to the American Idol and the BRITs performance, they are identical in the mix. Except for Chris's vocals.

Exactly!!!! The American Idol and BRITs performances of Higher Power (both mixed + pre-recorded) are definitely great but they are (promo)performances only to promote the new single, after all. To be honest, I'm more excited and looking forward to the real live performances of Higher Power, with actually live guitars (bass+electric) and live drums + Will's backing vocals (hopefully the Live at Worthy Farm show) instead of these post produced, almost ''perfect sounding'' (as CP-EST said), live versions. We shouldn't expect them to have live synths or so, it would be great if they had at least some of the members of the Love Choir for to backup Will and Chris for the vocals as well!

Yes, that's right. All the instruments were mixed and pre-recorded for the Superbowl Halftime show in 2016. Except for Chris's vocals, + the other artists that have sung on Coldplay's songs I guess. About the Everyday Life (Live in Jordan) performance, it's been all over the internet (YouTube/Twitter/Coldplaying) that Chris's vocals during the first song, Church, were NOT live. Everyone was thinking the same thing.

Exactly, same here. Waiting for a real LIVE performance that doesn't sound "perfect because of the post production, however it's called. The Live at Worthy Farm show will be more of a live performance (that hasn't already mixed all the instruments beforehand), hopefully! The American Idol and BRITs performances of Higher Power (both (probably) pre-recorded) are great but they are (promo)performances to just promote the new single after all. So I'm really looking forward to the real live performances of Higher Power, it will always sound a bit different (which is a good thing)!