This is definitely one of Coldplay's weaker albums, and it makes Mylo Xyloto look/sound less horrendous. I have completely lost all hope for Coldplay's future. Unlike Mylo Xyloto and Ghost Stories (which I thoroughly disliked), A Head Full of Dreams did not really have a song I could respect (for MX it was Major Minus, for GS it was Fly On).
I can already tell that all of these songs will sound less terrible live. The album suffers from overproduction, electronic drums, cheap lyrics, bad melodies, general pop-piness, and way too many unnecessary featured guests. In my opinion, you can't really tell if any of these songs are Coldplay unless you've been spending a lot of time with Princess of China or A Sky Full of Stars.
I've posted this on another thread, but here it is again.
AHFOD - 6.5/10: This definitely ends up on the "Newplay" songs that I hate the least.
Birds - 6/10: Not as bad as I expected, but it's still not that good. The electronic drums just hurt my ears, and the crappy instrumentation is just a no no.
Everglow - 5.5/10: The only really good thing about this song is the piano piece. There are some good bits, but the song in general is a bit stale, and forced. The vocals are really bad and whiny, and I appreciate The World Turned Upside Down's vocals a lot more.
Amazing Day - 5/10: Once again whiny vocals, and a really bad intro. It could've been better without overproduction, but you can't really do anything about it anymore.
Fun - 5/10: The lyrics are just really bad. Tove Lo in my opinion did an excellent job on this song, but also in a way ruined it.
Up&Up - 5/10: Guitar solos! don't make this song any better. It's ultra cheesy, and it honestly gives me the want to skip the song or not finish it.
Kaleidoscope - 4.5/10: I'm really sad that they couldn't utilise the song title better, but the speech is what hit me.
Colour Spectrum - 4/10: Yeah, I'd rather listen to this than the songs below. A quieter version of Mylo Xyloto (title track) and A Hopeful Transmission and a more colourful version of MMIX
Adventure of a Lifetime - 3.5/10: Repetitive, overproduced, monkeys. Basically the worse version of Paradise but, this time, with MONKEYS! I almost lost interest for the album after listening to this one, but here I am.
Hymn for the Weekend - 2.5/10: Coldplay? Nope, it's Macklemore feat. Beyonce, Chris Martin, and probably some other dude. There's literally nothing Coldplay about it, and it pissed me off even more when they TRIED to put a spark of Coldplay in it. Definitely a POC of this album. Not a good Coldplay song, not a good song. Lyrics are just stupid.
Army of One - 2.5/10: And, of course, the song with the worst intro ever, has real drums (sounds like). Crappy lyrics, overproduction; this song basically represents the album.
X Marks the Spot - .5/10 (lmao): It really hurt me when Chris said this was his favourite moment on the album. I'm not even being biased but this song is just so bad. This really makes songs like A Whisper look superior, and that's not what I expected from his favourite moment. The band aren't only trying to let go of their rock roots, but they're also trying to let go of their creativity on this one. Another POC of this album.
In general, the album lacks integrity and hard work(?) but it's good for Coldplay because it may earn them 1000 or 2000 new fans. Make something semi-good, and I wouldn't want Coldplay to take a hiatus. I'm kinda disappointed by A Head Full of Dreams, but there were some elements that did surprise me. My final vote is 4.5/10.
(Also a reminder, this is my opinion. You may love the album, but I don't.)