Stephie

projector

I imagine Adele using all her time off to walk into record stores incognito, rearranging window displays and CD racks, putting her album front and centre while hiding AHFOD. :D (Nah, she's lovely of course.) Oh dear, I keep thinking that I have a dark, dark Coldplay secret. I hate Fix You. Yes, I'm ashamed myself.

I'm not liking the song either, but I like that kind of language even less. :( Can't it still be civilised?

Ground control

Yeah, I guess it does. :) I had this feeling right from the first time listening to it, but I couldn't pinpoint it and describe the exact situation that subconsciously must have come to my mind.

I keep thinking about what exactly I don't like about the album version and why it doesn't get me emotionally. This description made me laugh and maybe hits the mark for me.

I sucessfully made several origami animals and a mosaic today. How did that happen? (I'm usually not good when creating things with my hands.)

I finally found out what kind of situation the beginning of the song reminds me of - what the picture is I associate with it. To me it feels like coming from the more somber Ghost Stories era (the intro reminds me of the bells at the end of Oceans as well as O) and then opening the door to a club (or a room full of life if you want) with AHFOD already playing. Then I enter the room, the music gets louder, the door closes behind me, the guitar welcomes me, and I'm in the middle of this new chapter. :)

The tidbits from the songs I hear are the intro from AHFOD, the birds from (yes :D) Birds, Beyoncé from HFTW, the muffled woohoo's from AOAL, the last line of the poem from Kaleidoscope, and something else after the spoken word that I still can't place (maybe a reminscence to the oohooh's from Fun?). Is there anything else I'm missing? At first I wondered whether they had put all songs up to this point in there, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Then I thought maybe they were going for seven songs as in seven principal colors of the light spectrum... Or maybe I'm interpreting entirely too much into this track. :D I find it interesting that colours have always been so prominent in the band's lyrics, era aesthetics and live shows, and that Chris recently said that he might have synesthesia to a degree.

Contract

Oops, sorry, it was just meant as some silly fun. :) I'll back off then.

Nah, 'cause I don't care about chart positions, but my own listening pleasure and I couldn't have taken any more waiting. It was nerve-wrecking enough. ;) :D

I feel like this went off the rails pretty quickly. :D I guess I never considered Coldplay to be rock. Just a band playing their instruments, making music I love with various influences. Probably because I feel I'm not cool enough for rock anyway. :D The feeling of being not cool enough for cool stuff, but still considerably happy, always was one of my connections with the band. It seemed like they came from a similar place.

Listening to Soda Stereo and wishing I could travel back in time, so I could go to Buenos Aires in 1997 and watch them play their último concierto. That must have been something. (Also thinking: candy canes.)

Aw, so sweet and thoughtful! I like how she writes about musical universes coming together.

Hey du - cool! :) Wie man an meiner Post-Zahl sieht, ist mein Engagement hier in 12 Jahren ja auch eher überschaubar gewesen und ich lese meist nur. :D Dann drücke ich schonmal die Daumen, dass sich die Tour-Pläne in die Tat umsetzen werden. So lange im voraus zu planen ist echt immer schwer. Vielleicht ergibt sich bei den deutschen Konzerten ja ein kleines Fan-Treffen. Wäre cool!

Hey Alice - welcome! :) I discovered Coldplay when I was your age (I feel old now, lol). Hope you get to see them live very soon!

Crest of Waves always comes to my mind first. Such a great vibe it's giving me - even after all these years.

On the album I like the song, but it's nowhere near my 'awesome!' category. However, live: This thing was a total burner! Loved it yesterday in Offenbach. I wanted it to go on forever.

By all means, you should! Don't let people behind you tell you otherwise. :)

THE track of the album that is predominantly stuck in my head. It sneaks its way in there. I got up three days in a row now, humming it. :D

Beautiful lyrics indeed! My uneducated guess would be that Noel's solo is the first one. Will they ever resolve this mystery?

Interesting find, thank you!

So after a couple of times listening to it in its entirety, I'll give it a go. I listened to it for the first time on Friday shortly after midnight, with my headphones on, lying in bed. It was lovely and the feeling still remains. It really suits my current stage of life. I feel like they've always made the album that I needed at that exact moment in time. Well, they did it again. Almost spooky. A Head Full Of Dreams That beat and bass! I love the introduction with it gradually getting louder and reminiscing MX as well as Oceans. As a U2 fan I dig it. I strongly feel the message of dreams coming true through the music. Right on a par with others of their strong openers. 8/10 Birds Needed a bit of time for me, so not an immediate favourite. But the guitar is absolutely lovely and the hypnotic nature together with the chorus makes it kind of bittersweet for me. I even like the anti-climatic ending after it builds up into something more and more and more - and then the end. 8/10 Hymn For The Weekend Loving the experimentalism with another genre. As others have pointed out, they still manage to sound like Coldplay though, which really is pretty amazing. Beyoncé really brings across the angelic aspect for me and she's a great addition without being a front-and-center star of the song. Great to have something to shuffle your feet to. Probably a song with a wear-out effect for me, though. 7/10 Everglow I want to find it really beautiful, but I somehow lack the emotional connection. The live version really got me though, maybe because the instruments sounded warmer than on the album. The concept of an everglow is very moving, and I like how it focuses on the positive things that remain when losing someone. 6/10 Adventure Of A Lifetime I've listened to this so often by now, I feel like I can't even make a judgement anymore. Still loving it and I'm glad this was my introduction to this new era. Fresh and Coldplay with a little twist. Ever since hearing it for the first time, I can't wait to sing the woohoo's out loud. That's always a good sign. 9/10 Fun Oh wow, Jonny's guitar here. Again not an immediate favourite, but the biggest grower. Sad and yet so hopeful in its best combination. Tove Lo's voice as a faint memory is a beautiful addition. "Nothing's too broken to find a way back." Aw. 9/10 Kaleidoscope The central piece of this album for me, really. I find the poem very inspiring and to me it expresses that the theme of the album is not necessarily happiness, but acceptance of everything good and bad to eventually reach a kind of happiness. Ties in perfectly with Obama singing Amazing Grace at the end as well. And then this message embedded in so beautiful music. I cried when I heard it for the first time. 10/10 Army Of One My immediate favourite. I love the silly looping sound that's been stuck in my head - there's something in it that pushes my happiness buttons. Even more so when the epic organ sets in. And I love the connection with Hurts Like Heaven (My heart is my gun / Use your heart as a weapon). 9/10 X Marks The Spot Neither a masterpiece nor a total breakdown. I expected somthing truly horrid, but the hypnotic beat somehow gets me. For me it's well-placed after the joyous Army Of One, kind of levelling out the mood into something more sober again before leading up to Amazing Day. 5/10 Amazing Day More beautiful than I thought it would be. Lyrics might be cheesy, but ever since I started imagining Chris with one of his kids sitting on the rooftop, they somehow improved, lol. Works beautifully as an ode to life. Davide's string arrangements are great and the guitar ties in so well. Still not 100% convinced emotionally, though. 7/10 Colour Spectrum I love this interlude! It picks up some of the themes and sounds from the songs before and creates a kind of summary before the finale starts with Up&Up. Clever! The intro from AHFOD, then the birds and Beyoncé, the muffled woohoo's from AOAL, the spoken word part of Kaleidoscope... I would find it even stronger if it had something from all the songs before, but maybe I just haven't found it all. 9/10 Up&Up Yeah, I was a bit underwhelmed. It's a good song with great live potential (and the first performances promise a lot), but something is still missing for me and I can't exactly put my finger on it. Maybe I'll find out or it will simply become one of the songs I prefer live (like Hurts Like Heaven). The guitar solos make me want to weep because of their perfection though and the message of never giving up is beautiful and such a strong ending to the album theme. 7/10 OVERALL: 94/120 = 78% = **** = yeah, I'm really happy with this album I can't wait to experience it live. I'm sure it will make the album even better for me (as with MX).

Thinking that something went horribly wrong and the awesome news on Friday were just a mistake. That's me, always worrying. :D