gentleparachute

Thalia, that was a great interview! You did a magnificent job and should be proud! I'm glad you got to meet the band and spend some time with Will and Guy... They did take the interview seriously and gave us some thoughtful and considered answers, also answers that revealed a little bit about themselves and their childhoods. Nice to know that they can be regular guys and get stumped by deeper / more obscure questions just like anyone else :) And it sounds like they were genuinely impressed by the thoughtful gifts and attention to their history. All round, a nice one for all involved! Thanks Coldplaying.com for lobbying for the interview, especially Thalia for spending the time, effort and money to make it happen. You guys did a good job! Congrats to us fans who got to hear some burning questions asked and answered! Thanks Debs Wild + management for allowing it to happen. Thanks Coldplay (particularly Guy and Will) for taking the time out and answering our burning questions What a wonderful early Christmas present for us all :D

Thalia was allowed!!! Wow, I am impressed! I'm glad this site finally got a chance :) Can't wait now...

Bless you! This is such an old thread... How'd you find it? - Fourth Time Around- Bob Dylan

Hype! I thought it might be, I'm glad Coldplaying.com got to do an interview! Hopefully Thalia was allowed to ask some interesting and deeper questions... With her wit, I don't doubt she is fully capable of it if given a chance :)

I agree that traditionally great (rock) music pulls you in and captures the mood of the people... I don't know that this album was made to do that, or even if it was intentionally made this way or as a result of other factors - from this point of view the album is quite different to their previous work and will be polarizing due to this (in terms of whether fans rate this reflective quality / lack of emotional direction or not). Additionally, I'm sure opinions on the album will also differ based on whether people feel that this lack of emotional push / pull is actually intentional by the band or not...

Geez, thanks guys... I'm kinda in awe at the response to the post! As for the album ranking, I still haven't settled for one yet... Unlike GS for me, this one still feels it's got some ways to go yet before it settles itself, both in terms of how it ranks within all their other albums, and how it ranks by itself. Musically (i.e. from a more technical and inspirational / originality of music perspective), it currently keeps see-sawing between a 5-7/10 for me... That doesn't bother me as I've never thought they were as gifted or brilliant as say Radiohead. But in terms of musical connection (i.e. how much I like the album based on whatever factors / biases / how I feel about it), I would say it swings quite a lot - sometimes it's a 5/10, other times it actually reaches an 8 or more... The interesting thing is, after hitting 8, it doesn't hook into a 9 or 10, rather it just feels more profound and moving than ever before - certainly makes me feel 'alive again' :) EDIT: I should clarify that 10/10 musically is something like Bohemian Rhapsody, or Paranoid Android. AROBTTH album would rate 8-9 on this scale

^ That's what I've felt with this song!!! When I first heard it during GCF, it felt flat and underwhelming, but after persisting with it for awhile and then eventually having it seep into my psyche, I can honestly say that this song brings out such beautiful sentiment and emotion... There's a very deep-seated calmness and sense of gratitude in there that feels more profound than any of their previous songs. Hearing it, and singing along to it brings out a deep joy that feels a bit like the 'Everglow' that Chris sings about in that song

Thanks for the compliment (and @Rickulus @ticking_clocks), it's very high praise I'm not sure I entirely deserve :p I just wanted to share what I had observed about my experience with this album, and hope I'm not imagining things... Hope some others here have noticed something similar?

I've noticed an interesting effect... In the act of defending / analyzing this album, I find that I notice and appreciate the musical aspects eg beats / rhythm, bass, production, etc more. But funnily enough the act of doing this does seem to take away from actual enjoyment of the album - I find it does something to my emotions so I connect (i.e. enjoy) less than if I were just sitting there allowing the music to sink in and not try to mould it a certain way emotionally. I don't know what it means (or even if it means anything significant), but I find the music in this album doesn't drown out / lead away from pre-existing emotions into a mood / feeling set by the band - think how Don't Panic and Trouble were melancholic but led to comfort and reassurance, AROBTTH was a quiet rage and sense of loss, 1st half of MX was leading us towards joy etc... Whereas this album seems more reflective overall and often amplifies (at least for me) how I'm already feeling before hand, eg I feel more uplifted when I'm already in a good / relaxed mood, or feel bored if I was uninterested to start with, or negative about the album if I was already in a peeved mood in the first place. This album strikes me as lacking that sense of wanting to bring / force the listener to go with them in a specific direction emotionally, rather invites the listener to come with them for the ride - it doesn't suck you into the music, but offers an invitation to a warm embrace should you decide to go along for the musical ride. I know we don't want this in rock music - hell, it's so not rock... But this seems to be what this album is about, emotionally at least

^ @Kamili, I actually like your signature (about Yellow...), where did you get it from? Was it a quote from somewhere?

^ I'm guessing that was the time in the week before album release when everything was glitching and everyone was double posting

I've voted for this thread. As with any other thread, I don't necessarily agree with all the posters or their posts, but I think the original idea that spawned this thread was a good one - to look back and celebrate what was loved about Coldplay in its earlier days... There have been many good links to many of their earlier work, and it's been a good reminder of their earlier output and sound, and what many have loved about their early years. Unfortunately sometimes whole sections did devolve into bashing the "state" of this band in more recent times - however as no one ultimately holds control over posting any opinions in any area of this forum (barring admin / mods who can move or delete posts), this is not surprising and should not in fairness, be held against this thread, although no doubt it would have been less fiery and colorful without these posts... Here's my glass to this thread returning to its original purpose - that of celebrating Oldplay (without thought of tarnishing any other history / memory of this band)...

You needn't have worried... I might be optimistic but I think some non-Oldplayers might actually vote for your thread :) In any case, I don't think any Newplayers would do any hate-posting on it... You don't have control over who posts what content on the thread anyway - I do remember your original intention was to celebrate Oldplay rather than rain hate / criticism on "Newplay"... I see that difference clearly :D

Nope, I hear my heart ba-boom, ba-boom, boom too :)

Ooh tough one... They are both beautiful and give off similar vibes! I'll make it easier... Nice Dream vs High and Dry

^ Oh yeah, that too!

Btw I think you may be misquoting Chris Martin there... I believe his actual words were more "We felt like rock music has been done", rather than actually saying rock music is dead... He could well have meant "rock music has been done (by us)" My main point about the earlier post was just to ensure CM was quoted correctly - up to each individual in terms of how they interpret what he actually said... With regards to the album, funnily enough I have the opposite reaction - I think it is a solid 2nd half that I connect better to more than the first half :P That's just an emotional reaction to the music of course, I am not saying that the 2nd half is actually "better".

That would just be so awesome! Glasto 2016 I'm thinking...

Regarding the guitar solos, I know they asked Jonny and Noely to write a solo each, but is it confirmed that they played their own solos (that they wrote)? Could Jonny have played both? Otherwise just based on playing, my guess would be The Chief playing the first solo, with Jonny playing second... There are a few reasons, but the main one is because the first solo is less clean sounding than typical Jonny - he usually really polishes up his playing on the albums and goes for really clean and pure notes for those high soaring melodies, while the second one (although muted by production) actually has cleaner, purer notes. The other reasons are because they invited Noely - of course he's gotta go first :P, and also there are more background and other sounds mixed into the second solo - presumably they'd be more comfortable doing that to members of their own band than "messing up" Noel's solo...

Has anyone considered whether the producers want to work with them? I know we all think Coldplay are very talented and great (at least have been), but it could be a matter of some producers wanting to move on as well?

Haha, that does sound too much like work! I on the other hand... I would dislike doing it if that was my day job and I actually had notes and sounds I had to hit and perfect (and remember) every time, but as it is a band with no actual sheet music that lists every note etc I like doing it (for this band anyway) because it gives me insight into their musical thoughts / emotions through the feel of the music :) I certainly totally understand why they don't listen to their own music after finishing an album - it'd feel too much like work for them, they'd be sick of it.

That is one of my favourite geeky things to do with this band... Break down the parts and listen to them by themselves, before stringing it back together and listening to the whole... I only noticed his drumming more partly because previously it wasn't as interesting to just listen out for the drums / percussion but with this album, I find I can literally just focus on the percussion (the same way I usually do for Jonny's guitar and lately Guy's bass) and it has its own life. I love how the whole band has grown (or maybe my listening is just better :P) - there only used to be sections to focus on, but now everyone has a proper part most of the time that is actually interesting to listen to. The rhythm section has always been tight - in this album, they really, really shine! I just thought I'd make a thread on Will just because his work is usually the least appreciated, and with this album, I have really noticed it! :D Defo for Jonny... I could just go on, and on about that guy (and his guitar) - it's one of the things that really made me fall in love with this band, and it has been so fun, beautiful and great to watch his guitar parts (and artistry) just grow with each subsequent album - I remember initially squealing with joy when I first started hearing a prominent proper guitar line back in In My Place, then progress to actual riffs in Square One / Talk in X&Y... Since then he has just gone from strength-to-strength and hasn't looked back - one my my favs of his is his numerous hooks on HLH - I think I counted something like at least 6-7 different guitar riffs in there - I almost died! :P As usual, he is spectacular on AHFOD! You want to start a thread dedicated to Jonny's work on AHFOD so we can geek out there? Same goes for Guy as well... Someone start a thread! They really are so tight in this album and yes, it is evident in the music - I've mentioned somewhere else - everyone is bouncing off and interacting with every one else on this album, I love it!

Has anyone noticed Will's tremendous drumming on this album? There are some compression issues limiting the dynamics somewhat, but his fingerprints are all over this album, often leading the way and breathing life into the songs. Each and every song has its unique percussive sound (and beat), and quite a few often have at least two or three... As a piano player who also learned some general percussion in school, to me, his percussive work has always struck me as very musical / atypical for a rock drummer - he really looks to be expressive with his drumming and convey texture and colour rather than just hold down an interesting rhythm / driving beat... However on this album, he's taken it to a whole new level - there's almost a whole percussive track for each song, like he's composed every bar of every song and deliberately created every sound in there (including the silences), rather than just devise the beats and colour in the rest. I think some of the so-called production issues are probably a result of him changing his percussive sounds in the songs rather than pure production decisions per se. Outstanding percussion tracks are Birds, HFTW, AoAL, XTMS, parts of Fun and Up&Up, although every song is really well-constructed and played from a drumming / percussion point-of-view. I am so thoroughly impressed by his work on this album, well done Will!

Hopefully you find enough in there that you like - which albums do you really like, which ones less so/not? Hey, what (about liking my own comments lol)??? Well, I tend to give thumbs up to thoughtful comments, as well as comments I agree with, in addition to comments I actually like / represent how I feel - but yours seem to just be what I think / the way I perceive things... I just thought thumbs-upping is a nice way of letting people know - most people like to know that someone agrees with their point at a forum... And thanks for the compliment (2nd paragraph)! Yes and no... I do think they are perfectly capable of nitpicking every bit of their musical imperfections, however sometimes some fans (here) are excessively critical to the point of incoherence. But yeah, I agree that this is the reason they keep tinkering until the last minute - they're still like uni students - tinkering on their thesis until time's up to hand it in... :) I think with this album maybe they decided to set a shorter deadline (than their usual 3 years) and see whether it makes a difference to their musical output (and find out what sort of a difference it makes). The thing I find interesting about this band is that imo they seem to be more objective than most others about their own creative output... They may not be able to say so / express it well, but often their creative decisions (evident in the resulting music) lead me to think that they have made pretty objective decisions about their own music - AHFOD would be the only album where this may not exactly be the case. Otherwise everything else they have ever done as Coldplay has been deliberate and thought to death, down to sound / production / design etc. On a side note RE: production of AHFOD, I noticed the other day the predominance of the drums / percussion in this album... It is more deliberate and prominent than in their previous works, it really sounds like they've decided to put Will's drumming at the forefront with this album - in some ways it sounds less dynamic than usual (I blame production/compression), but there is so much more texture, variety and colour in his drumming... It almost sounds like he is trying to single-handedly produce and conduct his own percussion orchestra (in service to the songs of course ;)). Each song has it's own distinct percussive sound (and beat), some even have at least 2 or 3... I think some production decisions eg muted guitars in Up&Up may have been to fit his percussion sounds (or do I have this totally wrong and he still managed to get some well-matched percussion in despite the production? o_O) It did use to be good discussions like this in the earlier days (up to about X&Y), then after that there started to be significant fan backlash with less supportive / more critical comments and general band-bashing. It's probably the reason why I still keep returning here even though the forum seems to have fundamentally changed - it's a learned response over the years lol - like a homing pigeon circling base even though home is now a pack of wolves :rolleyes:

Thanks gai, so do you! Hope you are enjoying AHFOD as much as we are... :D The album really does have so much to offer beyond the superficial stuff...