B35

The "gestapo" comment is just a turn of phrase. Of course lashing out at the band will bring them back. The only thing they will listen to is fans "lashing out" and sales declining. By being complicit in what they're currently doing and saying everything's fine, we give them credence to go and produce more rubbish. They're all grown men and should be able to take constructive criticism and "difficult" questions and learn from their mistakes. I think a poster above you said it, we feel very, very frustrated that they seem to be purposely throwing the immense talent they have down the drain.

Jees, the newplay gestapo are out in force today. They must be feeling extra festive!

They want vetted and "easy" questions. It's very symptomatic of what they've become. Why not answer such a simple question?

Just a symptom of the current Coldplay sycophantic era and the newest fans they've acquired. It's a lost cause at the moment.

That's Coldplays inspiration these days, oh and Justin Bieber.

Could it be that there is a sense of a lack of emotion in the album? It just drifts by without pulling you in anywhere into any sort of emotional ride, it's kind of soulless. Also, I don't think it captures any sort of feeling at the moment,great albums usually capture the mood of the people at that time and I don't think this really does. But i really do feel there's quite a lack of soul (emotion) in it. Anyway, it seems to be very polarising some love it and some hate it.

Did Chris not say in the Ryan Seacress interview they had to "auditon" songs for Stargate before Stargate decided whether they would work on them or not?

I'm sure the "post a pic of the gorgeous Chris" thread is active.

My condolences for writing for the NME ;-) I think magazines such as Rolling Stone etc are giving it higher star reviews is because it's almost popular to do so, as you said look at the great reviews and fawning Kasabian were getting in their earlier days or even the reviews Oasis got for Be Here Now when it was released, they ultimately turned out to be poor. I think the same is happening (to an extent) with AHFOD (although it's got a lower score on Metacritic). Anyway, I probably agree that Chris is writing music that he enjoys and wants to. The question I'd have to ask is, how when he grew up with influences such as The Bunnymen, U2 etc could he shift so dramatically into a pop style of songwriting? The answer probably lies in the fact he's mixing it with Bieber and Beyonce and living in LA. I disagree with you that this is a good pop/rock album, I don't think the songwriting is good at all lyrically or musically and there is a large amount of laziness in it,the chord progression, the incredible amount of woh ohhs etc.Take Army Of One for example, it starts out fairly catchy but fades away quickly into a repetitive nothingness or even Everglow, a nice piano riff and melody that is ruined by its dull repetitive decent into a fairly bland song. Utterly lazy songwriting. Coldplay won't be remembered for this album as it is very throwaway and full of mostly forgettable songs. Again I'd have to ask, why would Chris Martin follow this route? Why would he want to be remember for taking the band down such a bland manufactured sounding pop route? As a lover of rock music I really don't understand it as I could never see myself wanting to produce such bland plastic music. Ultimately Coldplay legacy at the moment is their first 4 albums which is sad as I think they've have the potential to produce great music which they seem to be wasting.

I just don't believe Jonny and Will are happy with the direction they're heading in or the quality of the output.

It's just not a hit single though, it'd bomb in the charts.

I don't think Up &Up has the potential at all to become the next Fix You, not even near it. It's an OK song but nothing amazing. I don't think Hymn has the potential to be a big hit either. What's interesting is I get the feeling Coldplay are slipping away, the album isn't selling as well as even GS and they're already down at No3 in the UK charts and I think they were surprised about the general lukewarm sales reception of AOAL,there's no massive singles on AHFOD. I think ultimately AHFOD might be the wake up call they need to make them change direction.

Such a happy, chirpy well produced great song. It pops along in the background. That's how to write and produce a good happy song and a million miles away from AHFOD.

I agree with Ultraviolet25, I just don't hear any creativity or anything of much interest in their new work. It's smacks mostly of gimmicks and bad songwriting. I just can't help think Coldplay have taken such a downward turn.

The album barely has a theme! Why dress up like kids TV presenters? It's gauling and takes away from what you're there for, the music (unless of course you're trying to target it at a certain demographic) ! Chris doesn't need all the sugary crap, he's a great songwriter at heart if he could find his way through the glossy rubbish.

Because I want to be, why are you in a thread that dislikes album?

It's mass market pop cheese and syrup, a full frontal assault on the charts with star guests, as I said gimmicks and star production. Dressed up in multicolored suits looking like Nickelodeon presenters. They couldn't be more commercial and trying to win young fans if they tried.

I have, I'm not going to see them live, haven't bought the album and don't consider myself a fan anymore. I still have the right to say one of my favourite band has sold out. I followed them on tour 2000-2010, even met Chris and considered myself a massive fan. I feel very let down.

Yes, the chose to take inspiration from boring pop acts whose music has no depth and won't be remembered in 5-10years time. They also chose to laden themselves with gimmicks, guest pop stars, lyrics about being drunk and high, Neon pain, ape videos, syrupy pop production etc etc. It's all aiming towards a lower age mass market and away from the quality music driven stance that they had earlier in their career and that allowed them to produce music that will stand the test of time. Noone will remember or cite AHFOD in 5 years. Their new outlook on music seems such a cynical ploy to sell albums and appease everyone to keep themselves at the top.

The older music is on a different level. AHFOD is the type music you'd hear on the radio and think it's "not bad" but it's lacking depth and real quality. I find the defending of it by Newplayers so strange, it's complete boyband fan like blind faith. I guess that's who's taken over Coldplays fanbase these days. Interestingly looking on Wiki, AHFOD hasn't sold well over the first week, hopefully it'll drop out the charts quickly and it'll be a warning shot to Chris.

Here's a crazy thought, they could take inspiration from Bob Dylan, Neil Young, David Bowie, The Clash, The Kinks, ELO, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, The Foo Fighters, The Ramones, The Who, The Police etc etc etc. To say rock music is dead is one of the most obnoxious comments ever. Coldplay are in Maroon 5 territory now, it's beyond bland. I just can't understand people trying to defend them on here.

People never said they were sugary, there was nothing sugary about Parachutes or AROBTTH or up to MX. Remembering back people said Coldplay were boring and miserable (possibly Radiohead lite) but this new album is way beyond that, it's complete syrup and cheese akin to something Take That would produce . The songwriting and chord progression is so tired and lazy also. There's no need for them to take such a direction why are the instruments barely audible in this album as well? they're buried away under layers of synth noise. It's such a shame to hear.

Strip away the production, get away from the pop rubbish and guests stars, get back to being what they originally were, a band and 4 guys who's influences stemmed from Echo and The Bunny Men, U2 etc and not Justin Bieber and Beyonce. It feels like a Chris Martin solo project at the moment and he seems to have got lost in the vapid LA, pop nothing culture.

I didn't mind GS to a large extent, it had a coherent theme and some interesting songs (Midnight). , MX was average and you could see the decline starting. AHFOD is just terrible and panders to the lowest common denominators in music.

Not trying to make people feel bad about enjoying AHFOD but there's something very disingenuous about Coldplay today. They are full of cheap production tricks, gimmicky costumes/Neon paint, silly ape videos and pop star guests. It's a million miles away from the 4 guys that started out making good, genuine interesting music. They are disenfranchising the fans that made them who they are in favour of bland, cheap pop music and at the same time lowering their creative output. For all intense purposes they have sold out and are now on a par with Maroon 5, theres no other way to look at it.