grids

^ What the..

After the commercial and artistic success of “Mylo Xyloto”, it was going to take a seriously good record to follow in its footsteps. After three years of anticipation, Coldplay fans were treated to “Ghost Stories”, a nine track album (12 tracks if you purchase the Target bonus track album which I am reviewing) featuring the previously released hit singles “Magic” and “A Sky Full of Stars”. After watching their TV special which aired this past Sunday on NBC, I was eager to go out and experience the album in full. “Ghost Stories” in my opinion was well worth the wait. It’s a slower album compared to its predecessor, with darker and more somber tones. More reminiscent of “X&Y”, it follows in Coldplay’s historical pattern of alternating between upbeat records like “Viva La Vida” and slower ones like “Parachutes”. The album cover art follows their usual template of an image on the front that defines the album (in this case it is a pair of feathery angel wings with intricate designs depicting love and heartache masterfully woven through). This album is a bold musical experiment and a successful one at that. Album art of Coldplay’s new “Ghost Stories”. Media credit to Parlophone Records. The highlights of the album are unarguably the catchy “Magic”, the cynical breakup anthem “True Love”, the ethereal and haunting electronic track “Midnight”, “Another’s Arms” (which reminded me a lot of Duran Duran’s “Come Undone”, with the consistent soft beat and high pitched female vocals in the chorus), and what is sure to become a staple at their concerts “A Sky Full Of Stars” (because it’s impossible to listen to it without wanting to dance). The track “Oceans” probably won’t get much airplay on the radio because it isn’t hit material, but I want to mention it here because although it’s quite simple (just Chris Martin singing with an acoustic accompaniment), there is something melodically beautiful about it. It’s reminiscent of late nights on the beach and starry skies, and I know it’s going to become a personal favorite. There really isn’t a bad track on this album—all the songs are well crafted and can easily stand on their own as solid creations. I also would highly recommend buying the bonus track version because the extra songs “Your Friends” and “Ghost Story” are absolutely worth it. “Magic” is an easy tune to sing along to, with an intriguing music video to accompany it about a budding magician who rescues the girl he has a crush on from an abusive relationship by mastering his powers. Coldplay has a knack for producing memorable videos with developed storylines and very original set design (think “Paradise” or “Strawberry Swing”). More than being just visual representations of the songs, they are almost like short movies with the sheer amount of detail that goes into producing them. “Midnight” is such a drastic departure from anything the band has ever made before, which is why it deserves some analysis. The vocals appear to have been run through a synthesizer, giving them a ghostly tinge. The music is solely electronic—none of their usual instruments are used. While starting out almost as a funeral drone, it slowly builds power, until it reaches a laser fueled crescendo roughly three minutes into the song. The pop hit of the album is definitely “A Sky Full of Stars”. It has catchy lyrics but the strength of the song lies in the upbeat dance breaks following the chorus. The effervescent style and almost magical feel reminds me a lot of “Paradise”, and is sure to make it their next entry on the music charts. It isn’t hard to tell that the widely publicized split between lead singer Chris Martin and his wife actress Gwyneth Paltrow had a slight creative effect on the album, and inspired the material for the lyrics on a few tracks. But rather than dominate the album and turn it into a sappy collection of breakup songs, it had a more subtle influence. While it is true that lyrically most of the songs are about the darker side of love, and the pain of heartache, relationship angst is more of a theme rather than the only topic of the album. One of the best things about Coldplay is that they are such a versatile band. They can experiment with various styles and instruments and lyrics, while still managing to keep their unique sound. That is the measure of a great band, and this album really highlights their talent for flexibility. There are no doubt going to be critics that will argue that this album is Coldplay “selling out” to the predominant sound of today’s music scene (which is currently EDM/house music), but I would argue that this album is 100 percent Coldplay. The sound production and music design is superb and each track is masterfully refined. The one weakness of the album is the lyrics, which somehow lack the creativity and poeticism that was present on previous albums, and can be a bit repetitive. With that being said, “Ghost Stories” is still a strong album that will carve out its own niche in Coldplay’s diverse discography. http://blastmagazine.com/2014/05/24/review-ghost-stories-coldplays-musical-departure/

Oh yeah I didnt realize haha. Thanks for spotting that ;)

^ Aww is that yours?

No worries, get better :)

Aw man I know that feeling :( Have some cup of tea and warm food before going to sleep, it helps :)

Marc, can you do dis? :wacko: And thank you for voting Atlas :)

Less than a week to go :P

I'm just literally lost..

Coldplay, Ellie Goulding, Rita Ora, Mark Ronson and Emili Sande have been tipped for success by the government as it is revealed that the UK’s Creative Industries are now worth £76.9 billion per year to the UK economy. This contribution is an all-time high and equates to £8.8 million per hour, or £146,000 every minute. It means the UK's Creative Industries, which includes the music, film and television industries, will play a key role in the government's long-term economic plan. "2015 looks set to be another bumper year for UK creative talent," a government press release read. "There is already a huge number of highly anticipated offerings from every sector of the UK’s creative community." The government highlighted a number of UK artists expected to release hugely-succesful albums in 2015: Ellie Goulding, with her follow-up album to 2012’s 'Halcyon', Coldplay with their seventh studio album 'A Head Full of Dreams', Mark Ronson with his fourth album 'Uptown Special', and both Emeli Sandé and Rita Ora with their second albums. Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said: "The UK’s Creative Industries are recognised as world leaders around the globe and today’s figures show that they continue to grow from strength to strength. Government is determined to continue its support for this most dynamic of sectors as part of our long-term economic plan. The tax reliefs we’ve got in place and are extending to Children’s TV and orchestras have been instrumental in attracting inward investment, and are part of broad package of measures designed to ensure the continued success of the Creative Industries." Other 2015 releases on the the government's radar include the latest Bond film, Spectre, the next instalment of Game Of Thrones, the eagerly awaited conclusion to the Arkham videogame trilogy Batman: Arkham Knight and the publication of the first illustrated editions of the Harry Potter series of novels. http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/82255

Hide your shame :laugh3:

Why the awards have now gone? http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BT_Digital_Music_Awards

Saw it three times and never get bored with it. Looking forward to the next sequel!

Hahaha this ^

I can possibly tell that I have missed so many events here :laugh3:

Saw them in Nov 2013. Beautiful gig!

Woohoooo

Yeayyyy

September :P

I'm just gonna throw the pic anyway, its not their birthday but Rik Simspon from Coldplay :P http://t.co/f1K7Zpc0qv

Courtesy of paradigmagency.com “A Sky Full Of Stars,” the lead single from Coldplay’s album Ghost Stories, was the perfect song for 2014. Following his divorce from actress Gwyneth Paltrow, frontman Chris Martin produced the album that many assumed to be his creative way of dealing with the split. “A Sky Full Of Stars” gained a lot of positive reception upon its release – it was the featured song of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and fans were generally receptive to it due to support for Martin during this time, but also because this song was and remains incredible. From the beginning, “A Sky Full Of Stars” is extremely awe-inducing. Swirling and lucid, the piano introduction depicts this star-filled sky through which listeners take a trip. The beginning of the intro is, well, forceful. There is an immense amount of power in the piano hook – it picks up listeners and hurls them through this skyline and, as they settle, they can see the stars and constellations unfolding in front of them. It is refreshing that a song so centered around a real instrument was able to thrive in a year dominated by electronic music. It doesn’t hurt that it’s Coldplay, either. Obviously important to any song are the lyrics, and Coldplay very rarely fails to deliver. When talking about his abilities as a lyricist, Martin stated “I’m not the most poetic lyricist, but I know what feels right.” “A Sky Full Of Stars” is expectedly full of starry-sky metaphors — “You’re a sky full of stars / Cause you light up the park,” “Cause in a sky full of stars, I think I saw you,” and the one that just destroys me, “I wanna die in your arms / Cause you get lighter the more it gets dark.” While there aren’t that many lines to the song, each one is just simply beautiful. Back in November, Martin admitted that Katy Perry was actually a big influence on the song. He explained that he’d been listening to a lot of her music around the time “A Sky Full Of Stars” was written because “a lot of her songs have the same chord sequence the whole time. Your body feels comfortable with them and then the melody’s changing on top, so there’s like a groove you really get into and also you’re kept interested by it.” “A Sky Full Of Stars” is a prime example of the fourchords song, a song in which the same four chords are repeated consistently and ultimately gains immense popularity (other examples include “Save Tonight” by Eagle Eye Cherry, “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga, “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia, “Kids” by MGMT, Don’t Stop Believing by Journey, and “Let It Be” by The Beatles). By keeping these four chords in rotation while layering it with a gripping piano part, Coldplay had a recipe for a hit. But, since it was 2014, they needed a little something extra. Enter EDM. It seemed to be inescapable this year – every song had to have some sort of a drop, a breakdown, or a dance element of some kind. Even Coldplay succumbed to it. Working with Swedish DJAvicii, they were able to insert a portion of EDM that really meshed with the song. The pairing of these two genres demonstrated the versatility of both – how an instrumental piece could transition into a song in which you could really lose yourself. These factors contribute to the success of “A Sky Full Of Stars,” especially in 2014. Amidst “#SELFIE” by The Chainsmokers, “Wiggle” by Jason Derulo, and “Rude” by MAGIC!, there was this shining beacon of hope that things in the musical world were indeed going to be more than fine. On a personal note, I don’t think I’ve ever had a song I could point to as “the perfect song” (except for “September” by Earth, Wind, & Fire, but that’s a different story) until now, so for that, I’m forever indebted to Coldplay. http://fdrmx.com/sky-full-stars-perfect-2014/

Dood really

Do you guys still remember about... A Bucket for A Crown? THIS SHOULD BE THE TITLE OF THE NEXT ALBUM. *Done ranting :)*

Look at the stars, Look how they shine for you, And everything you do, Yeah, they were all yellow Lihatlah bintang-bintang Lihatlah bagaimana mereka bersinar untukmu Dan segala sesuatu yang kamu lakukan Ya mereka semua berwarna kuning Oh my gawd sounds absurd in Indo hahahaha :lol:

Butt cheek? :laugh3: Does it feel like dis