gustavothehuman

Moon Music era is pretty much over. If we get anything from the soundcheck sessions, it will be on LP11.

It's the two best songs on the album. Coloratura being the greatest in their 28 year old career.

With all of that said, I still love Higher Power!

This also ties into a complaint I have: it seems the band are trying to make a pop equivalent to Everyday Life, but it's not working. Past commercial albums had better feedback because they were more cohesive, while LP8 had analogue instrumentation to organize things. You lose that in the synth-pop realm.

A lot more fans liked the record, but critics are still lukewarm after MOTS. Until 2021, their albums on Metacritic still received many positive reviews despite total grades in the lower end: Mylo Xyloto had 17, Ghost Stories 11 and AHFOD eight. Both MOTS and MM failed to get five or more good scores, which is terrible considering how inflated ratings are these days.

Considering all the fan events and Chris going to Rolling Stone play the album, I would say their expectations were about receiving a more positive feedback than MOTS. He says they don't care but the band are not stupid either. We're fans of a rather ambitious bunch in fact.

I don't know. I get the impression Moon Music's campaign focused on first-week numbers more than anything. The pre-sale and release stragegy was impeccable, it had signed copies, variants, ticket access... But after that just visuals.

I can't help but think MOTS selling less than AHFOD finally made the band realize that their concert demand is not tied to chart performance. It's obvious for me who keeps up with boxscore numbers, but maybe not for other people. Couple that with the panning and Moon Music reducing the commercial-ness was inevitable.

Agreed. Moon Music felt very transitional.

Moon Music will be over two years old by the time LP11 comes out. Also, people who went to the Los Angeles sessions mentioned that there were only new songs on the setlist.

I'm placing my bets on a single before the year is over and the album in early 2027. Releasing on Q4 used to be a good strategy because Christmas gave everyone a sales boost, now the charts are just holiday slop.

As for their label pushing the album hard, I need people here to remember that being a musician is still a job. Coldplay have a brand to maintain and so does their partners. Moon Music was the only #1 record from Atlantic in the US this year.

The promotion for All My Love clashed with Christmas so it makes sense to market the two songs together, the band are not going to release another holiday track just for the sake of narrative when they already have a classic rising every year on the charts. Also, I don't see what you mean about Full Moon not being good enough, Ariana Grande's deluxe was just live versions and Charli XCX had remixes, which this fandom famously hates... Surely you're not talking about Taylor Swift and her extra contents right? As a swiftie myself, the only thing The Anthology did was making TTPD a bloated mess.

It was a surprise drop but it still had an announcement after the songs came out, this one didn't and it's only on Tidal.

If they were to release new songs we would obviously get a proper announcement on social media.

I think we have more music videos on the way too, but singles-wise there's no reason for anything after All My Love. The sreaming era killed post-album releasing.

Another thing that got my attention was how album-oriented the promotion for Moon Music was: the pre-orders were launched early, non-singles had marketing push (IAAM and Good Feelings), the first television performances were only last month, etc. They were very much ready for the possibility of not scoring a hit and made sure to get headlines through huge debuts and career achievements. I think the concerts being a ridiculously huge success possibly made them realize that being a touring force is not related to chart numbers, so there's less pressure. Additionally, the hate MOTS received, while disproportionate, might have set some boundaries that influenced latter releases (ex. the majority of the fandom don't fuck with Angel Moon, so don't put her at the center).

I wouldn't say they're quitting pop altogether but I do have a similar feeling, specially because of the aesthetic. It's more subdued, hand-made, the band are wearing less colorful clothes, didn't shaved, etc. Just look at the difference: Guy mentioned that each member picks their own clothes from the main piece to the patches, so I wouldn't say they were trying too hard on MOTS or anything, but the fashion choices from MM are much closer to what the band wear on their everyday life (no pun intended). Ironically, I think they look more youthful in the most recent photoshoot.

Guess we'll have to agree to disagree then. I'm not comfortable with calling him dumb, but if y'all are...

Would you use that nickname in front of him to express what you want though? I doubt it, so my point still stands.

Chris said at the Brooklyn show that The Karate Kid was only finished weeks before the album came out. I wouldn't be surprised if it was part of the LP11 recordings. I actually hate when people say that, it implies Chris has gotten dumb or mentally incapacitated, which is just mean. Also, I doubt someone would have the guts to say that to his face.

I'm sure it will be made available eventually, Phil implied there's still more promotion coming. There's no mystery behind it: Coldplay are a 27 year-old band of late 40s men, they're not marketable in the current musical landscape. Parlophone, Phil, etc. knew getting a hit single would be difficult, so all efforts were centered around the album as a whole to get more consistent numbers and boost their public image/career achievements. Also, we need to remember that the band are entering legacy act territory at this point, so it's important to have a good first week, because the general public don't really pay attention to what happens on the charts afterwards (for the better or worse). P.S.1. QVC was fun, I hope they do it again. P.S.2. They own all of their masters starting from MOTS, so Parlophone gets a much smaller cut for new releases.

They sent it to Amazon US because it wasn't selling fast enough on their website (probably for the reasons you mentioned). Hopefully the signed LP11 copies will be made available directly.

Just to add into your comment, I would like to highlight some great measures they took in the US: Signed CDs sent to Amazon, which has cheaper shipping compared to their store. Greater availability in retail, including indie stores, Target, Barnes & Noble, etc. Unusual QVC appearance, making more headlines (aside from being a shopping channel). Exclusive editions with attractive content like Chris' personal notes and new songs. Phil handled this really well, the only thing I would add is an album buyer presale on the tour.

Also, it's very telling Moon Music had three non-singles doing over a million streams on their first day compared to MOTS' zero. People are consuming the album as a whole and that bodes well for the long run!