lennyrott1

We'll see! What I wrote above was a very cynical reaction, through I mostly stand by my disappointment of this "news". iamsue, I think that wearing rose-colored glasses is always good, however. I think we should always try to see the best in people, and I do believe Chris is a very good person. If this is true, maybe his motives are completely benevolent and positive and having nothing to do with fame or money. And yeah...ultimately these sources aren't super reliable--and even if this is all true, Coldplay could come out with their best record next year out of nowhere and surprise all of us. You just never know!

This news is frankly terrible to me, if true. It would mean we would never have a "normal" Coldplay ever again I won't debate his credentials--what are they to be a TV judge anyway? Here is the main thing for me: Why do people become TV judges? Is it for the art of finding new talents? Is it to actually coach a new generation if singers ? No. It's about th money and fame. All of it. Not to say that Adam Levine or Blake Shelton on the voice are bad people, or that there are not great stories on those shows--there are some great moments of achievement and passion. But at the end of the day, you can tell, it's for the ego and crazy $$$$$ contracts and ratings. Maroon 5 isn't even a band at this point, but a brand! ALL THAT MATTERS IS SALES AND VIEWERSHIP ABC is trying to emulate The Voice's success with this reboot and Coldplay would be a big name, while Chris could be the "cool & gracious" judge. But I don't want to see him, or the band, continue to become more of a pop brand under massive corporate media entities. It would make me think less of him. And he is one of my heroes for being the opposite of a rich snob Simon Cowell or sexy pop supermodel dating Adam Levine. I always think of Chris as a quiet, modest, kind but funny, bold, and creative mind. I almost don't believe he would do this...

My partner just got accepted to CU Boulder and is moving there in the Fall--I am planning on joining but worried that I won't be able to afford it.

Difficult to place where Oldplaying is for me anymore. I used to be on board with the it being Viva Era and before, but in hindsight MX is way more alt-rock than the last two eras so...its tough. Also, so many very Oldplaying-esque tracks recently on AHFOD era.... I consider all of the following tracks somewhat Oldplay in style: Major Minus DLIBYH Moving To Mars Wish I was Here AIMH Oceans Fly On (live is best) All Your Friends Ghost Story Fun (but I hate it) Amazing Day AHFOD Up & Up Hypnotised As a side note: I think Atlas and Miracles are ultimately two tracks with very outstanding guitar work from Johnny, great atmospheres, but with lackluster songwriting and percussion. Both on the cusp of feeling very Oldplay, but justnot a fan of the way they ended up produced. BUT... I would consider the following "newplay" songs absolutely fantastic: Paradise (especially live) HLH ETIAW Magic Midnight Birds AOAL True Love (sometimes)

^ Yeah, its kind of a California accent as far as I can tell. I never try to make fun of people's accents or their ability to speak "proper" English. I am on board with the evolution of English in African American communities, for example, which a lot of older (racist) people condemn. And of course, the way one speaks does not dictate their intelligence. But man this guy's voice made me feel like I was listening to a man child." Oh my gosh you guys."

I have never, ever, ever, ever, ever, seen a person whiter than this. Never has a video produced more hatred in my heart for another human (haha I'm being a jerk) But seriously, this guy got a million views for producing this garbage? He is literally making money off of youtube by putting out misinformed, millennial-centric, and downright obnoxious crap on the internet.... The dude made an honest mistake, clearly, and maybe he's a great guy. I don't want to be overly judgmental. But just for the sake of being Coldplay "Triggered," I have to say--articulate your language man. You sound like a five year-old trying to explain stuff. Also, do a five second fact-check before you publish something. Oh well. He is successful on Youtube and I am not, so who is the real winner here hahaha

^I appreciate that! I am definitely no expert, but try to see the positives in things! I ultimately agree with the group, I rather wouldn't have a Big Sean feature on the EP, but if it's for something else I am open to seeing what turns out. And its totally okay to have your bias! Big Sean's lyrics are objectively not good. And his flows or beats aren't very original either. If you don't like him, or the genre of hip-hop, its totally reasonable to not want any collabs with Coldplay. I just thought I'd play devil's advocate by mentioning some of his stuff that I like from him :) And of course its never the end of the world. But if Miracles 2 ends up being an X Marks The Spot featuring Big Sean I might feel like its the end of the world for a day or two hahahaha

Coming to Big Sean's defense here. Not the best hip-hop artist by any means when you have the like's of Kendrick, Vince Staples, Joey BadA$$, Run the the Jewels. Occasionally his flow is a direct copy of Drake--but him and his producer are very talented. It isn't fair to say that he is the worst of that above group. They have come out with fantastic songs. I generally enjoyed his latest album--tracks like Bounce Back, Moves are great. dreary, nocturnal, crisp production and catchy! His producer Aimaree Johnson is a super talented piano player and instrumentalist--doing most his stuff which is pretty cool for a rap artist. I would personally listen to Big Sean over Chainsmokers or Tove Lo... You can't tell me the chorus of Bounce Back doesn't get stuck in your head..... I doubt this would be for the EP at this point, but if there was a rap verse on Miracles II, I am willing to hear something like that, if they can pull it off. If it's a Chris Martin feature on Big Sean's next album or single (most likely) I am excited to hear that! Here is one of my fave songs by Big Sean:

Realistically they would be pushing it back to master a song before they start their European leg. I'd be really shocked if they added another song to the EP (and so so happy) but I feel like this likely due to the collaboration and their ability to finalize everything before putting it out. If this is real, I'd expect an announcement soon AND perhaps the release of another promotional single next month--its been a while now since Hypnotised and SJLT dropped.

Rambling thoughts I was having yesterday. So before AHFOD dropped, I remember looking at the track-listing and imagining a Viva like album with swirling guitars and worldly beats. I imagined bizarre, dreamy soundscapes. We got some of that--don't get me wrong. The intro to the album, Birds, AOAL, Up&Up, Amazing Day--they all have dreamy vibes to them. But still the album wasn't alternative at all. With Kaleidoscope EP dropping soon, I was resistant to believe we'd get anything alternative. I didn't want to put my hopes up high. But that title! I couldn't resist thinking that B-sides and Kaleidoscope could mean we'd get something like I had envisioned on AHFOD. Think of a Kaleidoscope: It reflects, it blends, it distorts, it swirls. It is mesmerizing, adding a new strange perspective on things. To me this can be used metaphorically to illustrate the world in a number of ways. Right now we see tense with war, terror attacks, absurd political figures, and environmental catastrophe. Things feel off, as if the world is turning onto itself--fuzzy and uncertain. Yet the world is also a beautiful place, we cling to eachother for love and experience nature (birds, water, rain, waves) and reflect ourselves within them to find peace. When I watch the hypnotized music video, that is what i feel. There is peace in the world if you search for it. But with AICTAIY, we have "the world turned upside down" lyric again, and a violent guitar solo and a rather dark, abrupt ending. The song feels rather downtrodden to me as an opener, and Hypnotised as a closer will be more hopeful. I guess what i am trying to say is that I kind of feel some themes coming through with 2 tracks of this EP, and that makes me really hopeful for some of the soundscapes and lyrics we get on Miracles 2 and ALIENS. I am not a huge fan of Chris' lyrics over the past few eras, and even on the three EP tracks we've heard already--its all pretty cliche, but I can still hope. As for SJLT, maybe that one is supposed to be seeing a frat-party at 2 A.M. when everyone is passing out through a Kaleidoscope?

Haven't seen this excited of a reception for a new track in a long time! Oldplayer's and Newplayer's alike pleased? Its a dream come true. I will say that the song isn't perfect on this live version--I am hoping for a longer ambient intro to the track, maybe some strings?, Also Chris' lyrics are cringy yet again--even more so than Hypnotised. "Fish out of water, bird stuck on the ground." "turned upside-down." THESE ARE ALL THEMES YOU HAVE HAMMERED OVER THE HEAD FOR A DECADE. The song is clearly trying to be a little dystopic and moody like Atlas or Radiohead, given the current state of the world, but like AHFOD or GS, the lyrics are so surface-level for describing a topic--there is nothing to think about really in terms of poetry or grandiose messages.

It extremely surprising how unalike 1) AHFOD this is and 2) Something Just Like This/Hypnotised this track is! Highlights: Jonny's guitar throughout! I love the droning and screaming solo at the end--feels X&Y. Then you have Chris' piano break down which feels extremely Viva-ish, and finally Guy's Bass is wonderfully prominent, reminding me of A Rush Of Blood To The Head era. The finale is absolutely fantastic, better than all on AHFOD, love how they just let loose with this track and rock out. Will's drum fills towards the end are nice to hear. Lowlights:Will is my fave member of the band, but the drum beat for the first half of the song is a sleeper. For an alternative song like this they could have found a more interesting drum pad sound...Additonally, his build up is a direct rip-off of Atlas, a track where I didn't like the drums to begin with. Of course we'll have to wait to see how the drums and guitar sound on the studio version. I hope we don't lose all of Jonny's live stuff. Very interesting sound to start off the EP. It feels like the B-sides of the last three eras could all fit nicely onto an album together. Imagine this as Coldplay's next album: Hypnotised, Ghost Story, All I Can Think About Is You, All Your Friends, Moving To Mars, Miracles, Atlas. All have an electronic tinge but atmospheric guitar.

Wowzers! I am really liking these soundchecks. No doubt the above is a version of All I Can. I think it sounds great. Jonny's guitar is absolutely killer, that piano transition too is really brooding, the finale drums big and explosive. Not digging Chris' hollering about "all I can" (not very creative) but that guitar though!! The other brief snippet of a track we got also had some amazing guitar--sounds like it could be ALIENS. These previews really remind me of Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool with the pop Coldplay treatment. They have an Atlas sort of feel where they are grand, textured, and dramatic, but also quite simple in the message. I suspect that David Rossi will provide strings on these too. Seems like this will fit nicely with Hypnotised--and at least confirms that this isn't going to be some silly pop song! My only real question at this point is how the hell does this transition into SJLT????? This is like a dark alternative rock piece, and then you're just gonna dive into a chainsmokers song?

Maybe the feature on Miracles 2 is Will Champion on lead vocals throughout :) Just a nice idea. I have always wanted them to do an acoustic, folky track like Death Will Never Conquer but longer.

Well the Chainsmoker's album has arrived, and surprise surprise, its godawful (in my opinion). Many tracks have a pretty clear Coldplay influence with the guitars.... and without a doubt the most lively moment is SJLT's finale, and that isn't saying much. The lyrics are pitifully immature and the audio interludes made me gag. I struggled to find one moment on the record where I though "wow, thats super catchy pop" or, "wow, that was surprisingly fun or creative." I would say its the whitebread of music, but there are actually things to enjoy about white bread. Okayish moments: SJLT finale, It Won't Kill Ya (breakdown), Last Day Alive (could they get sued for this? It sounds like M83...)

What sounds promising to me about this (maybe) track, is that the piano is not too repetitive. Chris' mainstay forever has been catchy piano loops (Trouble, Clocks, Speed of Sound, LiJ, ASFOS, O, Up&Up, Hypnotised). That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does feel lazy after a while to come up with a 5-10 second loop and repeat it through the entire track. My favorite Coldplay piano tracks are more diversified (42, Postcards, Violet Hill, Up With The Birds, Amsterdam, Everything's Not Lost). I feel like recently with ASFOS, SJLT, and Hypnotised they have really overdone the looping-piano trick because it is so easy for pop music nowadays. Not dissing the above tracks, I love them all, but just something new would be nice.

Interesting interview...I sort of suspected the EP would have another collab since Chris said its a "continuation" of AHFOD (which had 4 or 5?). Couldn't really read him on that answer though--is he saying that there is maybe a version of Miracles 2 with a collab and they are still working on that? Or is he maybe just referring to a producer or even Davide Rossi? I am betting another single will be released from the EP, and if there is another major collab with a pop artist, or even some unknown, then Miracles 2 would be perfect to stir up more hype. I hope its someone they've been touring with like Lianne La Havas... Perhaps the most promising piece of news is that they are touring with a studio? Maybe that is because they still are finishing that one song up--but maybe that means a new album could already be under way! EDIT: Kaleidoscope EP tracks are up on ASCAP. Miracles 2 does not list any additional writers.

Sounds beautiful. I hope it is indeed All I Can Think About Is You. Totally fits that vibe. Reminds me a lot of --- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVIY0dp9HEI

If it were to replace something on the set list, Birds would make sense. Huge bummer. I absolutely loved Birds when I saw them on tour, it was one of the few times the band was all together each playing an instrument and Chris gave a great performance. Maybe the Paradise remix could get replaced? But again, live that remix was some of the funnest 2 minutes of my life because it was simply an all out rave with screeching guitars. Unlike SJLT it has real speed and ferocity to it that is super fun to dance to. The ultimate test for Coldplay is the "silhouette" test, or how many people are deciding to leave in the middle of a song? I wonder if that is what happened with Army of One? We also know they'll be performing Fun with Tove Lo, and I expect the same to happen. As long as fans can unite around not wanting to hear SJLT, then maybe they'll stop playing it.

X Marks The Spot + It is definitely Coldplay experimenting with a new genre, and the production isn't all that bad. Jonny's hip-hop guitar is a nice touch and Will's (So I Race for it.....) is the most prominent Will part on the album. Decent beats, nice glitches. If you hate this song, the instrumental isn't that bad. -Lyrics....are.....:mask:..... I can't help that "I got a rocket, eyes on the prize." is incredibly immature. Also, the bass lines are a clear rip-off of Kendrick Lamar's Swimming Pools.... Chris Martin is not a rapper.....Also, this is the song before Amazing Day??? Talk about a song that does not fit into an album. Spies

So many great comments here! Everyone has a lot good to say. @nvdmm -- Those are fair criticisms to this track. My first thought is that it sounded like a lullaby for toddlers with 70's classic rock thrown in. Arpeggiated pianos are overdone, I'm with you there, and it does drag a bit. I overall really like the song and think the mixing is far more clear than on most of AHFOD, but yes, it feels less organic than Viva and before. Really agree that the band is too Chris dominant, based on the evidence we have. It hurts the amazing contributions Will and Guy have to make. I would argue that Birds and Up&Up are some of the best "rock" songs we have got from them ever, but again, its under the veil of pop. Its hard to love AHFOD for me, but I really like it too--very inconsistent. @I ran away Totally agree about production. None of us are experts here, but when you play something at a moderate level on your headphones you should be able to feel and hear the layers cleanly. There should be range, as if something is approaching or leaving your space. AHFOD did this really well sometimes (Birds), but sometimes music feels blurred and fuzzy (chorus of HFTW). So when Hypnotised dropped, I felt like the fact I could hear acoustic guitar in the foreground and drums slowly building up was a victory in the production department. BUT @msimo4 We aren't experts, and we ultimately don't know how decisions were made or whether bombastic production was their actual choice. We shouldn't make comments that are too drastic like "this production is pop crap, worst of all time" because it just is another style that others might enjoy! ASFOS sounds great loud when you are driving a car fast, because you want it to hit you like a gust of wind. But if you are listening to it trying to find complex textures and chord structure, well, not the right song buddy. Also, I totally have said "Screw Stargate," but who knows if they actually made tracks much better in some cases? And yeah, we can't ever expect Chris to do good lyrics. Maybe every once in a while he will surprise us, but lets not get our hopes up. @coldplayisawesome Right? I am so confused when Chris is like "I don't care who listens to us, but I am also a 40 year old man who just collaborated with the Chainsmokers and 'inadvertently' putting Coldplay back in the mind of young people!" I believe the guy truthfully loves pop EDM, but he also wrote Spies, Politik, and Chinese Sleep Chant. WHO ARE YOU!?!? Also, I love that mixing genres is apparently freeing for him--but that is one of the hardest things to do in music. To make a song like "Daddy Lessons" like Beyonce that appeals to hip-hop, r&b, and country crowd is tough. On AHFOD every song tried to have some crossover appeal and I think that's what made tracks a little weaker. Sometimes sticking to a concept is best (Parachutes, Viva, MX, GS)

Can't believe I'd forgotten about this little unexplained burst of utter folk music beauty we got. I remember we all thought this was going to be "Birds," and then it never came to be. The lyrics are clearly talking about planes setting you free and bringing you home.... Any chance this could be the climax of an acoustic track on KEP???? I really hope so... Its more gorgeous than anything that made the album.

Its tough to know, really. In recent interviews it seems the band agrees that they are making music together more than ever. Jonny's riff on AOAL, Guy and the bass on Magic. I don't know. We Oldplayer's tend to think that Chris is the one who likes pop music too much, but maybe Guy and Will are finally open to doing just about anything. But yeah, I feel like maybe they should care more about what they pursue. I always used to think that the more Coldplay music the better, regardless, but after XMTS and Chainsmokers, ehhhhhh not so sure

I like that grouping, it makes sense to me, though I might group Viva and MX together in some ways.... My theory has always been a bit different though, ever since Chris said AHFOD is the "final chapter" album. However, if LP8 sees Coldplay continue in a pop, Chris driven direction, then I will agree with you that albums 6,7,8 are a trilogy. LP1-LP3: The first trilogy with each album adding more lavish production to each. This was the phase where Coldplay went from small band to biggest in the world and each album got bigger and more ambitious. They were all still under 30 years old, and by X&Y were both huge yet widely criticized. LP4- VIVA The most unique album they have done, the most layered and instrumentally dense. Chris was banned from the studio by Eno. They clearly were out to not only mix up their style/influences, but to prove something. Some people called them pretentious in this era, but the art was remarkable for pop music, I thought. LP5-LP7: The band stops caring what people think and go for it. MX shared many characteristics with Viva sonically, but also reflects X&Y. Chris was back to making massive stadium rock songs with cheeseball lyrics. GS was only more pop driven, with R&B influences and EDM. Finally Coldplay went all out with not giving a damn with AHFOD by featuring Beyonce, disco, Noel Gallagher, spoken word, Obama. Due to their proximity in time, GS and AHFOD are a light/dark pairing KIND OF, but the production on AHFOD is markedly different with Stargate. If there is one trend I think that is most prevalent with the latest albums, its that Chris has become a larger influencer of the band, imo. I recall an interview with Chris saying MX was originally acoustic and Charlie Brown was on an accordion (sounds Viva), but the band said "screw it, lets do what WE want to do." So they brought on Rihanna, wrote Paradise, titled a song Every Teardrop is a Waterfall--Those are Chris things to me. Chris was the one who brought Avicii on board for ASFOS and for some reasons Will didn't veto it in the end. Do you think Guy and Will were interested in a Tove Lo feature? Maybe, but that song was forgettable along with Tove Lo's career. Recently we found out that Chris actually makes 40 percent of band profits, not a quarter as reported pre-Viva. Just some thoughts. I don't think Chris will ever go solo, but it seems the rest of the band has stopped caring as much. They performed with Chainsmokers a few weeks ago, after all. Edit: I realize this has all been said before, sorry for the echo chamber.

I am super glad that people are connecting to the lyrics, especially those that felt deep emotions about them. I don't know what Chris' thoughts were behind this song--obviously influenced by current events and the usual infatuation with someone. It isn't my place to say. But when I read "Its the very same steeple, people just want to choose, they see it from different views," I imagine a 14-year old writing his deepest thoughts about the problems of the world. Sorry. That is harsh. As megafans we usually forgive Chris, but I played this song for my GF and while she like it, she laughed outloud at the "need a new coat of paint."