Coldplay1987

I agree with what you're saying and I think you're right about Jonny coming into his own, but the bass has always been there for everyone to listen and enjoy, especially on "Parachutes", where you could actually hear it without having to look for it under layers of ambient noises. I think production is a double-edged sword fro Coldplay. I don't want to sound repetitive, but to me a song like "High Speed" has a much better production than anything on MX. It's leaner and the complexities are due to the instrumentation more than the layers of sound. Having said that, I can appreciate the "busy"-compressed production on songs like "Lovers in Japan" or "Life in Technicolor II" because it fits them perfectly.

I know, I'm surprised as well. Anyway, I don't really like "A sky full of stars", I just think it's better than "Up&Up"... which is not saying much for me. Then again, I guess that Coldplay, as they usually do for every album, will crank out a couple of very good songs very soon. Probably as b-sides, like "Ghost story", "All your friends" and "Moving to Mars".

"Up&Up" is bland and terrible. One of their worst song. They went for Oasis (“Don't look back in anger” or “Champagne Supernova”) and failed miserably. It' supposed to be a cathartic song but it doesn't earn its catharsis. Compared to some of their most universally reviled songs from the past, it's far worse than “A sky full of stars” and it's nowhere near as good as “Princess of China”, a rock masterpiece disguised as top 40 pop/r'n'b. Hell, I even like “True Love” and its strange, oblique chord progression and guitar solo (at least for a pop song). Off AHFOD I liked “Adventure of a lifetime” well enough, but “Amazing Day” and especially this bring to a new low my expectations for the album. It's not about personal taste, it can't ALWAYS be about taste. You can like, say, “High Speed” more or less than “Amsterdam”, but they're both songs worthy of a great band. I personally don't care that much about “Fix You”, but then again who can deny it's a wonderful song in its own right? The problem with Chris Martin nowadays is that he's not sincere anymore, not with himself at least. He seems like an extremely intelligent and talented human being, but something's been off for years. He's right, Coldplay have never been a rock band. But they've never tried to be something they're not until “MX”. Sure, with “Ghost Stories” they proved they're not afraid of heartbreak. But plain, vague sadness without anger or real despair (“Ghost Stories”, with rare exceptions, for instance the bonus tracks) is exactly the same as plain, vague happiness without the fear it all could end in a second (“MX”, “AHFOD”). It's not just about the lyrics (even “Warning Sign” is a great track with cringe inducing lyrics), you can feel it the music. You can't trick your Muse into writing something you don't feel. Or better, you CAN do it, and he proves it because he's a professional, but the results will be, well, “Up&up”. Coldplay, embrace your deepest fears. Embrace your inner demons. In “Up&Up” you fix your car but, guys, remember how badly you wanted that faster car in the first place. You made it. Then you started living life inside a bubble, you slowed down. Don't worry, push your pedal, we have confidence in you and in high speed.

THIS. You summed it up perfectly. There's drama and conflict in these two songs, not just the supine acknowledgement that the other person is "a sky full of stars". Other tracks in the vein of "Ghost Story" and "All You Friends" would've made for a great break-up album.

The cool crowd used to mock them even during the Parachutes and AROBTTH eras. I guess nowadays they prefer to be topical and fun (but forgettable) than being labeled as "bedwetters" like in the old days. Bottom line: I feel you can't go from Bigger Stronger to ASFOS. Those two areas can't co-exist. Radiohead have done the most extreme and diverse records in their career, yet it was always them. Hard to explain, but I can perceive Good Morning Mr. Magpie as being from the same band of Creep.

Didn't want to sound bitter. I just think the talent at work here is remarkable and they have enough experience and years of career behind them to do better than this... The track simply stands out as the most extraneous and dull on this particular record, so far. Obviously that's just my opinion (but only up to a point: luckily there are still ways of asserting if something is good based on empirical means). Yes, CM wanted to convey something probably true and personal in this song, but maybe it wasn't the best way to do it. He could've made another Clocks or VLV... he made ASFOS feat. Avicii. Fair enough. Everything else on the record sounds really good, though.

Chris Martin: "Ever since our band came out, we have been a very polarizing group because we do a certain thing very well... About two years ago I was a mess really because I can't enjoy the thing that we are good at. I don't want to go through life (...) being scared of rejection, being scared of failure." Yeah, sure. That's why you put a song like A Sky Full Of Stars on a record that has nothing to do with it, tonally and musically-wise. A song with the broadest appeal possible that even non-fans (of the band and their music, or music in general) and casual listeners will like. There's nothing wrong with being POPular, and it's in Coldplay's genes. But if you try to consciously pander to EVERYONE... then that's a problem. At least Mylo Xyloto was consistent in being schizophrenic and misguided from beginning to end (and BTW Princess of China is a GREAT song ruined by bad production). This time the game is just more overt. ASFOS is not terrible, just incredibly bland. So it's still there, Chris... the fear of rejection, the fear of failure. It's all in this song crammed between Oceans and O. You still can't enjoy the things you (and your band) are good at. Quite good indeed.

You've got to be kidding... It's a common descending melody and it's been used thousands of times before. It's kind of the default melody in order to give a song (or a piece of music in general) an "asian feel". It has nothing to do with chord duration: it's 4/4, the tempo is almost the same (or slightly different) but those are the only tempos the melody can sustain (try to make it any faster or slower and you would "lose" the melody), not to mention the Vietnamese song has an extra chord. There's no "case" here, it's even worse than the Satriani bullshit.

They’ve never experienced a flop, all of their albums have been great hits, so… wait for a flop (or a less successful venture). That’d be a real test. That could make or break them. Either they could break up in despair (and I really hope not), or come back as their real self, and by that I don’t mean their old self, but as four guys who like to push their music boundaries and not try to systematically please everyone. How can they be so insecure after four incredibly successful albums? It’s great and very down-to-earth of them non to take anything for granted (success included), it shows they’re still human beings and not soulless rock (pop?) stars. But musically it’s deleterious, as Mylo Xyloto shows (still a nice record but as schizophrenic and uninspired as it gets). So, in short, they’re not done yet. Let’s wait for the sales data, then bets are open.

Looks pretty amateurish to me. I know it was shot in a hurry, but come on, they're the biggest band in the world and this one feels like a fan made videoclip. And what was wrong with the girl? I miss the good ol'days of Yellow, Trouble (UK version) and The Scientist. Now THOSE were videos.

"Moving to Mars" is a masterpiece, a weird and beautiful combo betwen "Space Oddity", "Rocket Man" and "Wish you were here". "Up in flames" is predictable and straightforward; in MTM the chord progression is fresh, more oblique, and I like the song structure which is akin to "Death and all his friends" or "42". But I don't know if the two could be interchangeable storywise. "Up in flames" tells about the break-up between the two main characters, but what about MTM? Where could it fit in the narrative?

Great find! Exactly what I thought after hearing "Up in flames" for the first time. That "It's over..." line, the whole break-up theme. Pity "No distance left to run" is so heartfelt and haunting whereas "Up in flames" is shallow and bland. Truth is Damon Albarn wrote that song after a real break up with his girlfriend, so that's where the soul comes from. It may sound trite but sometimes to convey this kind of emotion you need to really feel something. "Up in flames" is just a part of the story told in Mylo Xyloto, hence the detachment, the lack of real pathos in the (few) lyrics and in CM's delivery. But good for him, it means everything's fine at home! :)

Wow... just wow... mediocre at best. Painstakingly predictable. Hear the first chord and you know exactly where it's headed. I swear I could sing the chorus half-way through the first verse. And then over, and over, and over... and over again. It doesn't matter if the sound is stripped down or not, the song needs to be good first. And this, sadly, is not. Sure, production plays a great part, but if you threw a hip-hop beat in the middle part of "Moving To Mars" (when the guitar kicks in) it'd sound good anyway, though maybe not THAT good. Yep, this IS Coldplay. At their saccharine-coated worst, but you can at least recognize them. Cold comfort, may I say. It's true what what I've read in some posts: it sounds like an average song from X&Y. Even a song like "Fix You", as predictable and crowd-pleasing as it is, has a nice build-up. "Up in flames" has nothing going for it. Flatline. Maybe expectations were too high... Ok, on to DLIBYH. :fingersx:

The first post is great! Amen to that! I don't know if someone already posted it: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bemgqJ5U75o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bemgqJ5U75o[/ame] Just listen to the violin solo in "Paradise"... Do you think Dreamworks should sue? :D Anyway... Remember when a young and depressed Chris Martin used to sing "We never change, do we"? Well, believe it or not, Coldplay have changed. For the worst. He longed for a world where "making more friends would be easy". Wish granted. Now he hangs out with Beyonce and husband, Kanye West, Kylie Minogue and now, apparently, even Rihanna (are you kidding me?). He said he'd always be waiting in line for the love of his life. Done. Ten years after he's married to a movie star, with two kids. Seriously, what more could you ask for? It's fair if you don't have anything to say. After all Coldplay is the most sincere band in the world. Unlike Radiohead, superstars who've been whining for years and have elevated slackness to lifestyle for no reason at all except for the sake of it (and yet they're still producing great songs, just hear the last three tracks on "King Of Limbs"). So, Coldplay have had nothing to say since "A Rush Of Blood To The Head", which is and, as it seems right now (unfortunately) will always remain their masterwork. Yes, X&Y was fine. VIVA was great, Prospekts' March even better. But now? Now we're left with wa-wa-waterfalls and para-para-paradise (lost?). They're still unable to write completely awful tunes; as it turns out "Paradise" and ETIAW are kind of listenable, but shallow as a soup bowl (to quote Prospekt's March). Geez, even "The Nappies" is a more inspired song than that. These first two singles from MX depict the sad situation of a band that's not in touch with their feelings anymore, or even their own tastes. How could they write the soulful, beautiful "Moving To Mars" and then let it rot as a download-only C-Side? Maybe if they weren't surrounded by corporate morons, sycophants and Yes-men who approve everything they come up with... They're not infallible. They must find someone who says "No" once in a while. It used to be Will, but apparently he's given up. Brian Eno is partially to blame, IMO. Overproduction or plain uninspired production are some of the problems with the new tracks, and in VIVA as well. Let's take "Major Minus"... I've no problems with the vocal effects, but, for instance... where the f**k are DRUMS? I just hear goddamn "clicks"! What are we left with? UATW is indeed great, worthy of "Parachutes". "Hurts Like Heaven" is fine, great guitar solos. But it's almost autoplagiarism! Come on, it sounds exactly like the third part of "42"! "Charlie Brown" is a remake of "Life in Technicolor II", but a pop masterpiece nonetheless. "Princess of China" sounded like the best of the bunch, so Coldplay felt the need to ruin it with Rihanna (at leat hire Beyonce, for God's sake, if you hang out together!). So we just need to wait for the last three "full" songs of the record: "DLIBYH" (and the title doesn't bode well...), "Up in flames" and "Up with the birds". Then, considering the band's interviews about a concise album (under 50 minutes) and the lengths of the known songs I expect "Mylo Xyloto", "M.M.I.X.", "U.F.O." and "A hopeful transmission" to be short, maybe instrumental pieces... and you know which other "singers" stuff their albums with short songs to inflate the tracklist? As I recall hip-hop artists do that... thanks Kanye, thanks Jay-Z. First Lost+, then Paradise's drumbeat and now THIS? Next live show Chris Martin will be calling the princess of China a HO. But maybe Coldplay really haven't changed that much, inside. They're still looking for approval, they want to be loved by the audience (sadly not "their" audience, but the widest possible, with the risk of alienating everybody). They NEED approval. They want people around he world to sing or hum their songs, and for the last few years they've tried and made it all the more easy: think about the ever growing rate of stadium oooooohs... because oooohs are universal, anyone can sing a ooooh. But it has to stop. They need to stop being obsessed with pleasing every single listener in the world. So, this is a call to arms. Coldplay need our help. They desperately need a commercial flop to get back on track. So buy the album for yourself (I know I will, the whole package) but don't buy it as a present for friends and family (I contributed 5 copies of VIVA...). :) Seriously, let's just hope for the best. I count on "Up in flames" to restore my shaky faith. P.S. Is it me or the "Paradise" version on youtube doesn't have the oooohs at the end of the introduction, just before the first verse?