HowCouldIForget

It seems like there are two extremes. Some artists releasing more music than ever and many other releasing less than ever. Plenty of artists I like are releasing albums in the 25-35 minute range. I'm guessing that's to get out compact releases to catch attention in the era of tiktok scrolling and short windows for peoples' attention in the modern era. In that regard, then, I'm ecstatic that Coldplay still aims for 42-45 minutes albums today. And as much as I'd love to hear the full versions of many of the songs that were presented in pieces on the album, without that restriction we probably wouldn't have gotten Alien Hits/Alien Radio, which is nothing short of a masterpiece. 🙂

Now that it’s been over a month since release, where do you all have the album ranked on your lists? Everyday Life Viva a Vida or Death and All of His Friends A Rush of Blood to the Head Parachutes Mylo Xyloto Moon Music X&Y Ghost Stories A Head Full of Dreams Music of the Spheres I think it’ll stay in the 5-7 range going forward.

I think the quality of Chris' lyrics have varied across the Coldplay spectrum of albums. Many people, including myself, love the earlier stuff but Parachutes and X&Y didn't exactly have incredible lyrics. The quality of the music carry those albums. Ghost Stories is another one with very simplistic lyrics but I've grown to enjoy how minimalist the melodies are. It's obvious to me that Chris can still write well. Everyday Life proved it and Coloratura is a feat in and of itself. Whether or not they want their music to be more complex vs simple ends up being the question and it's something only the band can decide for themselves, ultimately.

Love the new songs (and this will surprise no one) but I lament the fact that EL didn’t get this treatment. Flags is brilliant but it would’ve been incredible to get a release of the unused tracks like Wedding Bells, Famous Old Painters etc on an EP or even an extended edition like this. I’m sure Coldplay knows those songs are too good to go unreleased…right? Also not excited at the thought of Max producing those songs instead. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Crazy to me that Man in the Moon wasn't on the album. That one hurts for sure. Glad we get to hear it though. It's a fantastic song. 🙂

I was under the impression Brian Eno had produced One World. He’s listed as a writer but that’s all. The usual team of Max Martin, Bill Rahko and others is what’s listed from what I can find. Though, according to Apple Music, it’s also the only song where Bill Rahko is listed first amongst producers and engineers. Not sure if that’s random or not. Another Coloratura situation maybe?

Didn’t hear it on there 😞 Shame, it’s a great song.

I like the instrumentation better. Also second part has a little bit of Wills vocals but I can’t understand what he’s saying at all. It comes off unusual for Coldplay (at least to me) and I think it’ll take more to digest with a few listens. I only heard it once, of course. For One World, there’s silence for about a minute (we clapped not realizing it wasnt over) and then more lalalalas at the end in what sounds like an older style. Reminds me of 60s/70s a little bit. I wonder if that’s a sign of things to come. 🙂 That would be interesting. That’s just my take. Chris loves the lalas on this album for sure. It’s not gonna blow people away lyrically but the music is excellent for the most part. Even Jupiter, which comes off pretty cheesy (though I do agree LGBT rights are important) lyrically, I like the acoustic guitar a lot. One added thing, the violin part from FFTF on Apple Music sounds like it’s from One World near the middle section.

Feel lucky to have heard it. Agree that it's the best since MX but excluding EL in my mind. One World made me tear up a little at the end. It really is incredible what Coldplay can do with Brian Eno, I swear. It's one of the most beautiful songs they've written, for sure. The others were great as well. Out of the songs I hadn't heard all of (this excludes FLIFIL, We Pray and iAAM is rank them as One World Moon Music Alien Hits (first part) All My Love Aeterna Good Feelings Alien Radio (second parts) Jupiter Now to drive home.

Here at the record store waiting to listen in T-minus two hours. Thank you for the info. 🙂

I’m looking at the writing credits for Moon Music thus far and they have them for FLIFIL, We Pray, Good Feelings, Alien Hits/Alien Radio and IAAM. I noticed that Good Feelings is the only song where Max Martin is not credited as a writer. I wonder if he wasn’t the producer for it, then, either. The interesting thing is both members of the Chainsmokers are credited on that song as writers, as well.

Did anyone make plans around the album? I took off Thurs and don’t work Friday til 2 pm. My two favorite artists (Coldplay and Radiohead, so by association The Smile) are releasing an album on the same day. Couldn’t be happier and really like the clip of Chris playing Jupiter 🙂

I know some of us come off that way but personally I think MX and EL are fantastic. GS, AHFoD and MotS could definitely be better but there are absolutely standouts like O, Birds, Infinity Sign and Coloratura. The first studio album I ever bought was X&Y as a teenager, along with ARoBttH and Parachutes in quick succession. I never understood why people cared about music at all until I heard Speed of Sound. In hindsight, I think X&Y is pretty imperfect. Viva was the first album that came out after I became a fan. I remember being blown away by Violet Hill. Keep in mind people have a lot of nostalgia for those first four albums, like they do for a lot of different things. It doesn’t make the new music bad. Most days I’d say Everyday Life is my favorite album ever. But they also set an alternative-sounding standard and then pivoted more towards bass and synth-driven pop as guitars faded in pop relevancy during the 2010s. It’s hard to reconcile the two halves of Coldplay, sometimes. Perhaps we set a bar for them that is unrealistic for a band that wants to stay culturally relevant vs the likes of say Nickelback who were popular around the same time but never changed their music and now most people don’t know they even still make albums. Regardless of what they do, though, I wish them the best. ❤️

Definitely disappointed by the mixing of IAAM. Have to agree about the vocals being too loud and the guitar in the verses isn’t what I’d like it to be. Still a little difficult to hear even though I know it’s there. I just keep telling myself we have Viva and Everyday Life and that’s more than can be said for most bands. Curious to see how One World comes out 🙂 The closers are usually something special and it’s Mr. Eno, to boot.

Had this thought, what if Max Martin produced the first half of the album (Moon Music + the more pop sounding songs) and Brian Eno produced the back half (more alternative/experimental sounding songs)? Could be wrong but something’s telling me One World isn’t the only song he did.