Corkus

I'm pretty sure I'll be right about it being BS. Shady sources and I seem to have a good track record for these things. ;)

Alas, Radiohead was not able to break the SNL curse. Personally, I think every band sounds horrible on SNL. Something about their stage's sound is always off. I remember thinking Arcade Fire sounded weak too. So this was not a surprise to me. Colbert might be better.

I call shenanigans. ;)

Yeah, if COITD is Snow Patrol's answer to ETIAW (*puke*), I can totally live with that. And if the other songs we've heard are any indication, it's not like they're abandoning their roots in favor of more electronica, anyway.

A friend of mine who is there right now (who isn't a Coldplay fan at all and was mostly there for The Black Keys) has informed me that Coldplay just covered R.E.M., although he didn't tell me what song specifically.

Concert queuing expert here. Not for Coldplay necessarily, but for bands with fans just as feverish as hardcore Coldplay fans. 1) Depends on the stage set-up, but more often than not, front-center is the envy of all GA people. Granted, it takes hardcore dedication to obtain, and anywhere along the front barrier is perfect for the most hardcore and dedicated fans. But you're going to have to work for it. 2) I'd really have to see a floor map to determine the golden circle layout, but see what I said above. 3) Depends on the venue capacity, the cult-like status of the most hardcore fans, and what country or continent you live in. I can't speak for South Africa, but I will tell you that in North America (which is less hardcore than shows in Europe where they DO camp), I just show up early in the morning for an arena act or larger. Like, sunrise early. Ask in the respective gig threads here and you can compare with other fans. 4) See #3 5) I certainly wouldn't do it, especially if you're GA. You don't want to risk having them confiscated and forcing them to search you heavily upon entrance, jeopardizing your spot. Rock am Ring is a festival. It's different, and even then it's a little risky. Glow sticks and bracelets are fine. No sparklers. 6) I've never met Coldplay, but they're difficult to meet since they're so big. You need some luck on your side. Okay, A LOT of luck. 7) If you want to keep a good spot in the GA section, I would advise that you NOT drink. You want to avoid having to go to the bathroom once you're inside, and alcohol would make that much more difficult. Also, once you stake out a spot on the floor, you want to protect it and not leave unless you have some really reliable buddies. 8) Oh my, yes. Oh, the most nerve-racking part of the queuing experience - the dash once doors open. Pray endlessly that you don't get stuck in a slow security line. Nobody is friends with each other during that dash. Just get in and run for the best spot. If staff yells at you to slow down, just pretend to slow down or completely ignore them. It's not like they're going to chase after you and tackle you. 9) Take your final bathroom break about 30 minutes before doors open. That way you can make some queue buddies hold your spot in line, and you have plenty of buffer room to make it back in time. It's difficult once you're inside. Not impossible, but again relies on people saving your spot. This is made easier if people sit down on the floor once they're inside. Usually venue policy on whether or not they make you sit. 10) I've gone through the marker system before and I hate it, mainly because nobody follows it. Just ask people to hold your spot while you run out. Pretty easy. 11) I personally hate dragging around banners just because they're dead weight, but if you want to, go right ahead. If you think of something cool, go for it. Hope that helps. :)

I would totally understand a decimal system if they had 40 albums, but not 4. Like, I can understand the difference between a 7 and an 8, but nothing really separates a 7 from a 7.25 or even a 7.5 This is why I prefer a 5-point system, or better yet, a letter-grade system.

I kinda want to quote this in my signature. I get a lot of comments on this forum like "Great post, Corkus!" and "Michael, you're brilliant!" so this is a nice change of pace for once. :D Also, ANYBODY on this forum who has ANY opinion of Princess of China - positive or negative - is full of crap. You can't decipher a bloody thing from that one piss-poor recording we've had for months.

Sparks is fucking awesome. Charlie Brown is harmless and inoffensive, especially when compared to the two lead singles off MX, but it's not even their best song of the past year. I even liked Christmas Lights better.

Originally I didn't. However, VLV has aged horribly in just 3 short years. I have several criticisms of X&Y (hence why I place both Parachutes and AROBTTH higher than it), but parts of Viva are just painful for me to listen to now. "Cemeteries of London" and "Strawberry Swing" are the only two tracks that I still feel hold up against previous material.

Okay, so the title track Fallen Empires is the biggest grower of a track ever. A couple weeks later and I suddenly think it's awesome, though seeing that live video may have helped a bit. (If I may take another cheap shot at Coldplay for a second, those MX tracks still haven't grown on me, in spite of everyone telling me to give them a chance to be growers. In fact, they've somehow gotten worse since my first listens. I know what a proper "grower" is like. Don't educate me. :P) I'm actually a little more lukewarm on "This Isn't Everything You Are" because it seems more like a safe inevitable single than anything. Really liking everything else I've heard so far, though.

Yeah, it's out there, though as a warning to anyone who found the same one I did, the tracks are named incorrectly and it's out-of-order. If you can't wait for the actual release, I'd still recommend waiting for a better leak.

Oh fine, I'll give numerical values. Parachutes: 8 AROBTTH: 9 X&Y: 7 VLVODAAHF: 5 So I'm predicting lower than a 5/10, and that's assuming the rest of the album is indeed less atrocious than the studio songs we've heard so far (ETIAW, Major Minus, Paradise).

Ah, Atoms for Peace. Almost forgot about that project. I'm glad that little thing will finally now exist in an actual album format, likely with lots of stuff we didn't hear before. And I'm glad you got tickets, though I never had any doubts that you'd get them. ;)

I'm not going to predict any numerical value, but I'm fairly confident it will be my least favorite Coldplay album. I was lukewarm on Viva but I didn't dislike its lead singles quite as much as I'm hating these.

Paradise has terrible lyrics, but we don't usually expect meaningful lyrics from Coldplay, as their songs have had terrible lyrics since Day 1. We do, however, expect a certain amount of composition quality, including but not limited to overall songwriting, production, instrument usage, vocal quality, and originality. Paradise doesn't succeed in a single one of those.

I deleted them from my iTunes a few weeks back. Actually, I never bought the Paradise mp3 anyway, so I deleted Major Minus instead. :P Been a Coldplay "completionist" for a good 6 years but I'm throwing that out the window now.

At first I thought the song was merely okay, but I pretty much outright hate it now. No, the studio version with Chris's vocals sure as hell didn't do it any favors, but the song bothers me in other ways too. In general, the song feels like a way weaker version of "Cemeteries of London" (one of the few tracks on VLV that I feels really stands out). Not to mention the "Oooh, oooh" portions are some of Chris's most irritating vocal moments ever. The Jonny solo isn't that bad, but again, done better on COL. If ETIAW and Paradise weren't receiving such backlash, I would think much more negativity would be directed toward Major Minus.

Justin Bieber has 3x as many Facebook fans as Coldplay. Yep.

More guitars are good news in a time when bands are moving farther away from guitars and more toward synths. The Killers themselves seemed to be heading that direction with Day & Age, so if they really want to revisit their rockier roots, this is a positive step. I still liked Day & Age (not loved), but good news anyway, especially since I never took a liking to Brandon Flowers solo.

Never got that poster because I like several others better, but at least your school is cool enough to actually sell Muse posters. I picked up a Radiohead poster the last time our school had a sale, but that was the only remotely cool thing they had.

Sad times, mainly because I consider them to be one of my first quality rock discoveries years ago. They've been rocking long enough to appeal to multiple generations. Personally, though, I feel it was probably time for them to move on and that they made the right decision to leave with dignity and a solid legacy. I've noticed some bands become purely nostalgia acts after existing for several decades. I would like to have seen R.E.M. live one day, but not like that. So good show, boys. Thanks for everything.

One of the shows I went to had a 4-song streak that went like this: Map of the Problematique > Butterflies & Hurricanes > Guiding Light > Citizen Erased Now tell me, which of those 4 songs sticks out like a sore thumb? :facepalm:

Right, it's one of the 5 "average or worse" songs I mentioned. Guiding Light in particular is their worst non-B-side ever (though I really hate "Overdue" on Showbiz). You never had to sit through it live. I had to suffer through it at half my shows. (B&H directly into Guiding Light was the biggest buzzkill ever.)

Beirut's latest album leaked a whole 2 MONTHS before release date. It was such a crisis that the band pushed the release date up by 1 month, and luckily for Beirut, they're on an independent label and have the power to control their release date like that. Coldplay is a slave to EMI and doesn't have that kind of freedom, so they're hoping for a late leak. I still insist they stop living in the 20th century and take my streaming suggestion. :P (Also, I've found that a lot of people who say "I'll download the leak but still pay legally" are lying half the time. Half the people stay true to their word but many don't.)