- Gabriel

Personally? I just want some B-sides. I loved "Death Will Never Conquer", which is the closest thing we've had to a (post-album) B-side so far. Whatever happened to those top-notch non-album singles that were promised?:( :laugh3:

4/10 Just doesn't do a lot for me. It would be nice if only the acoustic guitar wasn't bumping around in the background like a mosquito, or if the song developed a bit as it went along. Death Will Never Conquer

Viva La Vida This is nice, because I consider this the band's best song anyway.

:laugh3:

Nobody else put "Death Will Never Conquer" on their list? Maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

1. Viva La Vida 2. Shiver 3. A Rush Of Blood To The Head 4. Yes 5. Strawberry Swing 6. Green Eyes 7. Violet Hill 8. Easy To Please 9. Sparks 10. Politik 11. Speed Of Sound 12. Death And All His Friends 13. Clocks 14. God Put A Smile Upon Your Face 15. Chinese Sleep Chant 16. What If 17. Death Will Never Conquer 18. Cemeteries Of London 19. X&Y 20. Bigger Stronger 21. Parachutes 22. Amsterdam 23. 42 24. Trouble 25. We Never Change I think I have a pretty weird list here.

So... um... Les Claypool absolutely belongs at the top of this list. I'm disappointed that Chris Squire (of Yes) is missing, though - he made the bass a lead instrument in many of the band's songs, just like Claypool did. And he invented a completely new sound for the bass. Just listen to "Roundabout" or "Heart Of The Sunrise". And yeah, where's Entwistle? As for Guy's basslines, "Clocks" and "Violet Hill" are the standouts for me. I do feel like he just blends in with the songs though, as opposed to having any in-your-face, noteworthy parts.

This article made me laugh quite a bit. Especially the picture. Representing "Advanced" with trumpet blowing is perfect because elitists are rarely modest about their elitism. I don't think in the slightest that this article is presented in seriousness. While some of it seems accurate, nobody's foolish enough to think that anything applies to all white people. I've read some of the other "Stuff White People Like" articles, and they always seem to refer to a more specific group than just "white people".

I heard it on the radio the other day, and they actually left Chinese Sleep Chant after it. Made me laugh. Definitely one of my favorites from the album. From this song to the end of the album is just pure gold.

Life In Technicolor: The break from the main theme where the drums get heavier... includes the "whoa-oa-oa" Cemeteries Of London: The guitar solo, including the very short breakdown before the "God is in my garden" verse Lost!: The "waiting for the shine to wear off" part of the chorus 42: When the strings and backing vocals enter in part 1 Lovers In Japan: The introduction with the jaunty piano Reign Of Love: The galloping piano Yes: The time signature skip during the pre-verse section Chinese Sleep Chant: The "chorus" with the swooping violins Viva La Vida: The third stanza Violet Hill: The piano/vocals ending Strawberry Swing: The ending section ("Now the sky could be blue...") Death And All His Friends: The harmonized backing vocals after the song picks up The Escapist: The wordless, almost hummed melody towards the end I expected the solo in "Cemeteries Of London" to be more popular.

I've only heard The Editor's music in passing, but their reverb-drowned style (not a derogatory term) seems similar enough to the LIJ opening. So, yes, I think that's a totally totally valid comparison.

Kind of repeating what others have said, but I just think it's popular because it sounds very mainstream, what with the hip-hop-ish beat and the vague, easy-to-relate-to lyrics - it probably sounds similar to "Bleeding Love" to people who don't pay attention (organ + hip-hop beat). It's still more interesting to me than most of Coldplay's old material just because of things like how the verse is in Em but the chorus is (sort of) in D. The "waiting for the shine to wear off" part of the chorus makes the song worth it for me.

"Green Eyes" and "Strawberry Swing" are the first two that come to mind. The first section of "Death And All His Friends" would work like a charm, if you're willing to find a way to separate it from the second section (where the tempo picks up).

Zonked out? That really is not getting me fired up at all. If Coldplay had gone on to make LP4 without somebody pushing them in new directions, the result would have been a retread of X&Y, which is not what I (or the band) wanted at all. They probably were zonked out at the time, if you interpret that to mean disoriented, confused, or lacking direction. They weren't sure whether they wanted to please the masses or take a new route. Eno helped them pull their act together, though he wasn't completely responsible for it. Just knowing he was there was probably a help to the band. Does Eno owe himself a pat on the back? Absolutely. Is "zonked out" a vicious attack on a band? Absolutely not.

I never noticed the alternating pattern. Good observation. But I feel like some songs could easily be taken either way, like "42" and "Death And All His Friends". The latter sounds mellowly cheerful apart from the title, and "42" has a happy section as well. And based on the pattern, I like Death And All His Friends more than Viva La Vida, although I'm not prepared to get rid of "Viva La Vida" any time soon.

The only reason I can think of is that the 7/4 time signature at the end is a little tricky, but I'd hate to think that that's actually why they won't play it live. The male choir part at the end sounds like it was made to be a crowd singalong. They really should bust it out on stage. Not that I'm going to any shows, but it just needs to happen.

1. Easy To Please 2. Shiver 3. Sparks 4. Yellow 5. Trouble 6. Politik 7. God Put A Smile Upon Your Face 8. The Scientist 9. Clocks 10. Green Eyes 11. A Rush Of Blood To The Head 12. Amsterdam 13. What If 14. Fix You 15. Speed Of Sound 16. 'Til Kingdom Come 17. Cemeteries Of London 18. 42 19. Yes (+Chinese Sleep Chant) 20. Viva La Vida 21. Violet Hill 22. Strawberry Swing 23. Death And All His Friends 24. Careful Where You Stand 25. Bigger Stronger

Way to go, NeSs1776. I was wondering if anybody remembered how Coldplay said they would release non-album singles. I expect/hope for the band to release at least one single that didn't land on the album... unless "The Goldrush" already fills that qualification. Anyway: 1. Viva La Vida 2. Violet Hill 3. Lost! 4. Lovers In Japan (worst on the album IMO with "Reign Of Love", but still sounds more like a single than anything else left) "Life In Technicolor" with lyrics would be a very cool single, but that's expecting a lot.

The title is a reference to the Nick Lowe album Jesus Of Cool. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_of_Cool ] Hopefully that clears some things up. And to me, being a "Rock God" has more to do with how famous you are as a rock musician than how talented or accomplished you are. There's no denying that Chris Martin is famous enough to earn the title under those conditions. In other words, I never thought they were regarding him on Messiah terms. By the way, your flaming was actually very entertainingly written, despite that fact that I don't completely agree with it.

I couldn't agree more. I feel like the band was going for a very similar feel with each of the songs.

It's no trouble for me to imagine Bono singing this song. Or writing it, for that matter. The opening chords remind me of U2 so much it's ridiculous. However, the up-beat piano is something I would not expect in a U2 song. Me too. It's impossible not to draw a parallel between Viva La Vida and The Unforgettable Fire, and we all know what U2 album came after The Unforgettable Fire.

I couldn't agree more. I was ecstatic to hear 7/4 at the end of the song. And the fact that they actually put their big anthemic ending (the choir singing part) in 7/4 is even more impressive - writing music in a weird time signature is one thing, but putting lyrics over it is much more challenging. Yet it sounds amazing. I also love the subtle time signature twists in the piano ending to "Violet Hill".

I find it weird that they decided to put these songs together, because are the two songs I am consistently the least interested in listening to. It doesn't help that they're sandwiched between two of the ones I am the most interested in listening to. I hope these songs grow on me, because right now I actually think the album might be better with only one of them. I like the jaunty piano in "Lovers In Japan", though.

I don't understand all the reviews that say that Coldplay hasn't stepped very far out of their box - I almost forget that it's Coldplay when I listen to "Yes" (and "Chinese Sleep Chant" too). It's one of my favorites on the album by far. I love the twisted time signatures and the occasionally weird chord changes. And the introduction is pure awesome sauce. (Thanks Hotplay007 for the term)

Yes is one of my two favorite bands, so I know exactly what you mean. I was annoyed by Coldplay's predictability for a while, but now I'm just glad to see them changing things up on this album. However, I love "Viva La Vida", despite the fact that it's not proggy at all. I can't get it out of my head.