Famous Old Painter

I wonder if WOTW/POTP is going to be incorporated in some way

So this confirms part 2, right?

Will has a great voice but I don't get the sense he's particularly craving the spotlight. He seems content playing in the background. Coldplay couldn't asked for a better backing vocalist though. Except maybe Johnny. I wish he still sung. Remember his harmonies on Live 2003? /oldplayer

I wonder how many 10 minute prog songs Max Martin has produced in his time

I’m listening to Viva la Vida again for the first time in ages. I used to think of it as a pretty cool album, now I rank it up there with the greats of the 2000s alongside Funeral and In Rainbows. I wish the music critics of the world would get past their “cOlDpLaY bAd!” prejudices and recognise this. I’m tearing up at points. A part of me wonders why they can’t still be like this. A part of me admits it’s the nostalgia talking. I’m really showing my old age here (Chris once said bands shouldn’t continue past 30, well guess how old I just turned). But there are so many memories come flooding back. High school parties. The old coldplaying community (I used to post here all the time back in 2008). All the hype, all the paintings, all the leaks of acoustic versions and the like. What an era. Newplayers have no idea what they missed out on. Coldplay have gone on to achieve many great things since then, honestly. Ghost Stories and Everyday Life make me just as emotional in their own way. But here’s the thing. Chris made a big deal of MX and AHFOD being colourful and joyful. But he seems oblivious to the fact he fucking nailed it on Viva la Vida. Probably the reason I think of this album more fondly than say, AROBTTH (which I also deem a classic) is because of how alive, joyful and colourful it is. It’s pure happiness in audio form, but it’s natural unintentional happiness. They didn’t set out to paint a rainbow, it just happened. There’s nothing forced about it whatsoever. Strawberry Swing just came on, it might be a bit too much for me lads ? Edit - Another thing. I was reminiscing on when I discovered Coldplay. It was 2000, I was 9 years old, and I was gifted a copy of Parachutes. That like turned into love when I got AROBTTH in 2002. I think back to how many of my favourite bands back then are still around. Most of them split up or vanished into obscurity more than a decade ago. The fact Coldplay are still selling tons of records, generating hype and are a major part of so many peoples lives to this day is an extraordinary achievement in itself.

It definitely feels like the cheesiest song Coldplay have released but it makes perfect business sense, a collaboration with BTS is an easy way to get to #1. And if they're willing then why not? And if I squint It kinda sounds like a Carly Rae Jepsen song so maybe it's not all bad...

If we're doing recommendations, listen to Rows by Mew. The lead singer Jonas Bjerre is also in Apparatjik with Guy Berryman! My mix starts at 21:42

Colorutara currently has a score of over 4/5 on RYM, which is pretty huge. RYM is usually very negative towards Coldplay even when they're at their best, so this is a huge surprise. Several users are even calling it the best progressive rock song of the 2020s so far, which is insane.

There's a lot of similarity to Mew here, particularly Rows Man, I want Guy to bring Jonas into the studio for the next LP10

Songs like Coloratura and Arabesque frustrate me because they prove Coldplay can still make powerful, boundary-pushing and highly creative music, but they actively choose not to 90% of the time.

It looks like Coloratura will probably be released at the same time everywhere. It's past midnight in Australia and NZ and there's no sign of it.

This is the track I’m looking forward to the most. I feel spoilt getting it so early

Look, if I could visit an alternative universe where MX and AHFOD never happened I would, but I can’t. This is who Coldplay are now and I’ve come to accept it. GS and EL are in my top 4 so I can live with this arrangement, and even the odd Newplay pop tune makes me smile when I’m in the right mood. It feels like beating a dead horse to say this, but I’d rather hear HFTW or SJLT at the gym than 90% of the radio pop crap they play. It’s not what I want Coldplay to do, but they do it better than most. I’ll never not be excited for new Coldplay, even though I have a good feeling MOTS may end up being my least favourite album from them. My Universe is admittedly pushing it, but I’m still open to how the rest of the album might sound. As for the live shows, I’m past the point of caring. I used to be in a touring band myself and I know people just want the hits. Playing slow or obscure tracks people don’t know just kills the momentum for 90% of people in the room, even if a few diehards love them. Playing Paradise and ASFOS instead of Warning Sign or Trouble in Town makes sense to me. The crowd are mainly there to see the hits and you gotta get them jumping.

What do we recon will be on Volume 2? Will it even be an album, or an EP, or what? So far I've got Original UFO, UATW2, The Race and possibly (unlikely) Car Kids. And I can't figure out if Alien Radio is an actual song or not.

When my fiancee heard it she compared it to Nikki Webster's Strawberry Kisses and like... she's isn't wrong.?

My Universe is definitely the most radio-friendly out and out pop song the band has produced up to this point, so whether or not that's something that excites you depends on your perspective. I can imagine Oldplayers violently retching. Fans of SJLT and ASFOS might dig it though. I can already tell MOTS will definitely not make my top 5 Coldplay records. But as long as it's better than AHFOD I'll be happy. Already the artwork is much better, so that's something.

Now we've had some time to sit with it, do we think Everyday Life counts as a return to Oldplay or not?

Doubt it would actually happen, but I’d be into it. Sounding more like Ghost Stories isn’t necessary a bad thing in my book.

Possibly. Though I'm a weirdo that has Ghost Stories in his top 3 so I'm not a great authority on these things

Here's my current playlist 1. Everyday Life 2. Church 3. Orphans 4. Flags 5. Champion of the World 6. Eko 7. Arabesque 8. Trouble in Town 9. Cry Cry Cry 10. Guns 11. Daddy 12. When I Need a Friend

I'm hesistant to say this album is a return to Oldplay perse, but I easily prefer it to Mylo and AHFOD. Maybe X&Y as well.

I prefer the YouTube mix. I like the message of the album version but the sample is just too violent and jarring to sound at home in a Coldplay song.

Not to make a big deal of this but, is Chris alright? He hasn’t been anywhere near his usual bubbly self in any of the EL interviews thus far. Even in the Ghost Stories era he was more upbeat. His comments on Glastonbury got me especially concerned; refusing to play there again all because of something some idiot on Twitter said. That’s very unlike him.

Orphans is really fun

Wow, I'm out of the loop. Look forward to seeing it soon then!