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Actually, Jonny plays a great many of the synth, and other weird instrumentation live. Pretty much anytime he's at his little purple midi keyboard (VLV, LiJ, Paradise), that's what he's doing. I'm not sure why so many people act like he's doing nothing when he's doing that.:\

All they'd really need is a string section and one guy for synths. They'd still have to use a bit of vocal backing though, becuase no matter what Chris can't sing two parts at once.

Or Guy will make it into his own personal touring bus. Just like Joe Perry.:laugh3:

All of that was pretty much 100% right on IMHO I do wish they'd play 1 concert without backing tracks though, just so all the naysayers could see how much IS played live. All 4 members are most definately contributing to VLV live!:thinking:

I noticed it myself in the unstaged video, and went back and saw it in other performances as well. I think they do it because it's the only way to replicate two layers of Chris' vocals from the studio version.

Jonny's always described as having green eyes, but they always look blue or grey in photos.

From that photo they look blue to me.

Again though, they aren't using fix you as a set closer because they're not trying to "sell" that song anymore, whereas they are still trying to entice people to buy copies of Paradise. Also, from the perspective of marketing the band as a live act, it could easily become something of a knock on them if they were perceived not to stand behind their new material. Plus, as Chris seems to genuinely believe that Paradise is one of the best things he's written, right or wrong.

His "every tear...every tear..is a waterfall" backing vocals are always looped live. It's just usually less noticable because he's singing the "whooo" part live over the track.

That made sense to me at least. My point was that if you asked a record label exec circa 2005 to describe "mainstream sound" the short answer would likely be coldplay, so in the list of things not to like about the MX era sound "too mainstream" just leaves me scratching my head.

As for why I think eno deserves some of the blame, so to speak, simple, the album simply sounds too much like his work for me to think he was a sidelines sort of consultant If you made me listen to VLV and MX and guess which one Eno produced, I'd totally pick MX.

Eno's the other big component in the equation. His work as a producer tends to be very much a love it or hate it deal. MX bears the Eno stamp for sure (much more so than VLVODAAHF IMHO). I still don't get the whole "mainstream" thing though. The main knock on Coldplay was that they were the definition of mainstream. There the kings of triple A radio for crying out loud. If anything, there new work is a bit less mainstream based on the fact it's doing less well in the mainstream commercial marketplace than their "classic" stuff. If you're saying their music is closer to pop genre wise now, that I get.

Most of those places are fairly exclusive though, which I guess would make them not super conducive to stalking.

All true. I should point out that I don't think coldplay are only in it for the money, only that I personally am willing to overlook it if their thoughts should veer in that direction from time to time. As far as MX not being a step up, I have mixed feelings on that as well. While I can see the basis for most of the critisisms levelled at it, I genuinely do feel like it showcases Coldplay as a band better than any of their other albums as it really does provide showcase moments for each band member, as opposed to just Chris. It's the first album, where I feel like Jonny has a truly "lead guitarist" role, which he's always had live, but not so much on record. Also, I think it's a good thing (on a few levels) that Chris seems more comfortable with his pop sensibilities, which have always been where his heart has been.

Money's a funny thing. The more you make, the more you need to support yourself in the style you become accustomed to. They boys are all living super posh these days, Guy's buying a fleet of cars, and that article about Jonny's family makes him out to be a pretty "champagne taste" sort of guy. I think they probably need quite a bit to live like that for the rest of their lives, but I totally get your point of view as well.

That pretty much sums up my feelings, but I still have problems with 2 things: 1. I cannot abide how some people (not on this thread) act like they know what the band's thought process is behind the choices and career moves they make. Personally I have built up enough respect for the band that I will give them the benefit of the doubt and truly feel there's some reason for whatever they're doing. And 2. I'm not willing to say that it's wrong if the band is motivated to some extent by money. They're all family men and despite the fact that they've been super, super financially successful, the music bussiness is really fickle, and I can absolutely understand if they feel the need to make as much as they can while they can. Hell, If I was in their position, I'd do the same.;)

True, but I think a second issue in the room here is that the Secret Policeman's Ball is itself not what it once was. It's a different event than when 90's U2 played edgy gigs there, but that's a different issue. Frankly, I do wish Coldplay did some things differently (a LOT of things), but I can't say they've done bad by the choices they made, so I have profoundly mixed feelings on this topic.

I can respect that opinion. I'll go further and say this is one of the most civil threads on the site. :) That said, I still just don't see how the band could do something significantly different from what they did in a situation like this. Personally, I think the've just finally made the migration to full fledged world eating stadium act. (a sphere in which most of their peers are bands 20+ years older than them), and seeing those changes can often be painful for those of us who grew to love the band "on the way up". Not sure if that qualifies as "regression" in my opinion, but it is a drastic change. That said, I think most of these critisisms would probably be better leveled at a regular Coldplay gig (and in a few months they will, and likely should be:\) than a truncated performance on a TV comedy special. Then again, I'm arguing from a different corner than a lot of people here as I'm not all that fond of the primarily acoustic sound of the band's older work (which is many people's preferred coldplay "sound") so I'm sure that strongly colors my perception.

Guy receives more accolades for the skill of his playing from other musicians (especially fellow bassists) than any other member of the band. Plus, he tends to do most of the cool "rockstar" stuff. JB is my favorite though. I truly think he's tremendously underrated as a guitarist.

It's important to keep in mind that gigs like this are essentially promotional appearences. They played the new songs (and singles) because they're PROMOTING those songs. They're not playing ten year old deep album cuts (great as those songs may be) because those songs aren't part of the current campaign.

Normally, I try not to look at pap photos (because I disagree with them), but that one was kind of cute, she was waving at the camera.

I remember that! Was that the reason she stopped? She posted some cool behind the scenes photos of the tour.

I think they are to some extent. Chloe closed her twitter account a couple years ago after people started getting a little too personal. Regardless, I hope this doesn't cause negative things for their family:\

He does. Chloe mentioned it in an interview she did for a lifestyle blog a couple years ago. They have a smart car. :smug:

CB is a third single. Typically singles released at this stage of the campaign don't drive sales. The natural pattern is for the album to slide at this point. It's a normal pattern. I really don't get why people are so worked up over this. It's a non issue.