MosesTheMarshmallow

Agreed with all points....everyone has really shone. Even the piano part on Everglow is one of the most interesting to date. You're not crazy about what you're noticing but I frame/enjoy those things positively in the following ways: -AHFOD. I used to think it ended abruptly but now I actually enjoy the ohhh's at the end and all that. The bass part gets a bit boring at the end, but that's not the point. That's just an opinion though. -Everglow...there are actually bits in the choruses and the guitar solo where Guy does play some extra notes but you have to really listen for it. :/ I'd call that suboptimal mixing. -HFTW...yes it does become 4x4 kick with a clap, but what other Coldplay song really does that? Definitely gives me a bit of the vibe from Do I Wanna Know by Arctic Monkeys. I think the closest they've come in tempo and feel might be Violet Hill. Also the percussion during the verses (with the skrrrrrrrl shaker-tambourine-jingle thing ) is pretty cool. And the sparse toms during the "drink from me" part is interesting too. -Army of One: I agree in one way, in that the bit where it gets quiet in the middle is kind of poorly placed. I wish it had gotten either super loud or super quiet or super fast at that point instead of laying off the energy (or cut the vocal sample briefly). However, I really like Will's fills before the choruses. It reminds me of some of Muse's not-that-guitarry songs like Madness or Undisclosed Desires or Guiding Light. -Amazing Day: really? I think the mixing is actually way better on the album than life. But that's because the guitar is mixed higher and with a lot of treble-effect that Jonny doesn't seem to use live. The bass and drums are at a nice volume for me. *shrug* -Up&Up: the only issue I can think of is that the kick in the first verse is a bit loud. But I like the effect it gives. It has an intentionally huge amount of compression so it's a bit wooshy...which I just kinda like but maybe some don't?

Up&Up seems like a great chance to tell a good story. What If, White Shadows, IIRC, were released only in 1 or 2 countries as a single? U-songs on MX came out as a Record Day special. These were very specific circumstances, but I think if you look at everything that was a general single, there should be a video. For instance, I don't think most of us think of GPASUYF or Talk as singles nowadays but those had videos.

Excellent news. Up&Up has the best lyrics on the album. :)

Maybe Beyonce and Bruno are there just to sing on Up&Up. ;) ;) ;) ;)

I'll preface by saying that I really like AHFOD but there are two key things I would change about the album itself and one about live: 1. Tweak the tracklisting a bit. I find Army of One following Kaleidoscope to be very jarring. I would've much preferred Amazing Day after Kaleidoscope because those songs are more lyrically/thematically related. Kaleidoscope leaves me feeling really emotional/happy, and then Amazing Day is sort of cathartic and continues the "WOW LIFE IS GREAT" thing. Army of One feels like a bit of a generic throwaway love song (I really like Army of One, but it's suboptimal following Kaleidoscope IMO). Less importantly, the position of Everglow is a bit weird, IMO. Here's what I would propose. That said, A. I don't like changing tracklistings around from what the band did, B. I'm very sensitive to how some noises lead into next songs (like Birds into HFTW). Disrupting things like that is jarring. 1. AHFOD 2. Birds 3. HFTW 4. AOAL 5. Fun 6. Army of One 7. Everglow 8. Kaleidoscope 9. Amazing Day 10. Colour Spectrum 11. Up&Up 2. Turn up the guitar. This is self explanatory. This would've made Everglow a lot better in particular. The mixing on the acoustic guitar in Birds is a bit weird/low as well. And the lead guitar at the end of Birds, HFTW, and Army of One is a little bit too quiet. 3. (live) Fewer backing tracks. I wish Chris would play electric guitar on AHFOD so that Jonny can play the "A HEAD FULL OF DREAMS" line with a slide (which would make it sound more like the album version); AOAL, HFTW, and Amazing Day all have piano backing tracks but those songs would be a lot better with Chris actually sitting down to play the piano IMO.

What was that song in the middle of the video? :O

I love AHFOD (though would put it behind MX/VLV) and would love to see the tour. I've never seen Coldplay live yet. </3 For those of you who think they don't like the album, I will say that the guitar seems to be a bit louder! Just look at the comments on Everglow at Belasco Theater. Same thing with the title track. The guitar at the end of HFTW is absolutely cutting in the live version. And Up&Up is fantastically epic. I mean by all means do what you want and make the tickets more available for me ;) but I do think the last few albums have had a pattern of live-being-better so don't lose hope yet! ....Amazing Day is kinda weak live though. :(

Is this going to turn into a poll or something at some point? I'd love to hear: -UWTB -Moving to Mars -Things I Don't Understand -Twisted Logic -Amsterdam -Prospekt's March

For guitar: 1. Up&Up 2. Everglow 3. AOAL 4. Birds 5. AHFOD 6. Fun 7. Amazing Day 8. HFTW 9. Army of One For bass: 1. AOAL 2. AHFOD 3. Birds 4. Amazing Day 5. Army of One 6. Up&Up 7. HFTW 8. Everglow 9. Fun

Wow I knew I had heard the orange field thing before. Grapes of Wrath is one of my favourite books and it makes me really happy that it was incorporated into this already excellent song. :)

This. You'll also notice that Will doesn't sing the backup vocal for these two lines (but does for others).

Yeah on the album version I find the piano in the middle of the song, and the guitar solo rather muffled. The one redeeming thing about the album version is that the muffled-ness of the guitar allows the very interesting bassline there to shine through. That said, I really like the authoritative/piercing sound of Jonny's guitar live for that solo...reminds me of heavy hip-hop or trap. On Up&Up, which guitar solo is it that people don't like the mixing on? I thought the solos sound sufficiently loud, clear, and excellent. Not nearly as egregious as perhaps the guitar volume on Everglow (which is a bit low relative to the live version).

Aha I didn't think of this but now that you've said this, the song really makes me think of 1:15 of this...

Wow excellent interview! Thanks for all your work Batman. :) Curious to hear Panic.... :lol:

Wait this is incredibly exciting news. I feel like Muse had done this for a tour or two? I for one am extremely excited to hear certain songs never-before-played (UWTB, Twisted Logic), certain old or older songs (Amsterdam, DAAHF), B-sides (Moving to Mars was so good that one time)....

When you're still waiting for Batman to call, Doesn't really feel like Christmas at alllllllll

What a great show!! Gem >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Tim Smith (except for on the new version of Champagne Supernova) Terry Kirkbride >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Jeremy Stacey Wishful thinking though.

I don't find it annoying, but I do think the BBC1 version is great...especially since Chris is playing the piano which adds back a nice texture (there's some quite piano on the album version).

I really love the album version but it's sad that the piano is on a backing track live...I feel like it has less character that way.

Good catch on Up&Up "album version." It's such an amazing song and I think would be great as a single, and hopefully the only thing they do is remove the "believe in love" at the end. It's the one that appears on the TV in the shop during the official video. Here's the full thing: [MEDIA=vimeo]111166101[/MEDIA] Mobile Link: https://vimeo.com/111166101

Noel Gallagher occasionally performs with the Crouch End Choir and often is joined by a horn section lately....that might be a fun rendition of Up & Up right there. :D

I love this song a lot! I know people are complaining about production...but honestly this is one of the sparsest Coldplay tracks in terms of extra instruments/stuff. The only discernible things (that would end up on a backing track) are the sonar noise and the "heyyy" vocal sample. Everything else is largely happening by voice, piano, guitar, bass, and drums. Someone implied in a different thread that this song has strings...but I don't hear them. IMO this song is very AROBTTH by this definition. Note also, in terms of "overproduction", that the studio versions of the Scientist and Trouble have piano, electric guitar, and acoustic guitar all happening at the same time. The end of Amsterdam has 2 electric guitar lines AND piano. All that is to say....some of early Coldplay material is technically more layered than what we're getting in this song. Some thoughts/impressions: -What a catchy piano line. -The chord progression is a little generic...kind of a mishmash of the Hardest Part, ASFOS in particular. -The guitar bits are sooooooo cool but a little bit quiet. :( The interlude in the middle of the 1st verse and after the 1st chorus are really cool atmospheric things where you feel like you're just getting washed in pianoand guitar. -The guitar after the second chorus is HUGE. First there's a really moving e-bow part followed by a short-lived but amazing guitar solo that has a really interesting effect (not sure if backwards guitar or just very reverby). -The lyrics seem pretty good. I haven't read them, but there seems to be neat imagery. The only complaint I have is that Chris used the word "special" and words that rhyme with it, but those words don't really sound good when you sing them coz there's this ugly "UHL" sound. -I actually like Chris's vocals a lot on this. The scratchiness doesn't seem overwhelming at all and I feel like I really hear the emotion. Kind of like in ASFOS where Chris is doing some really cool vocal stuff that's full of passion. -The bassline is relatively simple but has a cool meatiness. Reminds me of Miracles in a nice way. -The drums subtly transition into acoustic drums during the louder part of the song....kind of cool IMO! In that sense there's a musical representation of the transition from GS's night to AHFOD's light. Yeah! That really big e-bowy part is very X&Y. The transition to the first chorus is super similar to Up in Flames' beat drop. And the guitar/piano interplay just after the first chorus is very similar to the instrumental guitar-piano call and response bit in All Your Friends.

I really like the song but wish all the guitar was all louder and twice as long. >_>

I lol'ed. :lol:

I've only listened to ALOA but I totally agree - state of mind and everything matter. I listened to ALOA for the first time just before sleeping and thought the beginning was too loud, and that the end was too short, and that the woohoos were too overbearing, that Will's vocals in the choruses were out of place....................................and now I think the song is really well done, and I love it.