LARD

Thanks for adding the photo Tash - you're very proactive! ;)

Will speaking about the Clocks laser at Glastonbury 2002 :) Wow, it was such an exprience being at that show. I feel so lucky on that score.

Will: "I was speaking with the other guys last night [about this] and we said 'not bad for a song without a chorus'"

----------------- Coldplay have just been crowned no.1 by Steve Lamacq (a fitting person) as voted for by the listeners in BBC 6 Music's countdown of the greatest 100 songs from the past 10 years! Will Champion was interviewed live about the achievement. Twitter tag #6MusicGreatest http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p014fjyc/live ----------------- === Here is the transcript (I have sore hands now) === Steve: Now: It won a Grammy for you, this track... but surely THIS is a bigger award! Will: This is extraordinary, I was totally blown away. We've been listening to 6 Music since it started so our band's career and this station's career have kind of grown up in parallel. Just looking at this top 10, it's extraordinary, so many new and old bands. Steve: It's a tough competition. Wherever you go in that list there is inventive and incredible music. Will: Yeah, The Flaming Lips: that band changed everything for us when we first saw them at Glastonbury in 1999, and it was just stunning. They'd be my no.1. Steve: One of the things you notice having listened throughout the day is how music has diversified and evolved so much. There have always been critics who've said 'we haven't seen much progression in music' ...but look at this list! Will: An amazing 10 years of music Steve: Now Clocks is an interesting one: was it the last thing you wrote on A Rush Of Blood To The Head? Will: It was pretty much the last thing. I was speaking to the guys last night when we heard about this, and we all said 'not bad for a song without a chorus!'. I remember when Chris came in and played the bit on the piano. I said 'OK that's a good intro... now what about the rest of the song?' and he said 'No, it's like a hook, it doesn't have a vocal chorus'. Steve: At the time there was kind of a feeling that the album maybe wasn't finished, or it was looking for something... Will: That always happens to us at the end... you get to a point where it's finished and there's always a gap. This was a first successful attempt at writing a song where a melodic hook was the key to the song rather than a big swooping chorus or choral singalong. We've used the same technique on a couple of other songs. Our manager was talking about releasing it as a single and, I'll quote him, he said 'I'll eat my hat if that is a hit'... and here we are! Steve: It became a very big part of the live set. I remember following you through the States as you played that album and it was a very important song in the set. Will: Yeah it was. We decided to play Glastonbury 2002 before the album came out, and that was a kind of make or break moment. It was the moment we knew everything was alright when we stated playing Clocks, because the piano riff comes in and we'd spent every penny we had to do the show on this one enormous laser. We'd never seen it in action because you needed to get permission from air traffic control to actually switch it on. The lighting guy said 'yeah, it's going to be amazing', and we thought it was going to be a damp squib. And then we started playing this song and this big green laser came on... it went from being a tiny pin-prick and it just spread out over the whole place; it put a ceiling over the Pyramid stage and it was just stunning. From then on it's become a really important part of the live show. Steve: As with any important song, there was nothing it wasn't 'on'. You couldn't have a football show for example without hearing it. Will: It's weird, you tend to switch off... and there are adverts where they know that they won't be able to get the licence for the real song, so they pay someone to make a song that's very similar to it, but changing enough notes to it's not legally too similar. Steve: So that's what Guy does in his spare time! Will: Ah, so that's where he gets his money from! But you hear the phrasing [of the piano part] behind it... it's been an iconic thing for us, so you could hear it everywhere. Steve: Wasn't it used in an episode of Family Guy? Will: I'm afraid so! It's ubiquitous unfortunately; you can't escape it. Steve: So when do you get some time off? I doubt any of you can leave Coldplay alone for long. Will: It normally takes about three weeks off the road. We played our last show of this last tour on New Year's Eve, and by about January 17th I'd phoned up Jonny and said 'do you want to go down to the studio?'. So we're definitely starting to think again, even though we don't have a particularly solid idea, the idea of not playing music for any length of time is not worth thinking about. So we're enjoying playing music and just trying to see what's on the horizon. Steve: Does it hold good memories for you, this particular song? Will: Each album seems to have a song which acts like a keystone. It's like a passport for a whole different level of stuff. 'Yellow' was that one for the first record, and Clocks was definitely the song on the second record that allowed us to go to different places. It attracted a different type of person to the music and to the band, and we're so grateful that it turned out to be as successful as it was and I was totally wrong about it. Steve: [Laughs] Well congratulations to the rest of the guys, I hope they're all well. Will: Not at all, and thank you for 12 years of looking after us... you've been a very nice man to us.

Yes that is an official release. There is no other 'rare' version :)

Can you provide links to what you're referring to? Coldplay did release a Singles boxset in about 2006 on vinyl only, but it certainly didn't cost $250. It sounds like you might be looking at items being sold by Amazon marketplace sellers rather than Amazon themselves. It's now out of print so they're probably just trying it on.

I do love the way the band try to make everyone feel included :)

Kingzilla (OP), I cometely agree with your suggestions. I would also love a more varied setlist - don't JUST play all the singles, let's hear some album tracks and leeser known material. 'See you soon', 'X&Y' (song), LiTii, Strawberry Swing... even 'Such a Rush' (not bloody likely). Cut out the use of backing tracks entirely. Perhaps it's permissable to have some strings on a backing track... perhaps. Longer setlists. Chris also shouldn't feel the need to exhaust himself so much every show... I think a more relaxed, possibly more serious attitude wuldn't hurt. The atmosphere they managed to create suring their previous tours was very special, and there was a distinct lack of running aroung and rolling on the ground. Not that I'm saying a bit of dancing around isn't great, it's just that it doesn't have to be constant. That way they'd have more energy for a longer setlist. It really should be 2hrs next time around.

Ooh that's a good price, they often sell for around £10-ish!

Yeah I doubt anything will be recycled for the next album. I think the chance of an EP has passed now as well. It will be all change next time around I'm sure!

You can't think a film is inherently better because it came out on Blu Ray. The more recent songs have more energy yes, and are better suited to huge stadiums, but they aren't better suited to 'concerts'. Some of the best concerts are quiet and tender.

It's just the CD-R with paper insert I'm afraid.

Thanks, that was helpful...!

I'm not sure what you're referring to here. Could you explain?

Yeah pretty much. If you look at the first post of this thread you will find doritji's websites, which are really helpful, and you can use Discogs too.

'Original' means the original release that came out at the time. EG the original release of Shiver on vinyl came out in 2000. It has a barcode on the back. The box set was released in 2007. It contains reissues of the singles pressed and printed in 2007. They don't have the barcode on the back, and some of them are in a different format. IE, Don't Panic was originally released as a 12" vinyl, never as a 7": It's a 7" in the 2007 box set. It's often desirable for a collector (including me) to own the original releases.

They must have started at the highest numbers for the earlest orders and worked downwards for the later ones. Doesn't seem fair really. I ordered immediately after they went on sale and got way above 5000.

5 amazing songs that I'll never forget: Death And All His Friends Strawberry Swing Lovers in Japan Viva La Vida Life In Technicolor II

The irony is he was only making an ice cream sundae...

I never thought you were greedy really! I'm the one whose username implies tubbyness...

THREE lithographs? Ooh you are greedy. :)

Your links don't seem to be working.

Sorry! Got in first :D

DVDs aren't HD. DVD resolution is 720x576. Blu-Ray, which it sounds like you don't have, is HD (1920x1080). If the Blu-Ray picture quality is being complained about, the DVD is certainly not going to look any better. Anyway, the only problem with the picture quality is the artificial grain added in postproduction, which I personally don't like, but some might.

I bought the Blu-Ray and lithograph bundle. I thought it was a decent film, but way overproduced. It felt almost more like one long trailer for itself than anything of real substance. I would have much preferred a live show in its entirety along with some extras including interviews with the band and perhaps a tour diary, more like Live 2003 (which was excellent). Additionally, the lithograph is pretty terrible. It looks like it was printed on an inkjet printer. I got my order in within half an hour of it going on sale and mine is numbered higher than 5000... there were only supposed to be 5000 in the first place, so I'm not happy with it. However, the live footage of the band is absolutely brilliant as usual, and they work very hard at what they do... but I'll be glad when this overblown MX era is at an end. I know I'm being a little critical, but I know what kind of wonderful live atmosphere Coldplay are capable of creating, especially without the pre-recorded background strings and synths that they use these days. In short, I still love them very much, but I hope the next album brings with it a return to something more grounded with a little less flash. Wow, I sound like an old man!