OnlookerDelay

I like it quite a bit, but I really have a hard time calling it a Christmas song... it's a song about a guy having girl problems at Christmas time. I would find it more intriguing to see where the band might have gone if they had penned a song that more pertinent to the Christmas message or experience. I gotta say it has some compelling piano work, but to me, it sounds more like Chris Martin & Orchestra than Coldplay. My attitude might change after a few more listens. I've only heard it about 5 times now....

I would be worried if an idiot like Kid Rock endorsed something I did!

Really? I missed that I guess. I'll have to go back and research that a bit. I didn't become a Coldplay fan until early 2006, so a lot of what they did prior to that was off the radar for me. I've decided since that their 2003 Live performance at Sydney was the best I've heard from them. Visually, they put on a more impressive show on How We Saw the World, in 2006, but in terms of musical performance, the 2003 show was markedly better, IMO. I don't watch enough of the Grammy Awards to comment on it, other than to say that I'm usually not impressed by what musical performances and mixes I do see.

Amen to that! A live performance of Viva La Vida with a full orchestra would be epic! The piped-in audio tracks are really compromising Coldplay's live presence, IMO. I don't won't to see them become a pantomine band!

I totally agree with you Ricardo... I just picked up the Live 2003 DVD this week and the live performance is simply stunning! "Moses" might be the tightest song I've seen Coldplay do live. Their unity and musicality were so much in evidence during this song. AROBTTH, God Put a Smile on Your Face, and One I Love were standouts as well. Why? Because the guys played the heck out of their instruments and kept the pre-recorded content to a subtle minimum. Yes, there were piped in synths and strings in this concert, but it was far less apparent than what I'm seeing now.

I don't mind them switching instruments and showing their versatility at all... I think it makes them more interesting to watch. What I do have a problem with is NO ONE playing an instrument, live, when it factors prominantly into the song during a live performance. I see a larger and larger percentage of Coldplay's music being piped in during their live performances and I think it diminishes their authenticity.

Reign of Love is a savory piece IMO, but I can easily concede that it's for special tastes. I see it as a bit of musical exploration by the band and I've come to appreciate it, even though I think it would be a better fit elsewhere in the album. I didn't like Chinese Sleep Chant the first couple of times I heard it, but it grew on me after thinking of it as more of a.... well.... "chant". It's almost like it's a mood inducing mantra, and I like the places that it takes me. I'm not listening to it for any deep, lyrical message because it's not intened to have one, IMO.

I'm very atypical in my posture on X&Y... it is the album which turned me into a Coldplay fan! I heard it online when it was being streamed just prior to release and got hooked by it immediately. Speed of Sound, Talk & White Shadows were instantly recognizeable. The rest grew on me, one at a time.... except Twisted Logic. I have a fused, associative aesthetic experience every time I hear this album and it hasn't diminished in the almost three years that I've listened. I still even enjoy Fix You! I flat don't get the X&Y hate, even among Coldplay fans. Yeah, I understand the stigma that it has working against it - it's got a lot of melodic, hooky songs, some of which are heavily produced. I won't deny that, but I also can't deny that for whatever reason, the whole body of work (Twisted Logic notwithstanding) works for me as an enduring album. In fact I rank it as my #4 album of all time. I know that AROBTTH is held up as the Dark Side of the Moon of Coldplay albums, but I wouldn't be listening to AROBTTH today if X&Y hadn't opened my eyes to the wizardry of Coldplay. I should add that I loved "Clocks" when it hit the air, but I fugured that Coldplay was a one hit wonder at that time and never looked any further into who was behind this wonderful song. I hadn't heard Yellow, or Don't Panic off the Parachutes album. It wasn't until after X&Y that I heard the rest of Coldplay's work. Looking back on it, I can't figure out how I missed hearing it, other than to point to the dearth of FM music stations in my area...

Amsterdam (the Live 2003 version)... it's like I'm discovering the song for the first time today!

I was a fan of Coldplay long before I knew what any of them looked like. Quite frankly, I'm starting to get a bit concerned over Chris' man-crush on Guy ;)

I read somewhere (perhaps in this forum) that there's something akin to a riddle in this song. I recall reading several posts where people were saying that once you get the riddle to this song, a buzzer goes off in your mind and you have an "aha" moment. I'm wondering if this is a commonly held view? I've been trying to parse the lyrics to have my epiphany, but I haven't had a decisive moment with it. I have a hint of what it might be, but if I go too far with my analysis, I'm afraid it might ruin the moment of discovery for someone else. If you're one of those who've "gotten it", please PM me and we'll compare notes. I'm trying to be careful not to spoil it for someone else if I've truly gotten it. I just didn't have the undeniable "I get it" realization that I'd read about from a few others. Finally, I'm still uncertain of the actual lyric which has commonly been reported as: "We’d go underneath the arches where the witches are in the saying," What I don't hear is "in the saying"... I'm thinking it might be something else because I don't hear the annunciation I'd expect out of Chris for "saying". The accuracy of that lyric doesn't change my analysis of what I think the riddle is, but I'm curious as to what was intended.

I agree, it's "Victorian"!

Excellent point! That's what's most important to me. I'm interested in their music, how it's produced and written, what inspired it, their thoughts on live performing, etc. I see so many musicians taking on the role of political activists, taking up some fringe crusade that ultimately marginalizes them. Coldplay speaks most effectively through their music. That's where their focus needs to be.

Maybe in terms of album sales over the last year or two, but in terms of public recognition and concert sales... U2 seems to be way ahead. The last U2 concert in Atlanta sold out within hours of the tickets going on sale. The Coldplay concert tickets went on sale on June 18th, and there are still tickets to be had.

I checked out the Jonas Brothers on Rhapsody yesterday, after reading your post. They probably don't want to hear this, but they sounded like Hanson. Nothing offensive about their music, I just found it shallow and formulated. I like some of RHCP, a couple of Weezer tunes, and a Nickelback tune here and there. IMO, none of them are on anywhere near Coldplay in terms of impact. Foo Fighters? They're probably my favorite American band and I would put them on the same level as Nickelback in terms of "bigness" in the USA.

I must really be living under a rock... I've never heard the Jonas Bothers, I've only heard of them. My 13 year old son says that 3/4's of the bands that "The End" (an alternative rock station in Charlotte, NC) plays are Nickelback clones.... from what I've heard, I'd have to agree :) And unfortunately, I have heard Fall Out Boy... whew. The Latin Proverb "De gustibus non est disputandum" (there's no accounting for tastes) applies here.

The radio situation here in South Carolina (I'm in Rock Hill) and southern North Carolina (I'm 25 miles from Charlotte) is truly sad. I don't know that many people who listen to music radio here because it is so anemic. We do have a couple of metallish-edgy, alternative rock stations in Charlotte, but they're too cool to play Coldplay music. The rest of the stations play filtered, top-40 drivel, or the same tired 40 song (Blinded by the Light, Sweet Home Alabama, Kashmir, Do You Feel Like We Do, etc) classic 70's rock tracks. I have heard Viva La Vida on 107.9, out of Charlotte, but it was purely by accident. I never conciously listen to the station because they're usually too busy yapping about the most inane topics, trying to make a humorous sexual connotation out of them. This is going to sound strange, but I swear to you that this is the truth... two years ago, I was in the Home Depot store here in Rock Hill. This store tends to play their "muzak" (I'm not sure what service they actually use) over the store's PA system considerably louder than most stores. My knees literally buckled when I heard "Speed of Sound" issuing forth over the system :stunned: I was in the power tools section when I heard it and there was a woman and what I'm guessing was her teenage daughter fairly closeby. I heard the daughter say to her mother, "gosh... I really like that music - I wonder who that is singing that... do you know who that is?" Her mom - who looked to be in her early 40's said "no", but it is a good piece, I'd like to know myself!" They both stopped shopping (a process which if you understand women, it takes something truly earth-shattering to stop :)) and listened to the rest of the song. I waited until it was over and approached them, saying I couldn't help but overhearing their discussion. I told them who it was and they both said they were vaguely familiar with the name. They asked me if they'd had any other songs they may have heard. I rattled of Clocks, Yellow, and In My Place. They had question marks on their faces. I semi-sang the chorus to "Clocks" and the mother exclaimed... "I've heard that song a lot... I thought the name of it was "You Are"!? Anyway, I gave them a little biography of the band and hearty recommendation for X&Y, which I consider the 4th best album of all time! From that point on, I started noticing that Home Depot (at least this one) has the best playlist of any department store I've ever been in. Heck, it's a more progressive and diverse playlist than the pitiful, so-called "Rock/Pop" radio stations in the area! It has affected my shopping habits though, I will spend more time in Home Depot shopping around because I'm curious to see what they'll play next. BTW, I've also heard them play "All Around the World" by Oasis in this same store... I found that as shocking as Speed of Sound by Coldplay!

The Oasis fans I know here hate their latest (original) album (Don't Believe The Truth). I haven't liked anything they've made since Be Here Now. They still have an appeal that carries over from their first four albums though. I wasn't basing my assessment of Oasis popularity in my region based on the latest billboard charts... I just know what I hear when I'm out and about and chatting with friends, and their name is always mentioned right after U2 when "bands that you want to see in concert" are disussed.

I'm in the southeast (South Carolina), and I would say they are relatively big here. I would say they rank them behind U2 and Oasis in terms of UK band band popularity here. Radiohead is big among underground elitist here, but the mainstream crowd hasn't heard of them. What's interesting to me is how badly the non Coldplay fans here hate on them... I really don't get the degree of bitterness they have for them.

I'm somehow not feeling this song. It's okay I guess, but I think it meanders around aimlessly at times. It sounds like something a band would put together in a closing jam session, where they brought up a few of their other favorite musicians to joing them on stage. It just doesn't flow to me... I don't think it's unlistenable, just not something I would go out of my way to listen to. I think it's easily the weakest song on the album and doesn't conclude it the way I think it deserves.

I think this is intentional. My take is that the vocals are processed to sound like what voices would sound like to someone who is in an alpha state... just prior to nodding off to sleep. I don't think the song is trying to deliver a profound lyrical message, although it winds up being subject to interpretation. I didn't like it when I first heard it, but it's grown on me with repeated listening. It definitely has a hypnotic effect! :cool:

I don't know how "gayness" applies to a Coldplay performance. Artificially supplemented - yes, but gay?.... unh uhh.

I don't see how anyone could say that Coldplay were zonked out during X&Y... I thought it was brilliant! It's easily my favorite Coldplay album, and my 4th favorite album of all time! Music snobs always want to poo-poo anything that has any poppy hooks to it. X&Y had a lot of hooks, and it was poppy at times, but it was progressive and adventurous enough to keep it fresh. Three years later and I'm still listening to it and discovering its majesty! Brian has an ego, but you can't deny he's a great producer. However, I would argue that Coldplay sounds more produced in Viva La Vida than X&Y, IMO.

Well that was better than I thought it would be, but there is still waaaaay too much in the way of backing tracks being piped in for my tastes. It's easier to give a band a pass for piping in tracks on a television program, I reckon, but it remains a head-scratcher for me. I mean you've got three guys up there playing instruments (at least on Lost!) most of the song, yet there's an cavalcade of sound coming from them that should make even the casual listener stop pushing the "I believe" button. Speaking of the Daily Show clip of Lost!, I think Chris would have come off much better staying behind the keyboard. The song really doesn't lend itself very well to flitting histrionics. The haunting organ track is the lifeblood of the song and it would be more beneficial to the concert goer to see Chris being fully engaged in that element. I thought it was cool that they let Guy open up on the tom-tom to free up Will on the drum kit. OTOH, when Guy drops the drum sticks and picks up his bass, the drum part he was playing continued... there's a hokiness about this that I can't easily overlook.

I'm really disappointed to read the reports I'm reading about the MSG show. Unfortunately, I can't write it off to still tinkering... you don't take a show like this on the road to put on a free rehearsal concert in one of the greatest arenas in the world! Chris is too much of a perfectionist to settle for a shabby performance. I'm worried about the piped in content being so heavy that the band doesn't know where they fit in amongst it. I don't know how many drastic changes they could make at this point. Noooooooo.... please tell me this didn't happen!? Chris not playing the organ on Lost! That's the defining ingredient of the song for goodness sake!!?? Really... it does reinforce the idea that the band is getting too much pre-recorded help onstage. I'm with you on this score mooseaka. It marginalizes Chris' image as a musician as paints him more in the role of a panamining performer. I wish they'd get a handle on this on go back to the purer performances of 2003. I'm having second thoughts about dropping major coin to see Coldplay live in Atlanta (210 miles away from me) to listen to a concert consisting of 50% pre-recorded music :\