ApproximatelyInfinite

Most fans of Arctic Monkeys like The Strokes and vice versa...but I tend to think The Strokes appeal more to the Coldplay set...OK, offtopic :lol: (but if you're going to a festival and waiting for Coldplay, and AM is on the same stage before then, beware of their crowds, they can get pretty dangerous)

Out of most bands out there today, Coldplay seem to have the tightest-knit group, or one of the tightest-knit groups. Who knows what happens behind the scenes, but their relationship has always seemed shockingly democratic and healthy from what we're able to see if you ask me, so I don't think personal issues with each other would suddenly crop up to the point of breaking unless someone made a major lifestyle change or something to that extent. And as someone said before, they're all so dedicated and so passionate, I feel like they're in this for the long haul. I don't think any of them would do retirement well, and they seem to have the view that they're stronger (musically) together than they would be apart at this stage in the game, and I don't think any of them seem to want to give up music to fish or knit for the rest of their lives yet, but that's just my opinion.

Albert Hammond Jr., guitarist of The Strokes, adorable human, and heartbreakingly amazing solo artist extraordinaire :heart: :wacky: (OK, I might be biased) Welcome to the board! :dance:

You don't have to embed, just copy and paste the whole YouTube link straight here and it'll embed automatically :D

But the album wasn't technically delayed...the members themselves gave projections of when they thought it would come out, but really, when you look at how they've released albums in the past, this gap is only a few short months longer than their other gaps between previous albums. Most bands aren't on strict rota schedules--things are ready when they're ready, and they try to keep them coming on some sort of predictable timeframe, but something being 40 months as opposed to 36 months (40 months is the gap between VLVOD and MX, 36 the gap between X&Y and VLVOD) is NOT an actual delay since no official ETA was ever given (band members vaguely giving a month in a radio interview don't count, like the whole "we'll have it out by Christmas 2010" thing). I don't think that was BS at all--I think that was Holmes talking and not realising he was coming off poorly (potentially) to some of the fanbase. His MO seems to be "bigger is better" and raking in the dough all the new converts will bring, but not worrying so much about fans that may lose interest after all the new direction and new promo, like you say. If things are really going to go the way he says they are and the album isn't stellar, I think a lot of people will be at least somewhat alienated, at least to the point where they'd be less likely to shell out the money to see Coldplay live, or for the casual fans, buy the album when they've heard half of it for free via live performance streams and weren't wowed. For me it's less the timing of the release than the promo surrounding it. They could very feasibly start a tour ASAP after release in any country, as long as they didn't include huge outdoor stadiums on that particular leg and saved those for a re-visit in summer. Big names often tour in winter. I don't even mind the fact that they're concentrating on media promo first--I think that makes sense. It's just the KIND and VOLUME of that promo that worries me. They're just modifying the old formula--yes, a single six weeks before release, in the traditional fashion, but they ALSO "released" half of the other songs anyway, so by that point they might as well release one more. That's not hypocrisy, that's just trying out both ways to play it safe and capitalizing on the traditional model while taking a risk and halfway trying out a new way to either create more buzz..or scare away people. They'll know about that half of the experiment in time. They didn't tell us because they didn't KNOW in February. At this point, they still seem to not know as much about everything as most fans think they should at this point, but probably sometime in like, June they had to say "right, this is the official target release time, no going back on it now" and came up with October. And until they got farther down the path of that timeframe, they weren't going to tell us anything, because if they announced something in June or earlier and then hit an unexpected roadblock, then the album would ACTUALLY be delayed and EMI would have to deal with the consequences. They technically owe us nothing til they make an official announcement, so that's why they put it off--to save their face and their label's face and finances.

The more I think about it, the more I just kind of wish it was the white cover with the MX cutout, and not the other full-graffiti version underneath. But I still don't hate it at all.

That's my main thing: seeing him in a nice suit, like with a jacket, more than just the Christmas Lights waistcoat etc :P *fangirl* It would also be nice to see them in the same frame of a photo, too... I really hope he did wear a suit. My mom was like "who cares? They know he's worth millions even if he wears a potato sack," but I don't think he'd be THAT ridiculous to wear a t-shirt and that hat to a dinner with the President, especially when his wife looks GLORIOUS.

I think that would actually be pretty great :lol:. Or Yo Gabba Gabba, which musicians seem to love. Actually, that sounds likely to me.

One better surface...if the NYC paps know anything, they'd know if they could get both of them in one frame they'd make a boatload of money, so I figure they were out in droves. God, I'm a horrible person, hoping for pap pics :disappointed:.

Wow, that's the best dress I've seen her in for awhile! :nice: Now if there's just a shot of Chris somewhere...God, I hope he wore a suit to meet the leader of the Free World :P

God, I know, I think the October issue of a lot of fashion-type mags are out already and it's early August :lol: I'll have a look starting Monday and report back :D. Anybody know if there's a traditional day of the week magazines hit stands in the US (like Tuesday's historically record release day etc)? I know in the UK, NME always came out on Wednesdays, but that might just be NME, and might just be the UK.

I don't see them stopping, despite what Chris said in today's Billboard article. He always says things like that, and as much as I think they're "in the now" sort of people...I think their business team (and EMI, if they renewed contract) would roll over and die if they stopped, or even took a long break.

Wow, I just revisited this thread to see how we got this rumor in the first place...for some reason in my memory it was a locust7-type person that told us that, but now I see it really was the work of some careful detective work :D. Bravo for that! However, I do miss the way we first got the idea that "Viva la Vida" would be the title of LP4. They made "MX" (whatever it stood for) so bloody obvious, spraypainting it everywhere :P

Ooh, that's helpful, thanks! :dance: I'll still probably always mistakenly say "zy-LO-toe," having a big fat American mouth, but yeah, I think this album is going to always be MX to me.

I guess they can't always stay the same with everything, but I just think it suited them so well...and it's so classy. It almost became synonymous with Coldplay, I feel. This is way, way harsher than I would put it, but I have to say I kind of agree :lol:

I also really like that Jonny's at the front :wacky:. He seems somewhat pleased by it as well, and Will's found something shiny on the ground :P

I'm probably wrong about this, but I think American magazines often put the "wrong" exact date on the cover...at least monthly magazines do, I'm less sure about weeklies. I think it might be on stands before the 20th, perhaps Wednesday? I'll check at least.

Before the announcement today, I was pronouncing it in my head as "MY-lo zy-LO-toe," but Chris's handwriting seemingly says "My-lo ZY-le-toe." The emphasis on the ZY vs the LO is a British vs. American thing, I think, but "le-toe"? Is that just his handwriting? The IPA doesn't help me out much :P

^Unsure. It's a weekly publication, so perhaps Monday? Completely agree, as usual :nice:. I'm worried about the TV promos too, both kind and number. Promo is great, but as I said before, Coldplay are kind of an ever-present thing in the media, it seems, even to fans. I don't want them to completely overdo it, which I think they've been on the verge of before, but now it sounds like they're pulling out all the stops. And I really will not be able to stomach them on Glee/X-Factor/American Idol etc. If they want to do a spot on 30 Rock I might oblige, but other than that...please just stick to the late-night shows and The Daily Show and Colbert Report. Holmes...just seems way too concerned with their "bigness." I thought that was something Will said after X&Y--"we got bigger but not better." I have my own thoughts about their career trajectory, but their management team is so hyped up on bigness that I wonder what influence that will have on the music this time around again, because I don't know how well they'd weather another repeat of 2005 (not that that was a disaster, but all the same).

I agree about the Alberta font family...it just seemed to suit them, somehow, and I think it still would if they used it.

^ Even I'M kind of disappointed about the lack of surprise in this whole thing (leak of album title included), and I'm one of those religious leak-listener types! The same sort of thing happened with VLV in a way (and other albums of late from other bands I follow), where the album doesn't so much all leak at once like two weeks before the release, but a few tracks pop out here and there in the month beforehand. While that's somewhat effectively the same difference as what Coldplay did here, to me the difference is the fact that they'd be studio versions, and we get small little bites the closer we get to the date, when the rest rushes forth. I think as the date comes closer and closer, the more rabid I am for new stuff. When the date wasn't even announced and it was just "sometime in 2011," I wasn't fully in album-crazed mode yet. And as much as I really do like the new stuff, and as grateful as I am to have seen it live...I just like studio versions first, and I'm a sucker for the traditional model of "single --> leak of album in whole or in part --> album."

^ Even I'M kind of disappointed about the lack of surprise in this whole thing (leak of album title included), and I'm one of those religious leak-listener types! The same sort of thing happened with VLV in a way (and other albums of late from other bands I follow), where the album doesn't so much all leak at once like two weeks before the release, but a few tracks pop out here and there in the month beforehand. While that's somewhat effectively the same difference as what Coldplay did here, to me the difference is the fact that they'd be studio versions, and we get small little bites the closer we get to the date, when the rest rushes forth. I think as the date comes closer and closer, the more rabid I am for new stuff. When the date wasn't even announced and it was just "sometime in 2011," I wasn't fully in album-crazed mode yet. And as much as I really do like the new stuff, and as grateful as I am to have seen it live...I just like studio versions first, and I'm a sucker for the traditional model of "single --> leak of album in whole or in part --> album."

"Moving To Mars" is actually my least favorite of all the new tracks, I think :P I think if they just called the album "MX," the whole world would be clamoring for an explanation of what it stood for, moreso than we are now for a meaning of the weird words. Somehow, abbreviations with no explanations are more infuriating to me, which is why I kind of liked the Roman numeral explanation :P

I voted 4, because I think it could have been worse, but at the same time...REALLY, guys? Something that we can't pronounce easily, is hard to spell, and at present doesn't seem to mean anything? I mean, I think it must mean SOMETHING, but perhaps only to molecular biologists or something. I actually disliked "Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends" more than I dislike "Mylo Xyloto" on first announcements, but it's like they intentionally made this one obnoxious or something. Plus, the abbreviation is "MX," which is so similar to "X&Y." I mean, "XY" is right smack in the middle of the album cover! I feel like (many) fans, critics, and the band alike have made it clear that's not their favorite album, so it's interesting that it's kind of coming back in weird-twin form, title-wise. I kind of wish the title was just "MX" and that it stood as Roman numerals for a thousand and ten. What would that mean, I have no idea, but I find that cooler and more elegant, somehow.

Well, at least they're not at the point where they're on the cover themselves...as much as I love seeing them, that would just make me pretty disappointed. As much as I kind of really like the artwork itself, it smacks more of a promo poster you'd see on a city street to me, whereas the first three album covers looked like COVERS to me.