- Gabriel

Literally none of those examples resemble what I expected based on the titles. "Cemeteries Of London" sounded dark, but handclaps? That's a surprise. And I'll probably be glad that they ditched the hip-hop beat.

7/10 - I remember that it was my favorite from Parachutes for a while. It seems much darker than Coldplay's other music; in a way, "Bucket For A Crown" could be its distant cousin. Twisted Logic

Given that I would have given the same answer as Dave, that's a comforting response. Yes! It's nice to see that I'm not the only person on the face of the planet who holds that belief. High five! *high five*

Maybe the 10 hours of could-be-listening could be cut down a little by camping out in front of the store. Just a thought. But what well-stocked stores open ridiculously early?

I suck at guitar; I don't know the brands at all. I play piano. That's why X&Y was my favorite Coldplay album for a long time. I feel like it represents a huge step forward in the band's songwriting. Trust me, I give Coldplay a lot more credit than most non-fans - ironically, I haven't found anybody else who doesn't love or hate Coldplay. And as for musical sophistication, Coldplay definitely has it is some of their songs: The fact that Chris Martin found a working melody for the verse chords to "God Put A Smile Upon Your Face" pretty much blows my mind, and I love the arrangement of "A Rush Of Blood To The Head".

I'm going to wait until it comes out in stores, go to a store, and be very upset if it's already sold out. But if things go according to plan, I'll own a physical copy of the CD on the day of release.

That's counter-culture for ya... and I don't think the first hairdo(n't) is too bad, but the second is just ridiculous. As for my gears? The are ground by people who assert their opinions or prejudices as if they are automatically right, especially on subjects like gay marraige ("It's wrong 'cause gay people are gross!") or terrorism ("I bet there's a bomb in that turban!"). It's to the point where I almost never assert my own opinion on anything.

I don't see a song in your post, so I'll just put one up... Gold In Them Hills (Duet with Ron Sexsmith)

That is pretty much the most painful thing you could've said to me. You're also, thankfully, the only person who has said that of me. If anything, becoming a musician is what removed most of my appreciation of Coldplay. Some of the band's songs, particularly on A Rush Of Blood To The Head, demonstrate no musical tact or sophistication at all. This might not matter to most listeners, but it drives me up the wall. This statement leaves four possibilities open: 1. Johnny is playing single notes instead of chords. 2. The instrument played in the song that sounds like a guitar (to me) is not a guitar. 3. Johhny is playing guitar chords. 4. ...Somebody other than Johnny is playing guitar? (I never said it was him) Which is it?

You'll get no backlash from me. I agree with virtually everything you just said. That's why I'm looking forward to this album so much; because I want it to be a progression so badly.

Can anybody tell exactly what Johnny is saying at the end? The only word I caught was "Christmas."

Now that you mention it, I definitely notice it; I hadn't realized it was there before. It's a nice subtle effect.

This word just about made my day.

Does anybody know what that last song/sample played in the 2006 Christmas message is from (the one to which the band "plays")? I get the feeling it's supposed to be part of one of their new songs.

It could be a single cover, or maybe a poster, but I would expect something with depth for an album cover. All of Coldplay's album covers have been suggestive of something more than meets the eye, but the artwork is here doesn't look like anything more than some pleasantly sun-dappled flowers. (If there is a sand-sculpted woman in there, I didn't see her) In addition, the supposed album title of 42 seems like it's catering way too directly to recent guesses.

I've thought about that, too. I'd like to see another member take lead vocals for a song or two, or possibly just a verse; the variety would be interesting.

Off of the top of my head: Spoon - The Ghost Of You Lingers Spoon - You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb Say Anything - Shiksa (Girlfriend) Say Anything - Spay Me The Eagles - Waiting In The Weeds I didn't buy a lot of this year's music, so I doubt it's in good taste for me to list a lot of songs.

I'm definitely with you on that one; I almost thought it was Chris Martin singing when I first heard "Nothing Left To Lose". Bono (of U2) and Chris Martin have always struck me as having a vocal similarity that is difficult to explain. The best example I can think of is to imagine Chris singing "City Of Blinding Lights" and Bono singing "Talk".

It's interesting how you can faintly see colors even though it seems like a black and white picture. I can easily imagine this as the kick-butt cover to one of their singles, but not as the album cover. Actually, I probably would have said that about their last two album covers, too. Speaking of which, I think it's likely that Coldplay will apply a theme with the artwork that will extend to the artwork for the singles as well. Essentially what I'm saying is that for the band's last two albums, they have had a common theme between the album artwork and the singles artwork. (skeletal human photography for A Rush of Blood to the Head, color-block code for X&Y) Thoughts?

I hate to say it, but I can't skip songs because I never actually listen to Coldplay's albums anymore; I only listen to individual songs. But, hypothetically... If I were to listen to A Rush Of Blood To The Head, I think I would skip straight to "Green Eyes" and go from there. On Parachutes, I would only skip "Don't Panic" because I've heard it enough from the Garden State Soundtrack. As for X&Y, I would skip "Swallowed In The Sea", but that's so close to the end that it's almost not worth it. Other than that song, I actually like the album quite a bit. If feel like I'm spewing sacrilege here... My tastes are hugely different from those of the Coldplay fans I know in person.

If 14 tracks had really been leaked two months ago, I think we would have known about it two months ago.

If you end up loving the album, you won't care how long you had to wait for it. Besides, I feel like there's a simple choice here: do you want them to sacrifice quality so that they can release it sooner? I can guarantee which one will still matter years down the road.

Yay for decency! (On the part of everybody but the thread-starter) I wouldn't concern myself with this boy's sexuality if I were you. Unless, of course, you have or suspect romantic interest. Even then it's something worth staying out of.

Awright... thorough response time... I think it's possible that Chris couldn't make his mind up as to what style he wanted to pursue and tried one after the other. From the looks of the journal entries, the band has settled for multiple styles instead a blatant choice of genre, which is good in my book. I still think that some people are reading into the "Hispanic influence" too much (not to say that you are). I think that they simply drew from the vibrancy of the region as a sort of spiritual fuel. This has me very excited. If they throw in some interesting time signatures, I will be a very happy dude. Hopefully the pursuit of this end will not make the songs seem stilted or off-kilter to average listeners. I was not aware that there was a recording available. Where can I locate this nugget? I also am fine with the seemingly weird song titles. God knows that Spoon has made some weird ones, (Try "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" or "My Little Japanese Cigarette Case") but I love them for it. Song titles always make more sense once you actually listen to the song, anyway. The title might be intentionally silly in an attempt to be misleading. I can easily imagine "Poppy Fields" being a very dark song with the title adding a dash of irony to the brew. These may be the songs with "less piano" or the songs that sound "electronic". There could also be a thematic relation between them; "Yes!" could be a declaration of happiness or excitement from a particular development while "Lost!" may examine the negative side of the same coin. Just my two cents. Thanks for a very thorough collection of all the information available.

"Double Sunset" sounds like it's pulled straight from Pink Floyd's "Two Suns In The Sunset" from The Final Cut. As for the other titles, they all seem in form with the weird, dramatic, slightly cheesy titles that have already been posted, but I doubt that they are real. I can easily imagine a Wikipedia member experimenting with how many people he can fool, and if Prospekt were to post new titles, the last source he would choose is something as indetermniable as Wikipedia. I'm sure we can figure out who first added them to the list through Wikipedia's history, but that would be a little complicated.