Doomotron

A wave is one of those weird and rare songs where I can't put my finger on the feeling it gives me. Very few songs do this to me, one of which is End Credits by Coldplay, which was used in a similar way to A Wave (and was release don the live album like I hope A Wave to be). I think the feeling is somewhere between sadness, nostalgia and calmness. It's like Coldplay got the slow groove of New York I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down by LCD Soundsystem, put the ambient flair of End Credits in and added a dash of mesmerising lyrics on top. They're simple lyrics, but in this song I see them more as an instrument than actual lyrics. And, of course, it's a Coldplay song so the lyrics don't really mean anything anyway. A beautiful song, but I think I don't want it to have a studio release. I don't feel End Credits could have worked as a studio release (even though you can make one yourself by reversing A Head Full Of Dreams :D) and I don't feel like A Wave would either.

Look, another great song that'll only ever be performed live and will never have a studio version... I'm a cynic; at best we'll get A Wave in the inevitable live album. I'm still waiting for Life Is Beautiful's Spotify release...

Over their history, Coldplay have had different styles, seemingly changing every album or two. I wanted to see what people's favourite style was, because there's a lot to listen to and people's opinions will mean they prefer one style over others. The styles are, from my experience: Simple Instrumental (Safety, The Blue Room, Parachutes): Heard during the early years of Coldplay, there wasn't much in the way of 'added' sound - everything seemed to be from an instrument, and as a result the songs were generally a bit simpler. Still great though. Rock Instrumental (A Rush Of Blood To The Head): AROBTTH expanded upon the style of Parachutes, with songs being 'bigger' but also more rock-orientated, Pop Rock (X&Y): Songs like Fix You, Speed Of Sound and The Hardest Part were among the songs from X&Y which presented a new, pop-orientated sound. I can't deny X&Y was generally a rock album, but it is clear that this album created some of Coldplay's biggest hits for a reason. Fix You is a Coldplay classic and they can't do a show without it, but to be honest it has little in common with the songs from the first two albums. 'Classic' Rock (Viva La Vida, Prospekt's March): I wasn't sure what to call this category, but I settled on Classic Rock because the instruments on these albums sound almost medieval - it wasn't modern by any means, but it wasn't meant to either. One could have classified it as Art Rock as well, but I settled on Classic. Like Pop Rock, this style created some of Coldplay's biggest hits (yes, I am obviously talking about Viva La Vida) but also one of Chris Martin's favourites, Glass Of Water. Synth Pop Rock (Mylo Xyloto): Mylo Xyloto couldn't have been more different from Viva La Vida and Prospekt's March. It still sounded like Coldplay, but was more optimistic and more colourful, featuring synths as a major part of songs for the first time. It was possibly my favourite concert era, and again this style created some monster hits, like Paradise, Charlie Brown and Princess Of China. In effect, this was Coldplay without the - as Peter Griffin put it - 'whiney bullcrap.' 'Sparse' Pop Rock (Ghost Stories): Ghost Stories was a tonal shift for Coldplay. While the past albums were general in their subject matter, Ghost Stories almost entirely focused on the bleak feelings going through Martin's mind due to the end of his marriage. To go with this, the songs returned to instrumental simplicity last seen in Parachutes, but so did the lyrics, which is why this album is among Coldplay's least positively recieved. However, there were breaks from the dark and sorrowful subject matter - A Sky Full Of Stars, Midnight and Magic were all electronic, and the former was a lot more optimistic - almost like it was stolen from Mylo Xyloto. 'Giant'/'Optimistic' Pop Rock (A Head Full Of Dreams, Kaleidoscope): As opposed to the sad songs from Ghost Stories, A Head Full Of Dreams was a polar opposite. It was bright, the songs felt expansive (well, other than the ones Stargate ruined), and the lyrics were more optimistic than ever before. While A Head Full Of Dreams wasn't well received, it gave us some proper bangers, like Hymn For The Weekend (one of Coldplay's best concert songs in my opinion), Adventure Of A Lifetime (ditto) and Up&Up, which is possibly their largest and happiest song ever. Kaleidoscope came with even more songs, including a return to the 'Sparse' Pop Rock' style in All I Can Think About Is You and Hypnotised. Pop (Something Just Like This, Kaleidoscope, Music Of The Spheres): Kaleidoscope also included Something Just Like This and Miracles (Someone Special), both of which have little in common with Coldplay's rock past. It was a complete change for Coldplay and Something Just Like This was panned because of it. Music Of The Spheres brought us Higher Power and My Universe. While Higher Power could have appeared on Ghost Stories, My Universe could only have worked in a full pop album - but it wasn't on a full pop album, as I shall explain later. Art Rock (Everyday Life): Everyday Life came along in 2019 and basically reversed all of the changes Coldplay had been making in the past ten years. The lyrics were still optimistic in parts, but still had dark undertones - the rest of the songs were dark and honest. Some songs, like Trouble In Town, Broken, When I Need a Friend, Arabesque and Guns, could never have worked on any other album. Others, like Church, Everyday Life and Champion Of The World, could have been thrown onto Viva La Vida without question. What we have here is a refined arty sound that makes me sad that it wasn't toured - with any luck, we'll see a Joshua Tree-style 're-tour' of Everyday Life in the future. Unknown/Everything (Music Of The Spheres): MOTS has more variation of style than even Everyday Life. None of the songs sound similar, which is one of the flaws the reviewers see. But what I see is a selection of songs, all good in their own areas, thrown into one album, contextualised by the cultures of the peoples of the different planets. People Of The Pride is literally a Viva La Vida song, which makes me wonder why it was so negatively received by the press - it's one of my favourites and my mum's complete favourite. Biutyful is surprisingly well written, and is only truly disliked because of the Alvin And The Chipmunks voice (although personally I think the song couldn't work without it). Human Heart is pretty much the oddball out of Coldplay's entire discography; Human Heart could easily be a Mylo Xyloto song; and Let Somebody Go is a Ghost Stories-era breakup song. But then we get to Coloratura. This is a song that, while having much in common with past styles, I feel could only work in the context of Music Of The Spheres. It is directly connected to Infinity Sign, a fast house track, which it contrasts with completely. The rest of the album didn't handle changing genres as well as Everyday Life, but Coloratura more than makes up for it. It is one of Coldplay's most positively received songs (if not the most praised) and is truly beautiful. It is arguably the song from Music Of The Spheres; it defines it. What are your favourites? For me, it's probably The classic/art rock of Viva La Vida and Prospekt's March, and the optimistic pop rock of Mylo Xyloto. But I cannot go without addressing how amazing Coloratura is.

Did anybody notice that in the video for Champion Of The World, the penultimate one in the Everyday Life era (second to the brilliant Trouble In Town video), Chris Martin escapes earth on a rocket, going into a solar system, ending in a scene that's not too much different from the Overtura trailer? These old references to MOTS are more widespread than I'd expected.

Coloratura's lyrics really hit me today... "And in this crazy world, I do I just want you..."

I tried PowerDVD (the Windows 8 version of VLC I have doesn't play CDs and I can't be bothered to install the desktop version just for one thing) - it showed up as Birds as well. GOD=LOVE also showed up incorrectly. Power2Go also showed it incorrectly when ripping the CD. If three different programmes are showing the same errors I believe it is a problem with the disc.

On my CD for Live In Buenos Aires, track five of disc one is labelled Birds, but is actually God Put A Smile Upon Your Face. Is this a common problem or is it just my copy that has this issue for some reason? My CDs have been weird before; the tracks 'GOD=LOVE' on Everyday Life don't show up correctly, as either '[SE]' or 'Blank' - could this be an issue caused by using Windows Media Player?

One thing that confused me is FFTF2024 and Coldplay's final album releasing in 2025. If FFTF is Finale For The Fans, but Coldplay (album) is in 2025, what is FFTF? And then it hit me... Music Of The Spheres was announced alongside FFTF2024, in 2019. What if MOTS was meant to be released in 2020, but due to COVID everything was pushed back a year, moving FFTF to 2025?

Ironically, Gran Turismo's fandom does fight over musical direction as well. The reason I mentioned GT wasn't because of racism or sexism, but because they seem to be the only fandom that genuinely dislikes the games and the developers yet buys them anyway every single time.

You've never seen Gran Turismo's fzndom...

They're not my favourites, but I have to give a nod to the Mylo Xyloto reprises used for the tour. They were all really soothing and I wish they'd have been released officially.

On YouTube, there's this video for Gravity, and it's labelled as being official. It's a good video, but is it actually an official but unreleased music video for Gravity, or is it just fan-made?

I'm nor sure about that. It was critically acclaimed, yes, and was received incredibly well by fans, but I didn't see it have much impact on the media. It might have done more if it was a 'proper' single, but as it stands I'm not show what the basis of that statement is. Enlighten me, please... ------------- I doubt Coldplay are going to 'end the era' - their world tour is called MOTS for a reason - but it may well be the case that future songs and albums meant to be part of Music Of The Spheres might be rebranded, either entirely or with less emphasis on MOTS. MOTS2, for example, might be branded as (MOTS2) Aurora, or whatever it'll be called.

For me, I can't pick albums that songs I actively dislike, so I can't say Parachutes, AROBTTH, X&Y or A Head Full Of Dreams were their best album. I am inclined to say Viva La Vida is their best album, but while I don't dislike any songs from that album, there's only two songs I actively want to listen to, those being Chinese Sleep Chant and Death And All His Friends (three if you include The Escapist). I find that Life In Technicolor being an instrumental was a strange decision, because I love LiT ii on Prospekt's March. Equally, the version of Lover's In Japan on Prospekt's March is the better version for me. I feel Coldplay shot themselves in the foot there. If I'm going to say VLV isn't their best album because of that reason, that means I need to pick a best album based on how many songs I want to listen to: Parachutes - 0 AROBTTH - 2 (The Scientist, Politik) X&Y - 3 (Talk, X&Y, Speed Of Sound) Viva La Vida - 3 (as above) Mylo Xyloto - 7 (10 if including Mylo Xyloto, MMIX and A Hopeful Transmission) (Hurts Like Heaven, Don't Let It Break Your Heart, Up With The Birds, Princess Of China, Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall, Paradise, Charlie Brown) Ghost Stories - 8 (9 if including O) (Magic, Midnight, Oceans, A Sky Full Of Stars, Fly On, Always In My Head, True Love, Ink) A Head Full Of Dreams - 8 (A Head Full Of Dreams, Hymn For The Weekend, Up&Up, Adventure Of A Lifetime, Everglow, Army Of One, X Marks The Spot, Birds (Only just, the ending almost killed it for me)) Everyday Life - 14 (15 if including Flags) (Arabesque, Orphans, Everyday Life, Sunrise, Church, Trouble In Town, Daddy, Broken, When I Need A Friend, Guns, Eko, Old Friends, Champion Of The World, the one with the Arabic name I can't copy and paste from Spotify) Music Of The Spheres - 9 (11 if including Music Of The Spheres and Alien Choir) (Higher Power, Humankind, Let Somebody Go, Human Heart, People Of The Pride, Biutyful, My Universe, Infinity Sign, Coloratura) Well, by that metric, their best album in my opinion is Everyday Life.

My verdict is... Perhaps.

Let Somebody Go is too big of a deal to be ignored, but Biutyful may well be left out.

Infinity Sign has been used in the past, but as a pre-recorded interlude like the MX reprises and Colour Spectrum. Unfortunately I don't know what Coldplay songs sound like live in person as I can't go to concerts. If I did though, I'd probably spend much of the time thinking to myself "This isn't as good as the version on the CD I bought for ten times less money", which I suppose defeats the purpose of going to a concert.

First of all, happy new year. Secondly, there are some songs that just sound better live. It isn't every song - many sound worse - but for some it makes the song. For me, Hymn For The Weekend was an alright song at its initial release. It wasn't well received by the community, but I liked its choruses, which I still think are among the most impactful Coldplay have ever done. But the rest of the song felt a bit empty (largely down to the repetitive instrumental and the uncomplicated lyrics). But the live version... Amazing. The Buenos Aires version is spectacular. It has so much energy that it has made me reconsider the whole song. It is one of the few times when I not just feel the live version is better than the studio version, but that it also redefined how I looked at the song. But what about MOTS? Coloratura, People Of The Pride, My Universe and Higher Power have been played live. It may be more, but out of those I don't think any sound better. Coloratura sounds a bit like a demo, POTP (from the recordings I've heard) is a bit heavy, and MU and HP just sound like studio recordings. But what about Biutyful, or Let Somebody Go? I think there's potential for all of the songs, but what do you think?

I am aware that the moderators have said that our previous ranks will eventually be restored to what they need to be. I have two questions for this: Will any awards we have received after the change be kept, or will it be a pure restoration to before the update? Is there a time frame for getting it fixed?

This is an interesting idea. That photograph in the EL album announced MOTS, so it wouldn't be out of this world to expect the theoretical musical to have been soft-announced in it too. Perhaps it is not, as I had expected it, the 'Finale For The Fans' (or equivalent) final album. David Bowie's musical, Lazarus (which had great presentation but overall wasn't critically succesful) was a retelling of The Man Who Fell To Earth. A retelling of Mylo Xyloto would make sense for Coldplay, although I'd hope they'd change the name; the mispronunciations would be hilarious if they didn't. The music in the play would probably take from Coldplay's entire library and hopefully not just Mylo Xyloto, which only has Princess of China and Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall as its memorable songs. As well as previews for songs from Blackstar and No Plan, Lazarus mostly featured songs from his discography, albeit performed by a selection of people who just can't sing very well.

That would depend on whether Chris sees MOTS as three albums or one big one. If they're separate, there will only be one non-MOTS album before the end of Coldplay.

I haven't seen much of this, but isn't it a musical/tie-in album, like Lazarus by David Bowie, which had its soundtrack released separately?

I wasn't listening to Break Of Dawn specifically... Is Vampire Symphony also edited?

May I ask why there's a question mark at the start of the thread title? Have I missed something?

I've listened to some of the leaked songs on YouTube. I'm not sure if I've heard all of them, but here are my opinions p' the ones I have: Vampire Symphony is quite badly mixed, like it's being played underway, but then again it's a demo. What is there though is really good,potentially a future hit. With a slight rework, it could be feasible for it to be on MOTS2. The early version of AHFOD is nice, but definitely feels like a demo. It feels a bit empty, compared to the actual song we got. Forever Whatever could easily fit into MOTS2. Stay tuned. The Race is nice as usual, but I'll always say that on my infinite crusade to see it released. If there are any other songs from the leak on YouTube, please tell me. I'd love to hear them.