MasoKnight

It’s been awhile…. Anyway, the good things: Guy’s bass line, the final chorus/outro, Chris’s falsetto, the light touches like the choir and initial countdown, the production. The bad things: fades out on a bit of a whimper (could’ve faded with a guitar riff if no solo), the lyrics in the first half—although Chris’s backwards speak makes the first verse more interesting than it should’ve been, Jonny being muted. The ugly things: the come on/hold tight bridge (verse?) that is waaaay too long and uninspired. It’s not their best lead single, but I think it’s better than AOAL at least.

Anyone post this yet? Two songs confirmed for release tomorrow! Edit: I believe this starts at 11:30 am PST (aka California time). Edit: direct link to facebook post -- here.

Haven't listened to Coldplay much lately but checked out a Spotify playlist last night on a whim. What timing! I've been here since Speed of Sound was released--the first of many times arguments began about Coldplay going pop or selling out. (Actually some said that even about Parachutes!) But the beginning of a new era is always fun to me. I will never forget the great Viva la Vida leaks when everybody migrated to an abandoned Justin Timberlake messageboard to download .mp3 files in terrible quality--and at random. I think I got Cemeteries of London first. Enjoy these next few weeks, everyone!

I'm too old to engage in this fight. :) X&Y doesn't do it for me, but I won't yuck on your yum. Plenty of good tracks there. Square One, White Shadows, Speed of Sound, Low.

Let's get the credibility stuff out of the way first: Fan since Speed of Sound. Two favorite albums are AROBTTH and VLV. Love the early stuff: Careful Where You Stand, For You, Bigger Stronger, etc. I've been on the forums for every launch since X&Y. Without exception, the new albums are met with disappointment. I think AHFOD is good, not great. Definitely better than GS and X&Y. Probably equal to MX. Some classic songs are apparent already: Title track and Birds especially. Everglow drags a bit, but most of the songs are edited well and well produced. Chris's vocals are beautifully raw, and Guy is beastly. The weakest tracks are Army of a One and X Marks the Spot. The latter is atrocious. Definitely a flow killer and borderline offensive. If you like the album, ignore the negativity and enjoy the music. The tour will be awesome.

He was singing something along the lines of "All I ever wanted, all I ever needed is here in my arms," which is from Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode. He used to sing it ocassionally during Don't Panic.

Only Superstition and No More Keeping My Feet on the Ground. Kinda surprised those never happened.

Hmmm... He may be the only person on the planet who would rank Parachutes > Mylo > AROBTTH

It's not that close to their best, but it's not as poor as their worst.

A Sky Full of Stars is getting slaughtered, deservedly.

Positive and well-written reviews from Rolling Stone, Spin, Line of Best Fit, Absolute Punk, and others today

1. Viva la Vida 2. AROBTTH 3. Parachutes 4. Ghost Stories 5. X&Y 6. MX

Lol. If they don't wanna tour, they don't have to tour, but the idea that the songs are "too intimate" is a bullshit excuse. They don't have to play arenas, and even if they do, they've played plenty of slow and quiet songs in arenas.

This is good stuff, and generally I'd agree with you. But it's been clear for many years that Coldplay's music is almost never reviewed on the merits. Half the reviews posted so far say a sentence or two about the music, make a tired joke, post a poor score, and sign off. It wouldn't matter what Coldplay produced; the reviews would be roughly the same.

I love the album. Couldn't care less.

So, surprise! Critics must identify this as a "transition" album, not to be judged in its own right, because Chris is also "transitioning." I mean, people mock Pitchfork, but at least they'll talk about the music beyond name-checking Avicii, Radiohead, and U2.

I like the new album (certainly more than MX), but it definitely seems like the VLV era was the band's peak in most ways.

Everything's Not Lost (but NOT Life is for Living) In My Place What If Yes (but NOT Chinese Sleep Chant) DLIBYH ASFOS

They've been "overproduced" since X&Y (and I'm sure some people said the same about AROBTTH), so I guess the answer is yes?

^There might be some X&Y era stuff in there. I was thinking the title track, but I could also hear something like "Proof" and "Pour Me."

AIMH: 8.5/10 Magic: 8.5/10 Ink: 6.5/10 True Love: 7.5/10 Midnight: 7.5/10 Another's Arms: 8.5/10 Oceans: 9/10 ASFOS: 3/10 O: 7/10 And the fade-out (still confused about whether this is O and the piano part is Fly On): better than The Escapist Overall: Better than MX and X&Y.

Somewhere between 6.0 and 7.5

The opening is atrocious, but the rest of the song is really nice. The weird, almost brass-like effect on the guitar is cool.

Why is it okay for every instrument except drums to be electric?