lennyrott1

In must be stressed that EVERY Coldplay album has been a pop album. Also, EVERY Coldplay album has songs that are not distinctly pop--even MX tends to take mainstream sounds and distort them. We need to be careful when accusing pop music of being bad. I actually think that today is a great time for the revitalization of pop music because we have so many great producers working on big name artists--Adele, Justin Bieber's new record, Carly Rae Jepsen, The Weekend, Drake, Chvrches. I am a huge lover of all types of music and am an Oldplayer, but my favorite albums this year have been Pop. All of this music has really lush, interesting production along with the killer hooks and choruses we crave. Arguably Coldplay helped inspire this movement. But I do understand the fear of Coldplay's production leaning too far towards generic pop than creative pop. I am somewhat confident that AHFOD could be one of Coldplay's most alternative AND poppy albums right up with Viva. Too early to judge, and there could be a few radio-friendly ones that don't sound great, but I really like AOAL! It is QUALITY pop music. It has depth but is fun and catchy.

Ahhhhh what a bummer! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the states so I am going to be busy all day with family (which is still great) but today would have been much better for some new music!

Remember that the first snippet for AOAL was clearly trying to make it sound more interesting and pyscedlic than it actually ended up being...I bet the same can be said here: something might sound crazy and ambient, but it could burst into a pop song at anytime.

Very very hip hop. Like the horns though! I am excited to see how this song has rock influence in it too.

yeah, sounds like the verse could sound like X&Y maybe. hope it isn't too cheesy thogh.

Also am afraid Everglow wounds too much like Up In Flames at least for now...

Whoa these first few tracks are way louder than i thought they would be. Birds IS NOT what I was expecting, but I love that little indie electro-rock groove and Chris' mumbling....Reminds me of old Coldplay. Where are we going to get that beautiful "Fly on Silver Bird, Fly home to me!!" ?????

Thanks for posting this! There has been precious little reviews so far actually describing what the new music sounds like, but we are so close to the album release that it doesn't matter anyways! Still a great last quote on here though.

My expectations after Saturday have been on the rise as well and here is why: Way back on this forum I made a list of things that would make me love AHFOD regardless of genre. That list included better lyrics, less falsetto from Chris, participation from the WHOLE band, and less cheesy pop tropes. So far I feel like we have got most of that with these four new songs: Great rhythm sections and backing vocals from Will, prominent bass lines from Guy, and of course every track has been Jonny driven thus far. Lyrics have been cheesy, but still really meaningful and slightly different than past Coldplay albums and are finding new themes. Plus, Chris has delivered with different vocal ranges on every track too. Pop tropes have been present though, but not as much as I was expecting. My biggest complaint is that every track so far has a "ooohhhh ohhhh" "wooooo hoooo woooo" in it so far. That doesn't bode well for the rest of the album haha

^Rats...probably just is..

So what song is debuting on Wednesday everyone? (and does that mean we can buy it?)

An interesting ethical question my friend. :) I don't think that it is any individuals fault, but rather that of the extractive economic systems which don't put value on ecosystems or on rights of indigenous peoples and cultures. It doesn't make you a bad person, it just means you are "part of the plan"--to bring it back to Coldplay. That said, since we all participate in that system, we have the obligation to demand recycled products and try not to support that kind of thing. :) Ahhh the challenges of globalisation.... Sorry for the rant, this is just the stuff I study. Bums me out.

"Fixing up a car, driving it again." Car Kids Confirmed.

Chimpanzee habitats in West Africa have been devastated over the past few decades due to logging and mining. That mining is often for metals used in the making of cellphones and other electronics (which are not recycled by the way). But hey, at least we still have motion capture chimps who like overpriced speakers! http://janegoodall.ca/get-involved/coltan-the-link-between-chimpanzees-and-your-cell-phone/ http://www.sospecies.org/sos_projects/mammals/west_african_chimpanzee/

I am kind of offended by this video already....

Interesting. This means UP&UP is going to be ridiculously long... It seems strange to have a hidden track here, however. If UP&UP ends the same way it did last night at Tidal, with that wailing guitar and piano (and I would guess horns on the album) then I feel like an additional track ruins that fantastic, moving finale...especially a vocoder over a looped drumbeat hahaha

On the album..I need that "believe in love" ending. Yes, it is incredibly cheesy, but the tremulous everything feels so soulful and powerful. It actually gave me shivers.

No it totally does!! Jonny's guitar sounds like a steel, slide guitar (country music) the drumbeat and electronic noises sound like Blank Space to me or Style... But luckily the solos are very britpop and Chris' piano is more lovely than anything you could get out of Taylor Swift.. but even the piano feels like T-swizzle too.

Okay. Yeah. This is very T-Swift. Holycows. This could have been on 1989. Minus the guitar solo---no doubt.

I hope they grow too, and that perhaps these first impressions are only ho-hum because the liver performances don't fully incorporate the production or energy? Who knows. Either way I am worried that these new tracks feel very dad-rock. Someone just compared Up&Up to Train and unfortunately that sounds kind of right :( God I hate Train (save Drops of Jupiter). But yeah, I think once the album ties the songs all together they will sound more complete. Can't love everything on first impression...Took me a while to fall in love with Paradise, Magic, and others. But I dunno why this hasn't grabbed me the same way the ENTIRETY of Viva did when I was younger.

I feel you. AHFOD was like the first time I heard AIMH....Forgot the melody immediately but generally liked it. Also love the intro, love the outro more than the rest of the song, just like AIMH... hmmmmmmm. and yes Up & Up is something else. Really strange vibes. Love the solos but not sure if I am going to hate it in a month or worship it...

Many vibes. Many feelings. Impressions: Yay lots of instruments. Deez lyrics????? Like piano? Beatles.... no wait. Electronic drums? Ahh there is stargate with those weird pitch-shifted voices. Champagne Supernova. Wow. Very Britpop. Singalong? Like everyone ever singing about love?? Is he talking to the world? SOLOS HELLS YES. deez lyrics.???? SOLO AGAIN KILLINGIT!! Kind of a lame generic melody??? But I like it? THE OUTRO!?!?!

Hmmmmm. Watching it again I am not sure what to think. Definitely like the bouncing bass and that the whole band is involved, but feel like the songwriting and melody aren't anything special. Maybe the studio version will change my mind. I absolutely adore the production though. The atmospherics, the wind-chime sound. Love that and really hope that part is extended on album. Intro and outro great.

Wow. Up&Up was like Miracles x Beatles x Oasis + a sprinkle of stargate+ an ending like Life is for Living

AHFOD is very very very very U2. I dig it. Pretty much a wordless chorus. But I dig it.