lennyrott2

Nice! waiting for mine now. Really really hoping All Your Friends and Ghost Stories will make up for some of the disappointment i felt with True Love and ASFOS.

where can one find the download?

A lot of people are saying there isn't enough Will in this album. I disagree. This whole album lacks a lot of the band, it definitely feels like they kind of let Chris take it, though that is total speculation. But Will is there in almost every song. One thing I am loving about this album is the drumbeats. It may not sound like live drumming, but some songs like Another's Arms, Magic, AIMH all have some really quality beats that you can tell have Will behind them. Okay, so he isn't really there during True Love, ASFOS, Oceans, O, but neither is the rest of the band really. I know Guy produced and that each song has layers, but there are few distinct bass lines on this album, and literally only a couple noticeable Jonny guitar moments. That is why live I think these tracks sound so much better, because you can hear the instrumentation more clearly. Oceans and ASFOS being the leading example.

I think s/he meant the normal version.

I think this album is more produced than MX, call me crazy. :) Sure MX felt really pieced together, but the synths, the guitar, the drums, the bass all feelreally raw. GS is really tight and sometimes feels drowned out. I think there is a difference between an album being really loud and layered (MX) and an album being really shiny and electric (Ghost Stories) I would reccommend listening to MX again, and then returning to Ghost Stories. I did today and realized that the latter is way more produced and MX just is more explosive and a bit more hazy.

That actually did a bit :) thank you.

AROBTTH>Viva>Parachutes>X&Y>MX>GS My main criticism with this album is that it might be trying too hard to fit into the mainstream. I am more of an alternative music listener, but I still love pop, so Coldplay is ideal because they straddle both sides and make incredible pop hits and often amazing alternative sounds. This album though, I feel slips too often into some trends that make it sound less like Coldplay. ASFOS and True Love, for example, feel overproduced to the point where you cannot tell if there is a band even present. They feel like decent tracks that got an unhealthy dose of influence from big name radio hits, Avicii, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Lana Del Rey. I feel like this album explored some amazing sounds that I really really love, but they get pushed to the corners to make way for songs that are more likely to sell. Midnight for example is my favourite track. The atmoshpere in O, AIMH and the end of Oceans also sums up my favourite parts of this album. Critically, I am afraid we will see some hate in the reviews for the lyrics (deservingly) and the forays into generic pop. I find this too bad, because I think this album easily could have been one of their best had they just pushed that electronic/ambient boundary a little bit more.

You are right. I should just get over and I am sure eventually I will like it more. Just freaked me out hearing a Coldplay song I didn't like!! hahaha

Coldplayers, I need your help, and I know this will sound stupid. But I real really don't like this song, really don't like it, even after 10+ listens, I think it is my least favourite Coldplay song, beating out Up In Flames. I know this may be impossible, but I need you all to convince me why I should at least find this song tolerable. The lyrics, the cheesy vocals, the boring strings and drumbeat (I swear it is the same as Apologise, I swear...) the strings aren't even that pretty. It is like it is trying to sound unique and weird but totally failed and ended up like a Katy Perry song. seriously.

I am surprised with how much I like this track! kind of saying the same thing....whoa...

After going through the list, I am exactly with you. Ghost Stories has nothing on Viva's creativity, lyricism, instrumentation, etc.

Part 2 is going to be amazing!!!! It is so beautiful at the end, I was just waiting for it to go on forever, and it didn't. Plus there was guitar near the end! Ah!

^Atleast it grabs your attention as a real instrument being played...or as something interesting, unlike the rest of the track.

I like Ink too, that one is poppy but doesn't feel like it is trying very hard. It is fun. True Love is not fun, nor is it really that sad. Reading the lyrics I thought Chris would be whispering them hauntingly but instead he is "ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyying" them to a bass drum and dull strings.

I have listened to the album three times through now, and this is my final list. Overall, I like it, but I might say it is my least favourite Coldplay album with some of my favourite Coldplay moments ever. All just my opinion. 1. Midnight (9.5/10) This song is without a doubt the most beautiful. I only wish it was longer. I love the droning atmosphere, the faint electronic sprinkles, and the slow, careful build to an incredible, textured, layered, throbbing climax (not sexual.) This is top notch electronica and classic Coldplay. 2. (Fly On) O--9/10-- Lovely piano, great vocals help the cliched lyrics. Awesome melody and meditative. O is absolutely incredible, up there with Midnight for sheer ambience and production value. Once again, I wish this was longer and explored more. 3. Always In My Head (8.5/10) Once again, love the ambience that opens the album, the guitar, the bass, the lyrics, the drumming, all create a relaxed, almost floating sensation making this more danceable than ASFOS. Solid start to album. 4. Oceans (8.5/10) Love how this song harkens back to the moody acoustics of Parachutes. I like the lyrics and instrumental, but not so much the synths that come in. The end of the track however, with the sound of waves, synth, and looped church bells takes me straight to Pink Floyd and I really really really wish there was more of that on the album, or that it went into Wedding Bells :sneaky: 5.Magic--8/10-- Awesome pop tune. Still liking it, though not my favourite Coldplay single. What I appreciate most about this song is the details. Sure the lyrics are corny, but they are sincere, and throughout the track the whole band pitches in beautiful sounds, like that of tinkling glass, reverb, bass wobble, variations in the drumkit, all make this a quality track. Could do without the faux-climax though with the acoustic guitar, sounds a bit unnecessary. Are those the same chords as ETIAW? 6. Another's Arms (7/10) Okay, lyrically I can't say I support this track. But I love how it is a little creepy. They mess with Chris' voice which I like (come on guys, we are six albums in, do we really need more Chris hooting?) The beats are great too. Love how the drumkit sounds here, varied almost hip hop. Jonny's understated guitar is nice, and I love Guy's base line that repeats near the end. Good headphone song, like Magic and Midnight, lots to be heard. 7. Ink (7/10) Certainly the oddball of the album, almost like the Major Minus or Yes of Ghost Stories, and I love that. I really like the fun nature, the flute (or is that electric guitar?) sound in the chorus, the acoustic guitar. The lyrics are silly, but man, I love the way they sing it together. GOT A TATTOO AND THE PAIN'S ALRIGHT! Great instrumentation going on. It feels loose and care free, can't help but dance. 8. ASFOS (5/10) From the get go, this song was a huge disappointment for me. It is okay after a few more listens, but still, it feels like an Avicii song feat. Chris and Jonny (at the end) not the other way around. That said, I like the piano, and I like the final build up overall with the bass and guitar, but that is about it. I just don't see what is so creative about this track, but being Coldplay, I will still like it. True Love (3/10) The Up In Flames of Ghost Stories (and by that, I mean I am going to skip it 90% of the time.) Okay, so the song is going for that dreamy, slightly dark feel, but is completely misses the mark. The electronics are quite dull this time around, Timberlands bass drum is predictable and uninspired, Chris' lyrics and vocals for the first time ever, have driven me up a wall. This could be a Katie Perry, OneRepublic, Justin Bieber. I don't even know. It is just a bad bad pop song without a band. First times the strings in a Coldplay song haven't drawn me in. The only thing I can enjoy is the guitar at the end, but i can't save this track from being truly awful. This is Coldplay's poppiest album yet for me. I am a diehard fan of everything they have ever released, but I sometimes agree with some of the big critiques. This album will suffer from ASFOS and True Love, this I am 100% sure of. They will encapsulate he argument that Coldplay makes generic, sappy music. This is a shame because this album had potential to be up there with Viva and A Rush Of Blood in terms of creativity, however, I might put it around X&Y and MX; amazing moments, but also some "really, the same band that released Parachutes just did that?" moments.

Truly truly truly don't like this song at all.....oh man......massively disappointed. Critics are going to tear this track apart.

I love Pulled Apart By Horses, that is a positive....*weeps because wants new Coldplay more

Interesting sounding song... I hope I like the studio version better. Does have that One Republic Apologize vibe. I was excited when people were calling it trippy, but I don't get that at all, more like an offbeat pop opera or something..

that is a good point. I don't think any of us really know what goes on behind the studio doors: who plays what, who produces what, who soundmixes etc. But what you say is true. In the Zane Lowe interview Chris said that Magic is the first time someone else has started a song and I think it turned out great! Maybe if Jonny isn't being heard on guitar he is still throwing in sounds or electronic beeps and boops. It has to take a full band to make music as layered as Coldplays!

One review of the Ghost Stories live show mentioned that Jonny has a "slicing solo," on the track Ink I believe, so maybe that and Another's Arms will be the only two standout guitar moments. Jonny isn't a guitar solo kind of player. Like The Edge he is more about catchy riffs, repetition, and atmospherics. While I understand your pain, I actually am really looking forward to how his guitar sounds on the bulk of this album. On Parachutes and AROBTTH, he had some sparkly and hard hitting stand out tracks, but I personally am more in love with his haunting atmospherics and little sonic touches like in Spies, A Whisper, High Speed, A Rush Of Blood etc. He has totally got back into this with songs like Oceans, AIMH and Atlas recently, so I think that his presence will certainly be felt. GS is going to take a more minimalist electronic route, so I guess we will have to deal with some more slow going stuff. That is evolving your sound I guess.

I hope by monday they do an itunes album preview like they did with MX. I really just want to listen to it over and over, I don't much care about individual tracks anymore as much as I do about the whole.

I was thinking that myself. I actually haven't detested the live versions as much because you can hear all the band giving it their all, similar to an ETIAW sound, a song which I learned to love because of the rich textures and catchy hooks. If there is a good enough live bit I may just substitute it on my mp3 version of the album. I really feel silly have to defend a band I like, because criticising others about their preferences is just ignorant, but it is funny that our friends share that tendency. My close friends are all very diverse/alternative music listeners and do really like Coldplay's first two albums, like you mentioned, they just don't like the whole mainstream pop idea, and honestly neither do I. The difference is Coldplay usually nails that balancing act between alternative and mainstream, bringing the best of both worlds, which I love. But yeah, ASFOS misses that mark and slips too far in the latter direction to where it is just kind of boring (despite being so loud.)

I think one of the best ways to ease boredom and painful anticipation for the Ghost Stories is to listen to other music to distract yourself! The Black Keys' and Lykke Li's new albums are awesome if you need something blasting in your ears!

Yes!!! Dead Kennedy's?

^ Agreed. I just keep closing my eyes and wishing this song didn't feel like that. It had the potential I think to be a decent Coldplay sounding song. My prediction is that once the album drops and reviews start pouring out, all outlets are going to either to mention it as a high point or a low point on this album. I think the majority will say lowpoint. It is far too generic, lacks original interesting atmosphere and instrumentation. Avicii got away with too much here. Hopefully they will see through it though and appreciate the rest of the album, but knowing how reviewers are, like with princess of china, they will probably take this song and use it as exhibit A for why Coldplay makes bland pop music. It is songs like these every album that prevent me from being able to defend myself. A lot of my friends like to give me shit for being such a hardcore coldplay fan and I always proudly take it and have the motto "You like what you like!" But when they mention songs like these, I just don't have an answer, and say "yeah, okay, I see what you are saying there."