Cleggy

MX/Hurts Like Heaven will be on there as the opener. Charlie Brown will definitely be there after the crowd reaction and the band really seem to like Us Against The World, they've played it at every festival so far and I'm sure they would have stopped playing it if it wasn't going to be on the album. I also think Princess of China will be there but I don't think we'll hear it again at any of the remaining festivals partly because they want to keep the song as a surprise and also because the bass is too loud for it to work as a live song and drowns everything else out. I don't think any of the songs from ETIAW EP will make it to the album and all the references to the songs will be removed from the instruments after the festivals have finished and there'll be new artwork for the tour. Although part of me is worried that the EP is a preview of the album and all 3 of the songs will make the cut as well as the others which leaves about only 3 unheard songs to fill the space on the album.

I honestly doubt that a concept album will be made. When Chris was talking about the 'story' he was probably referring to the themes in the album. And then there's this: http://www.clashmusic.com/news/coldplay-not-working-on-concept-album And no offence but the 'story' in the opening post is poor.

Opener: Don't Panic Closer: Amsterdam

Firstly, since when do lyrics need to make sense? Secondly, both 'I'm' and 'how come' have been sung at the festivals. 'How come' sounds better but nobody can be sure on what the official lyrics are until it's released on an album and the lyrics get put on coldplay.com

I like I'm coming 'round to get us/I'm coming 'round when they don't know the facts from Hurts Like Heaven. When I first heard it I thought it was a reference to the Viva La Vida Satriani lawsuit i.e Satriani had no proof that Coldplay ripped him off, he didn't know the facts. It's probably not to do with that but that was my first impression.

That's a good spot there. But if everything we see on the instruments is a song title then there must be like 100 songs on LP5.

Well I definitely prefer the video to the song, the editing is fantastic. I love the stop motion style of it similar to Strawberry Swing. I think the video actually complements the song really well and every time I listen to the song from now on I'll be be thinking of paint being splashed everywhere. The song makes a bit more sense when being played over the video and I think I sort of 'get' the song a bit more now.

It's a pretty good song, but it doesn't really compare to the likes of Clocks, Amsterdam, The Scientist, Fix You etc. And the studio version will probably be an over-produced mess like ETIAW and to some extent Major Minus.

Chris said that it won't be a concept album in a fairly recent interview. I think that they only decided to scrap the concept album idea recently. When Chris played Wedding Bells at the Apple Conference he said that it was the 'start of a story' so at that point the concept album was probably still being considered. But now Wedding Bells has presumably been scrapped, or it at least won't be on the album as confirmed by Chris at Boogaloo. This may be part of the scrapping of the concept album idea.

Oracle confirmed that MX is the intro and Hurts Like Heaven is the song after it.

^ Those songs have long track times because there are hidden tracks bundled in with them. At the end of Yes there's Chinese Sleep Chant and at the end of Everything's Not Lost there's Life Is For Living. The actual songs are around the 5 minute mark I believe. However they do perform a long version of Everything's Not lost live that's about 8 minutes like at Glastonbury and Live 2003 for example.

You may be right about Major Minus, I need to listen to it a few more times and see if I can work out some kind of hidden plot. And yeah MTM does have vocal effects but I like them since it's a lot more subtle than just completely going all 'computery' on Major Minus. A bit of reverb effect on the voice is fine by me.

I don't mind that none of the songs have choruses, it makes them more interesting to me. It would pretty annoying if all of the songs on LP5 lacked choruses but it appears that won't be the case. Hurts Like Heaven for example sort of has a chorus.

Live version was better for sure, I'm getting really annoyed with how Chris' voice keeps getting altered in the studio recordings. I don't mind having voice alterations if it makes sense in the context of the song. For example Everything In It's Right Place and Kid A from Radiohead's Kid A album both had voice altering but it made sense and related to what the songs were about. It seems that the voice alterations on ETIAW and Major Minus were added just for the sake of it with no real reasoning behind it. I'm glad Moving to Mars had Chris' natural voice used, it's one of the reasons that makes it the best song on the EP for me.

I don't think we've seen the first single from LP5 just yet, just an EP which is only related to LP5 because it hints at the direction it will take. Other than that it will be totally separate. My theory anyway. If the band follow the pattern of releasing a single a month before the LP then we should get the first single in September (if the rumours about an October release are true). As well as this we don't even know the name of the LP, it seems strange to release a single from an album that nobody knows anything about.

I second this.

The fact that it's being called an 'EP' has me thinking that they're songs that haven't made the album but are being released anyway. It's like Viva Lad Vida/Prospekt's March but in reverse. They're releasing the EP first and then the LP this time round. Bear in mind that Prospekt's March did have a single (LiTii) like the ETIAW EP has a single (ETIAW).

Out of ETIAW and Major Minus I think this is the best track. To be honest though I hope none of them make the album because I'd prefer it if the album was new and fresh with songs we've never heard before (Except Charlie Brown, Hurts Like Heaven and Us Against The World). My scores for the EP are as follows: ETIAW: 4/10 Major Minus: 7/10 Moving to Mars 9/10 If ETIAW is on the album but neither of the others are I'll be pretty frustrated.

I think it'll be similar to a Kid A Radiohead song with abstract sound effects to give it a space-like feel. Maybe a Sigur Ros sort of thing.

That Oracle question suggests that Major Minus is indeed a B-side and not a double A-side as some people have suggested.

I wouldn't really change anything about any of the new songs. They're all perfect as they are, particularly UATW. I think the worst thing they could do is make it a full band song, it's great as it is. As for ETIAW, they should just start the whole track again. New lyrics, new melody, new everything. It's a disaster from start to finish.

The Oracle said that one of her favourite of the new songs is Major Minus (as well as Princess of China). I'm not sure whether this means it'll be on the album or not though.

I don't think Charlie Brown and Hurts Like Heaven will be left off the album. The band are aware of how great fans think Charlie Brown is as shown by the Roadie blogs. And MX/Hurts Like Heaven seems like the perfect album opener to me.

If Major Minus isn't on the album and ETIAW is, then I just don't know what to say. I'll laugh my ass off if it's confirmed.

Coldplay have never put a B-side on an LP since they first started. It's unlikely that it'll be on the album. It also means that the album is unlikely to be called Major Minus if it is indeed just a B-side.