greta22

yeah the second i saw his jaguar bass i was like oooooo i want that! i love the white and i like the custom image behind the pickguard. i've always loved jaguars (ever since cobain and now johnny) ... i have a jazzmaster myself (very similiar to jaguars, same sunburst as johnny's) and i must say they are pretty sweet!

first off the coldplay song is in a lower key (im sure someone already mentioned this within the thread) on the first listen of that youtube video i could tell chris' voice was higher than usual, for them to show the similarities of the two songs. i highly doubt it will win in court. it is VERY hard to win cases like these where all you're trying to prove is plagiarism within melodies and not something more tangible, like lyrics. even though i agree both songs do have similar melodies within them -- this is an inevitable thing to happen within music from time to time when you're in certain keys and just naturally are going to thus chose certain notes within that key. i would be really surprised if satriani won and i think it's really silly he's even bothering. i'm sure if it was a band that wasn't as huge as coldplay he wouldn't even bother.

oh i know all about this! yes trust me, it does get a lot easier. when i first started playing coldplay songs and using my thumb it definitely hurt -- even remember my thumb being sore for a few days...but after a while it's like second nature and won't even seem awkward. i use my thumb for my songs all the time now, cant imagine otherwise cause it definitely helps create interesting dynamics in creating different bass notes within progressions

whoah whoah whoah. i think this might be the sexiest mr. berryman photo ive ever seen.

this song is absolutely lovely.... reaffirms my obsession with Coldplay all these years. hope they stick more to this type of musicianship. reminds me of debussy.

I've always said from the beginning....some of Coldplay's best songs never go on their albums! I have no idea why. Murder, I Ran Away, Animals, 1.36, One I Love are absolute, brilliant classics and is the reason AROBTTH is my favorite "era" of their music thus far. Last year I heard "How You See the World" for the first time and thought it was a cover it was so good (because who wouldn't put this song on an album?), before realizing it was an X&Y B-side. Plus Sleeping Sun and Gravity? OMG ?! Beautiful beautiful beautiful. First time I heard the ending of Gravity I got teary eyed. VLV is an amazing album but personally I think they could have put a couple of songs from Prospekt's March on there and made a better overal album, musically. Don't get me wrong - I'm not complaining considering we have them now -- but I feel songs like Rainy Day, Prospket's March, Life In Technicolor II, Now My Feet Won't Touch the Ground -- even the writing quality of the short Postcards From Far Away -- are superior and more of the classic Coldplay "musicianship" that I fell in love with. Don't confuse that with me saying "I like them to stay the same sound" -- I LOVE the fact they're finally experimenting a bit more and frankly, they should have gotten to it sooner. I've always known Coldplay were better musicians than what sometimes they get typecasted as being "bland" or the same old thing -- because I knew how unique their B-sides have been. I get the feeling they either get pressure from their record label or feel they have to represent a more "promotable" image that makes them feel insecure from releasing their more "out there" stuff as A-Sides. I think they should stop worrying so much and start releasing stuff that isn't the same old formula. "Lost" for example is a great song but it kind of just reminded me of their same old big anthem, verse chorus verse mantra that "Fix You" was. I think I remember reading Lost is an old song, anyway. Just because you get Eno and put a huge hip-hop beat behind it doesn't mean you're necessarily "breaking out" of the mold...

low76: i saw one of your posts where you made a comment something like, "well oasis didn't start using synths and sell out" .... are you implying that using synths is "selling out"? because i dont understand that reasoning at all. do you consider the beatles "sold out" for using synths? or u2? or any other thousands of bands that do as well? because I consider "Viva La Vida" a very beatles-esque track. realize that all of the tracks on the album are going to sound very different from one another... look at violet hill compared to viva la vida ... a beautiful song is a beautiful song, regardless of what instruments (synthesized or not) are being used to create it.

i can see a slight enya resemblance.... however have you ever heard of imogen heap? i definitely think it has traces of her production style mixed in it, especially with the big sweeps of kettle drums and strings & synths, etc

its ok .. let the man rant, he'd be one of those guys who hated it when Dylan switched to electric... it's ok you'll get over it and learn to love it.

oh man ... mr. berryman looks so hot, it's ridiculous.... i love the scruff! like someone else said, "oh the others, whatever...." hahaha i really like the new overall "look", too ... it almost reminds me of a hint of contemporary "sgt. pepper"-esque theme in their clothes. though i kinda wish chris would cut his hair short again, like the parachute days... i think that was his best look. you know, the other day i was at this packed bar with a group of friends, and i saw this incredibly attractive guy there who looked just like guy. i remember thinking "mmm i'd like to get to know you better" ... later on that night my friend walked up to me and whispered in my ear, "there's this guy on your right who totally would be your style...." and i glanced over and noticed it was the same dude. even my friends know...i got berryman on the brain!

wow this song is amazing. violet hill was great but not as much as a punch in the gut as i wanted the first single to be --- a rebel yell sounded like sloppy 80s to me, even though i liked the fact it was so experimental -- this song is just amazing. the first two songs made me a tiny bit wary but i knew from all of prospekt's blog entries that this was in fact going to be the "album that they'll be remembered by"... the production is awesome -- i love the orchestral electronica into it with the four on the floor beat ... such lovely lovely strings.... it almost reminds me of an imogen heap influence. and thse interlude/outro reverby vocal thing is sooo u2 ... :) they've finally stopped being so self conscious! its finally great to see them explode into colors.

whoah... i just heard "sleeping sun" for the first time just now. im obviously really out of the loop with the X&Y b-sides... why didnt this make the album either? what the hell were they smoking when they made the final tracklisting.

oh yeah tracie, i bet some of the b sides are going to be amazinggg.... i'm really stoked to hear they plan on releasing a whole b-side album. they should have done this for their previous albums too... WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

yeah i cant for the life of me understand why, in particular, murder, i ran away, or animals never made it on AROBTTH. i always thought these 3 were so amazing....could be singles, let alone make it on the album. i also felt like they had a bit extra "edge" to them that could give coldplay the credit they needed against the critics who always like to make it seem like coldplay's material is "safe" ... it's sad cause i can just see their stupid label advising them which songs to put on the album or not, as if they know what they're talking about. look at "gravity" for example. amazing song that got left off the album; they give the song to that band embrace, and it becomes their biggest hit! (I like the coldplay version much better too).... thats why im looking foward to this new album. even though they've always made amazing music, they were always too self-conscious. it seems like now they're finally starting to say, "fuck it" which is refreshing, haha. EDIT: Oh man, I forgot to mention Ladder in the Sun. How great is that song? I used to listen to that song 100 times a day, I swear. I wish they would have recorded that in the studio....

Wow. I just heard this song for the first time and it's amazing. How the hell did this not make it onto X&Y? It's got a nice catchy verse and then that lovely, bittersweet chorus that reminds me so much of why I fell in love with Coldplay in the first place. Also reminds me much more of their AROBTTH days, I'm guessing that's why they never released it besides as a bonus track on the Japan disc... I'll never understand why some of their B-sides never made it onto the albums...they're so good! Songs like Murder, I Ran Away, Animals, One I Love, 1.36, are some of my favorites, out of any of their material. Does anyone else agree? To tell you the truth when I just heard it now I thought it had to be them doing a cover, because I couldn't see why an original this good wouldn't make it on the album. Considering songs like "The Hardest Part" or "Swallowed in the Sea" made it on the album....which were ok songs, but much inferior in my opinion....at least I have a another "new" track to listen to while I wait for the upcoming album :)

Man my life would be a lot less enjoyable if Coldplay wouldn't have existed; it would be soooo different.... First off, I've always grown up around Beatles music. My dad is a huge fan, so basically ever since I can remember, I've listened to the Beatles and got used to the idea that, "Oh, all music must sound like this and be this good"....sadly that is not the case in this world....The one bummer for me was that Beatles were always part of my dad's generation and their whole story is completed: I never got to experience them first hand. John Lennon just seems like a dream to me - I wasn't even born when he got killed. The first band to be a little bit more "my own" was Nirvana... I became an obsessee when I was 12...listened to them to the point of burn out at around age 14-15, haha. Even then though, I got to Nirvana a few years after Cobain had died. After that I kinda just listened to a big mish-mash of grunge, hard rock, classic rock, punk, acoustic, etc but nothing really felt like a slap in the face musically -- until Coldplay -- when I was around a sophmore in highschool. I can still remember the first time I fell in love with Coldplay - I was watching a promo for the new Six Feet Under season on HBO and they played "A Rush of Blood to the Head" (song) in the background. I can still remember getting goosebumps and thinking, "Oh my God, who is this?" After that my friend, who was already a Coldplay fan, let me have their cds and I became a million more times obsessed than herself, haha. Their albums blew me away, particularly A Rush of Blood to the Head. Their music just seemed so lush, decadent, sexy, jazzy -- so much more "grown up" than a lot of the horrible shit on the radio these days. I was finally able to have a band that was totally "mine" to watch grow, change and see live. At the same time as this -- I read my absolute favorite book in the world -- The Beach by Alex Garland. There's nothing special about the writing in this book, but man, I don't what it is...it's just incredible. It's such a fast read there would be points in time where you forgot you were reading and would almost feel like you were watching a movie -- that's how gripping this book was. I highly suggest everyone to pick it up. I can remember staying up all night one warm summer day and reading this and having Coldplay soaking through my head, so these two events coinciding I think made it all the more intense. (Sounds weird but I think what I'm trying to say is when two awesome things happen to you at once, it feels magnified) It also completely and utterly changed my life, muscian-wise. That's the biggest part; I can't imagine where I'd be musically right now, without Coldplay. I have been playing the guitar for over 11 years or so now, but Coldplay is what turned me on to alternate tunings for the guitar, to the point where I will rarely write a song in standard anymore. It was like opening up a whole new palette of colors. I can remember buying the Coldplay DVD, taking it home and watching the incredible live version of God Put A Smile Upon Your Face, and feeling such a tingling, goosebump sensation of inspiration inside of me from how incredible it sounded (I'm sure other musicians have experienced that) that I picked up my guitar and wrote one of my favorite originals. I had always loved the piano, but after listening to Chris Martin, it gave me the kick in the ass to pick it up, and I've been playing now for the past few years.... almost all my songs have piano in it now, I can't imagine otherwise.... Finally, I've decided in my life to pursue songwriting and production work. Before in highschool I always loved music and playing guitar and songwriting, but after discovering Coldplay and alternate tunings and piano creating this whole other world for me, I decided I didn't want to do anything else. This in turn got me into classical music and studying orchestration composition, which I want to study in college next year as well..... So yeah basically, holy shit, my life would be a lot different without Coldplay! Isn't it unnerving to think how a few lads (whom I've never met), from the other side of the pond, thousands of miles away, could play such an influence in one's life? .... Can't wait for the new album! Haha

did you notice this traciemorgan.... during the interlude (jonny's solo) there's an ambient synth droning in the background? ok, sorry this is a complaint, but in my opinion it really does nothing to the mix but make it harder to hear the rest of the instruments, and sound more clouded. i guess they were trying to create an ambiance to that part but i dont think its even loud enough to register anything to your ear besides sounding cloudy....

haha well i dont think this thread is about complaints really, just what we would want to do with the track had we been the producers. people who like production work always think like this, trust me (dont know if you're into that or not, if you are i apologize)...but yeah, i am always thinking "how would i make this track sound" even when i listen to my favorite songs of all time...

If i produced the track.... I really like the 70-80's ness vibe to it, the big clunky drums (and that chimy sound they have on top of drums/snare, I'm assuming to make it sound more machine-like)...so i like that direction...however... - i would prefer the vocals to have less echo delay on it. makes it a sound a bit too far away. another problem with this is the fact it makes the flaws in any vocal melody seem more obvious, and in violet hill, it sounds like they wanted to sort of mimic a "dylan-esque" ad-libbing vocal, somewhat raw vocal melody where he doesnt sing too perfectly...if you go for that style, adding a lot of delay or reverb to a melody makes the flaws sound too apparent, in my opinion. - when jonny's guitar comes in with the obvious heavy distortion, i think it's too much. i understand this is intentional but it seems to stick out too much from the rest of the mix. that trick reminds me too much of a linkin park idea or something, haha. and i like distortion. i would have either kept the distortion the same and lowered the volume in the mix, or lessed the distortion on the guitar but kept the volume the same. - like others have said, it's way too compressed. you dont hear any drop in the audio levels really until the very end when its just chris' vocals and the piano. it would have been nicer to have more dynamics. i hate how everyone overmasters tracks these days. but then again ive been guilty of doing it too so i cant criticze ;) - during jonny's solo i think it would have been really nice to add a pretty and complex string melody during the 2nd half of it, underneath jonny's guitar. i think it would have been a nice touch to the "decadent" sound the song reflects. - after jonny's solo it would have been nice to have another break where chris would sing a completely different line from the rest of the song's verses/chrouses, to spicen up the track before the final outro and make it a tiny bit longer....

im surprised they didnt have the solo go anywhere either. i really enjoy the song but when it gets to that part i always imagine it breaking into something more intense -- it's a great long break so they could have put so many good things in it --- like some great big string melodies underneath, would have made the repetitive solo make sense. it would have been nice to see jonny pull out a really crazy ass solo right there. even though he's one of my favorite guitarists due to the fact he never lets his guitar "overbear" the song, it would be nice for once to see him pull a hendrix or something.

that chord actually is C#min add 9, meaning you add a D# to it, not a B. Hope this helps.

i've always been so envious of people who have perfect pitch (and i know a few... if you've never seen them work in person before... it's so unsettling... uncanny haha...) but one thing i've always been able to do is pick out melodies well in a song. i'm always the one tuning my friends' guitars when there's no tuner around. however, i can't name the notes i hear off the type of my head (like perfect pitch people) for the hell of me....

yeah i gotta stay clear of those IPA beers before a show... (Always strong alcohol content, like 8-9%). i always drink them cause i love hoppy beer, but i'm only about 115 lbs, so after a few, the lyrics are starting to get a little hazy in my head and i start thinking, "oh shit...." haha.... but hell yeah, after the show, that's the whole point. i get so stressed out before the show, worrying about setting up everything properly, getting the sound right, performing well, etc..that the whole point is to unwind a little bit afterwards with your friends! plus the fact they usually give you free drinks afterwards always helps... :)

gee, thank you. finally, someone on my side. lol. no, i understand, people get defensive about their songs that they love... i'm the same way. however, i was never trying to bash it, or sound like a bitch (i'm a chick by the way... but thats ok haha) .... i was simply just stating my opinion on the overall production behind it and i thought the D# was just odd and maybe unintentional, thats all. i totally accept any debates disagreeing with it, and i understand how people will assume i'm making a big deal over something so small, but people dont have to be so harsh! geesh. the only reason i decided to make a thread about it was because i noticed it right away when i first heard it this morning, and when i showed it later to my dad, whose opinion i value, he noticed the same thing without me mentioning it beforehand. i think people are so afraid to NOT like this song that anyone who dares to not absolutely adore it is a heretic or something. i even admitted i love the song, i was just a bit underwhelmed by eno's production. for all the money i'm sure it costs to hire him i was just expecting a more thorough job, in my opinion. thats all.

haha oh man we already got drugs involved, we're doomed! no to tell you the truth though, dont get me wrong, i like a little smoke or drink now and then... but i hate it before practice or doing a show. i totally cant do it, it just makes me have to focus too much, to the point where it kills it for me. i do like to drink a beer before the show to soothe my nerves a little bit, but i could never understand how people can get so shitty before a show and rock out...