ApproximatelyInfinite

I really, really like Up In Flames as we've heard it so far, but part of me is wondering what my standards are now anyway. However, if it really stays that simple on record and isn't mucked up by overproduction, I think it'll end up being one of my favorites on the record. Let's hope they have that much sense.

Aww, thank you! :nice: That's honestly what I try to do. As "worried" as I am about the new stuff, it's not my place to dictate what I think they SHOULD be doing instead, no matter how badly I may want it. I just don't see cause to be disrespectful about something that at the end of the day is a matter of opinion. Back to topic: I think there are two things that would make me stop wanting to see Coldplay live: 1. If they became racist bigots or similar 2. Backup dancers :blank: :P

Yeah, I'm kind of wondering if my standards have been lowered :blank:. However, I can't deny that I really just purely enjoyed this on first listen, even if I didn't have the same sort of reaction that I did when I first heard songs that I'm absolutely in love with. I like that you can actually hear instruments more than anything else, but then again, it's a live version. My hope now is that they don't muck it up in the studio--same with all the live tracks we've heard.

OK, I REALLY like this. I think it has too much falsetto, but Chris has been relying too heavy on that for years now, I can deal with that. As Corkus said earlier, it sounds like maybe it could be off X&Y, but that's something I'll gladly take right now. I actually really like X&Y, too. :dazzled:

Oh man, so going again, VIP passes from Ian/elsewhere or not. You have to get there EARLY, FYI. Last time Coldplay played, I'm pretty sure that was the record audience for the Today Show.

I once got upgraded to front row by R42 at a non-GA Coldplay gig and the price on the new tickets was $700 :blank: And yeah, I take it back, I'd have to like at least two of the bands playing for me to make the trek to California again, but still, Coachella was SO MUCH FUN regardless, and I really do think Coldplay will play.

I'll definitely see them, yeah. Like someone said above...they've meant so much to me over the years that one sub-par album (IF that's what it really turns out to be) and questionable promotion techniques won't make me less excited to see them, really. They still will play older stuff too, and they put on great live performances--it's always fun. No matter how disappointed I end up being in MX (or not), I don't see myself wholly ignoring or giving up on a band that I've followed around for a decade and that I know the names and faces of all their roadies and team members. I've travelled lots to see them in the past, so if MX really isn't for me, I think I'd just see them when they come close to me and not really follow them to other states and countries as much. This is all assuming I can find a job to AFFORD their tickets...:uhoh:

Exactly, Dave Holmes was on crack when he said they'd never passed the $100 mark. That said, different dates on the tour do vary in price depending on venue and city, but it's always just about as expensive as even the hardcores are willing to pay. They definitely need to watch themselves in that department. I feel like their business decisions are going to crash on their heads in the next few years. I would KILL to go to Coachella again :bigcry:. I went this year because of the amazing lineup, but I had such a good time that I wouldn't even really care who's playing next year if I could be sure I would be able to go and afford it...*sigh*

You guys are so nice :wacky:. I'm surprised anyone even reads my long posts. I really, really need to learn how to be concise :P. I actually think "Major Minus" sounds incredibly like "Intervention," but no one else has agreed with me on that one yet...:uhoh:

Exactly. It just feels like a lot because you're spending it all in one go, but if you bought the components separately (which you usually can't do because of all the exclusive stuff), you'd be paying the same amount total, or even more.

I don't know how I missed this for a few days, but this is SO GREAT, OMG :lol: Pai, your voice and accent are amazing. Hartroc, fabulous lyrics :dance:

Up In Flames is definitely the one I'm most looking forward to. Some other things Will says here aren't really what I wanted to hear, though.

Whaaaat? For some reason when I load your profile I can't see anywhere to write things :confused:

Prepare for a big, long Chelsea post :lol:

Thalia, I don't know where else to say this because you don't have your profile wall-thing on, but YOU HAVE THE BEST SIG AND AVI I'VE EVER SEEN :lol: :heart: (as usual, really) Great work everyone! :D. I don't have an artistic bone in my body :disappointed:

:lol: I actually really disliked ASARY when it came out, but that was fine with me because it was a random B-side and not a lead single off a new album (I love it now, though). If Paradise had been the B-side to ETIAW, I feel like I'd be much less worried about the album. Paradise just screams B-side to me (if anything at all), and I feel like unless the rest of the stuff on the album is going to match it, it should have just been stuck on the back of ETIAW. I can't believe the guys are as proud of it as they seem.

Today I was randomly watching Get Him To The Greek because it was on TV, and this scene felt all too familiar in light of recent events... [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD-DYjqW7HQ]Hateful Respect Scene - Get Him to the Greek Movie (2010) - HD - YouTube[/ame] "It seems as though you just went into the studio and just did whatever the producer asked you to do...Aldus Snow needs to be two guitars, a bass, and a drumkit and his incredible voice, and that's it and that's what we want to hear, that's what I love and that's what all your fans love...honestly, I listen to this and say, 'What is this piece of shit, do I even know this artist? What the fuck was he thinking?'" And that's...basically how I feel about the direction Coldplay seems to be heading in. :bigcry:

OH MY GOD, NO, IT DOES SOUND SIMILAR :bigcry:

Oh yeah, and the Rihanna news just makes me shake my head. I'm trying to keep an open mind, but they're just trying so hard to be huge and top 40 and popular that it's having the opposite effect on the people that got them to the point they're at now. I don't think they owe us anything or should exist just to please us, but at the same time...they're just trying so hard, and throwing all the things that they used to be/stand for out of the window. I haven't given up all hope yet, because I know I like the live incarnations of at least half of the album so far, but in my heart of hearts, I feel like I already know that I won't really love this album anywhere near like I love the others, based both on music and style and production and the direction they're heading.

Oh man, this thread is alive again? :cheesy: I've never disliked a Coldplay song more than I dislike "Paradise." I still actually like ETIAW because it's fun and it just kind of makes me happy, but I feel like beyond the style and vibe of "Paradise" (which just plain old aren't for me)...it's just a boring, meandering, repetitive song that sounds just like everything else that's on Top 40 radio right now. I feel like it sounds like they wrote it and released it as a single as something they knew would appeal to the masses, which is beyond disappointing. I'm back on the major worry-front for MX as a whole. I haven't even been able to listen to their older stuff that I love because it's made me a bit sad. I can't believe the same band that wrote a song like "Amsterdam" did "Paradise." At least I could hear a bit of themselves shining through on ETIAW, but not "Paradise."

Yes, yes, yes! Their music these days, and I think even since 2008, is designed to wow and impress with lots of flashy things happening. I just preferred less flashy things, both in music and live shows, and I think that was such a big part of their original brilliance--when they first came out, there wasn't anything like them that was popular, and their beauty existed in the fact that they could create these heartwrenchingly beautiful songs that sold themselves with four guys and (around) four instruments in a room.

^I don't think every person that dislikes the change in direction just wants another Parachutes or AROBTTH, though. Not that that's necessarily what I think you're saying, I just feel like it needs to be said. As much as I love those two albums, I completely understand that there can't and shouldn't be a repeat of them. I just feel like most other bands I listened to that have had careers just as long as Coldplay's have retained an almost tangible common thread in their music, despite huge changes in style or direction. To me (and I know some people disagree), Coldplay hasn't retained a strong common thread so much, or only that common thread only turns up in a few songs these days, even as far back as the VLV era. To me, they also have seemingly changed some of their original goals and plans, for better or for worse, and I'm not as keen on the new ones out of personal preference. This doesn't mean I'm ready to give up on them--they're always going to be extremely important to me, and I'll probably always go see them when I can and buy their albums, it's just that a lot of the reasons I originally became a fan aren't as prevalent anymore, both concerning the music and the way they run their band.

I personally did think the same about Viva, yeah, even though it was to a lesser extent than I think these things might happen with MX now.

What If and The Hardest Part are definitely some of their weaker singles, but they were singles released later in the game--not LEAD singles (as this is, technically, since ETIAW was more of a pre-album-announcement teaser). They were definitely trying to do something different by releasing Paradise instead of Charlie Brown, probably reach the Top 40 radio crew who've always hated more classic Coldplay before, but...if they're going to turn off a lot of already existing fans, especially a lot of the older ones, I wonder if their gains are as big as their losses, or potential losses.

I'm definitely going to get it, even though I'm kind of worried about this album. Because it's limited, this thing isn't going to be available for very long, so if I decide I want it next summer, I'm not going to be able to get it. I did this with another deluxe album boxset a few years ago and I'm STILL kicking myself for not getting it, because I love the album now. I also collect Coldplay physical formats, and even if it might not end up being my favorite album of theirs, the box set seems pretty awesome with all the stuff inside :P