Tonsu

It's nothing like the live versions, what are you talking about? :shocked2: As for 'no such thing as over-produced' please Google Let It Be...Naked and then come back on the thread to talk about it sensibly :shocked2:

I agree, I love the 02! It's amazingly atmospheric for the size, it's a perfect venue considering I think :) I've been there loads and have only seen the 'centre stage' thing a couple of times but it worked out well. The only problem I've ever had there is the sound/acoustics. I don't know if it's the venue or the technicians (most probably both) but it seems to be really hard for them to balance the sound so it sounds good across the whole place. When I've been they've usually got it right eventually when an act plays there for more than one night, but we don't have that luxury (yet?...) What?! Oh, I see! :P :laugh3:

This and Charlie Brown equally. I wouldn't say they ruined the songs but they made both (imo) from 12 out of 10s into 7 or 8s. It might not seem much, but as those were, for me, the strongest tracks which might have 'made' the album it's tipped it from being 'an almost classic' to 'high average'.

Lovely reviews everyone, so glad everyone had an amazing time!! :D

I've always hated Tiesto - as a dance music fan since 1990 he always seemed to be taking the genre backwards into generic rubbish since he emerged in the 2000s. I've simply never understood how he became a 'superstar' DJ off the back of his work, I've disliked each and every remix he's ever attempted that I've heard :angry: Having said that, I actually think this is pretty good!! :P Much, much better remixes will emerge, but it seems like a very good place to start :) Yes and no. Coldplay have definitely employed DJs to do this kind of thing many times in the past (they are B-sides on singles!). Equally, there are many unofficial remixes and mash-ups (which are often better for me).

Personally I think the point is that they tried all the new things on Viva...and it was a huge success (that was the 'departure'). Now, they've returned to X&Y ways and been so self-indulgent that they've spent all their time on creating noodley interludes, and self-obsessed so much about every little detail, and in the process actually lost sight of the songs. The songs to me were to the front of X&Y, but the only thing I hear in MX (apart from PoC and Paradise) is production over song integrity.

I've been asked not to post about this so I'll simply refute it before the rumour even starts up again. Coldplay are NOT going to add a second date in London for Saturday the 10th of December at the 02. Hope that's clear ;)

I cried and cried at this Kiame, all my thoughts are with you. In my very humble opinion I you should change the thread title to something like 'money means absolutely nothing compared to those you love' or 'tell those you love that they are so precious to you, because any minute could be the last'. 'Every moment was so precious'. Bless you, be strong please. You say that you wish you could change places with your sister, but from what you wrote I have absolutely no doubt that your wonderful sister would love nothing more than for you to live the life she could not. I might PM you if you don't mind... Again, bless you and your family, so sorry for your loss. Pete xxx

I don't think they care about the money whatsoever anymore (why would they?), but in every other respect the pressure Coldplay are under is ridiculous. Probably most pertinent is the pressure they put themselves under imho.

I think it is, in the sense that, even though it seems to have been the over-arching aim of the album, I actually think it's their least cohesive release yet. Bizarrely, I also think that the criticisms we heard that Eno had about X&Y are actually more applicable to MX :\

I would say Up In Flames but I can never remember the words...:uhoh: :laugh3: There are too many to mention really but a new favourite is PoC :)

Thank you, I will do that for sure (or as my American friend hollas - is that the word?! - FO SHO' :D). Welcome to the forum by the way :) I just wanted to know quickly if it was an awesome gig to listen to (I know it would have been to have been there!!) I read it was really good quality broadcasting, so that'll be great. That encore setlist was AMAZING though. I think that must be about the best four songs they've played in a row EVER, and to close the gig too!! I'm in shock here at that :shocked2:

Missed it :( Was it good? I read about that encore set...Coldplay HEAVEN :o

Completely agreed, they've lost the spine-tingling quality the live version had. Also in live Guy's bass made the song complete and really 'resolved' it. That part of the studio mix doesn't work for me at all :(

Don't like them - they're completely unnecessary imho.

Oh wow, so some of the people who worked so hard for tickets managed to get them in the end? Amazing!! Have a great gig everyone, I'm sure it'll be mind-blowing :sunny:

Spot on for me! Since I grew to love Parachutes and A Rush and then saw them for the first time they just blew me away - the difference between the CD and the live show. Since then I've mainly listened to the albums just to get to know them enough for the live shows to really hit home (you need to know the songs!) I think this album has just confirmed it more than ever - Coldplay are a live band.

Brilliant theories everyone, enjoyed each and every minute I read what it means to you so far :) It's such a shame for me they seem to have 'bottled' the space theme by leaving off Moving to Mars, and so made it instead just an 'urban jungle' story of love, hope, rejection, then reconciliation and hope again. Having aliens and interplanetary-travel involved would have been, if you'll pardon the pun, stellar :thumbsup:

Fascinating points here and in other posts, thanks :) Viva's going to be timeless I think, but MX is not just 'of its time' but also possibly very dated already I think. The electronica (the breaks in PoC and the terrible 'CD is scratched' effect in BLIBYH spring to mind as some of the worst offenders) haven't seen their like in dance music since the mid-90s I don't think, and for good reason. And there is an awful lot of 80s influence in there that sounds totally redundant and utterly self-indulgent to me (having lived through that time myself). There was none of that on Viva. It was all new and original and still sounds fresh to me. Almost all of MX sounds derivative. Still early days so I really do hope my opinion changes!

Can't vote! 'Some songs' - no, not at all, think it was great. 'As many as they did, with the album versions being worse, and a couple more released as singles' - yes!! :P

Yes, because MX/HLH, CB and UAtW (in that order) are all really disappointing for me compared to the live versions. The other way around I would have been very nicely surprised by the live counterparts. MM is much better in the studio but I already knew from the live version that it would never be a favourite. I avoided PoC so was nicely blown away. UiF too, but it's in the 'MM' category for me :(

I wouldn't agree with the score necessarily, but some excellent points made here :)

Live, by far.

I hate it :cry: They've lost everything about the live version - most especially the immediacy and vitality - and drowned it in over-production.

I'm sure I'll grow to love it, and so these are just first impressions after my first listen. I didn't 'get' most of x&y at all until multiple listens compared to the first two albums, and hated Violet Hill and disliked Viva until the penny dropped for me (took about 30 plays for Violet Hill - now one of my most favourite live songs - and many more for Viva - which I enjoyed on that tour but am now happy to see the back of). Pluses and minuses: + PoC is a great triumph imho. A huge nice surprise! + (Fairly) consistent production throughout. If Viva was a rainbow of individual tracks, then this is (mostly) a rainbow throughout, from start to finish. + Paradise and Every Teardrop really find their place here. I never liked ETiaW and Paradise was better and had no desire to listen to them again since release, but hearing them here they're like long-lost friends and fit in perfectly. + Studio MM is much better than the (imo) very flat live version (I still think it should have stayed a B-side and been long forgotten though). - Horrible production on HLH kills the song stone dead for me. Awful, awful, awful. CB fares better, and is still good, but the live is far, far superior. The studio version kills a lot of the passion for me. Both should have been re-recorded after being honed on the live circuit imho. Death of two of their best ever songs for me :cry: UAtW also is horribly neutered - again, live, one of their best ever for me. - I think the production, overall, is just horrible. - It's no Viva, is it? :\ That album had so many flavours, and nooks and crannies to explore and grow to love over time. This doesn't seem to have any space to grow into. In that sense, it's pop in the purest sense. What you first see is (perhaps) all you get...(?) - Lyrically it's insane. A great friend of mine told me to look them up online to see just how bad they are, but I can't bear to :( - Wasn't it Up In Flames that made it as a song written and recorded just a few weeks ago? HOW ON EARTH DID IT GET THE NOD?! :o - It's x&y lite - the theme and production consistency are there (and this time the production is much more 'colourful'), but generally not the ideas, songs or development of those ideas (I won't even mention lyrics again at this point). - Overall: over three years for this?!! This IS just a reaction to the first listen. I was wrong about quite a lot of Viva after just a play or two, I'd be the first one to admit it. And so, of course I pray I'm wrong (as previously proven by the boys) but I just can't see where this album can grow given more time. For the mainstream press, compared to all other pop/rock releases, I can't see how they can give it less than 6/10. For Coldplay alone, I can see arguments ranging from 3s up to 7s or 8s tops, though I would have to hear very convincing arguments for ratings of 8... Right, onto second listen, I very much hope and pray to be proven wrong by this :)