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an_cat OMG, your Coldplay history is sooo like mine! I also became a fan after Trouble... the experience was life-changing to say the least :D. I'd heard them around Yellow when the single was released. Radio DJs were getting all hot n bothered about "this new band called Coldplay..." I'd heard Yellow on the radio, and wasn't in the least bit impressed although they sounded alright. The music just didn't click. Then Trouble came along and the video (UK version) just blew me away...
I never would have latched on to U2 (and so many other bands) if I didn't have Coldplay first. Parachutes was perfect for me, and as I grew into AROBTTH and X&Y, my musical tastes expanded along as well. I'll always have them to thank for that. As for similarities in activism, I think any good band with a conscience / who feel passionately for things happening in the world would do what Bono & Coldplay have done... so many causes out there need addressing, and I would expect bands who've a heart to be supporting some of them.
I guess the way Chris & Bono are similar during concerts is their energy & the way they channel/express it... They both bound around the stage a lot and sing their hearts out :P And I so agree with you that Chris should vary his voice more within songs... For me, one of the best tracks I've heard is "Where Is My Boy". It more or less covers everything of his voice, and all the emotion there is just wow. And I can't wait for the day they decide to go mad and Chris has a go at singing like MJ / Justin Timberlake using his falsetto :lol: (he's already used it in his Ash and The Streets collaborations, but too bad there are no original CP productions out as yet :
man!! i agree completely...if it wasnt for coldplay i would have never even thought of liking u2 to the point i like them now...i would still be a nutso that still listens to cheap rock or wannabe punk. stupid little bands that dont even know real music. i thank coldpay for opening my ears to actually music, not crappy imitations!
i first liked u2 when they released beautiful day...and i went crazy...somehow i found a similarity...yes. chris is a like a little bono, and its not hard to tell that he admires bono completely, performance wise, even the way he carries himself...the same goes for jonny's guitar playing and the edge's...coldplay admires u2. perhaps, if they would have started at the same time, yes, they would need to be compared.
from the mind-blowing light shows to the messages in songs and so many other things u2 and coldplay are very similar...but never alike. mind me, but i dont even see a rivarly. :/