HowCouldIForget

Fun is a classic but you're right. I don't remember it at all. I wonder if it's because they didn't have Tove Lo there to sing.

They neeeed to play it One of the best new songs. I swear they played pretty much every song from AHFoD when I saw them twice during that tour. Not XMtS and that's fine

He may be but he's still a member of Maroon 5. They must believe he contributes something to their music. I think it's easy to fall into the trap of blaming Stargate or Max Martin for the way Jonny's guitars were mixed on AHFoD and MotS, respectively. But I notice it more on GS than any of the others and that's the one the guys' themselves had by far the most influence on the production of a Coldplay album. You can say they were new to the process but the question remains- why is Jonny's guitar so quiet on songs like Another's Arms, Always in My Head and Ink, if that's not what the band wanted? It wasn't much of a problem up until this point in their career, with Charlie Brown and Us Against the World being a hair quieter in the studio version in my estimation- but Jonny's guitar playing on MX is more prominent on that album than pretty much any other. It's not an accident this has happened and become routine, that I firmly believe. It was with their input firmly involved, unfortunately.

Someone else mentioned it but guitars in pop music are fleeting. Just look at bands like OneRepublic and Maroon 5 who became popular right after Coldplay and shared similar influences. How much do you hear guitar in their music today? You don't and that's part of the reason they're so uninteresting nowadays (to me). It's so unfortunate because of how talented he is. I'm really wondering how special a solo album by him could be but he seems too humble and shy to do something like that. I mean, Guy had a side project in Apparatjik.

I'll post this here, since it's specifically about Coloratura. A thought occured to me, which led me to listen to Ghost Stories front to back for the first time in a year or so and my conclusion is bold but also correct (for me) I would take Jonny's guitar on this one song, not just what he's playing but also how it is mixed and how loud it is relative to everything else, over everything he plays on Ghost Stories, taken as a whole. Which is incredible to me because, as great as he is on it, the stand out features on the song are really Chris' piano playing, the lyrics and the soundscapes in general (synth and violin). Just everything coming together. Wondering if people will think this is unfair because it might be their best song and also it's ten minutes long but it's not even a quarter of the length of Ghost Stories. This song still blows me away with every listen.

I'm not going to edit what I said in the first post, specifically. I'll just add here: His guitar on ASFoS is definitely there on the chorus but I don't find it all that interesting. Another's Arms might be the most frustrating song for me personally, in this sense. It's clear hes playing something very interesting in the second half of the song but it's barely audible for me because of the production. On Everglow he has a short solo near the end but I also feel like I can't hear it well between Chris' singing and other parts of the song. Then you have Princess of China, where I wish he wasn't playing guitar at all. It's by far my least favorite part about the whole thing and I didn't realize it was a guitar at first. On Amazing Day, it's a very big part of the song but I don't like how it sounds. Which is a shame, the live version is amazing. All this is to say that I'd take the sprinkles of guitar in Higher Power or My Universe over something more prominent like Another's Arms or Everglow where his talent is being absolutely wasted by the band or Princess of China where the melody makes my ears bleed. Quantity vs Quality. You said *prominent*, though. I still disagree about Clocks. Those little outro riffs are legendary to me. Infinity Sign, too but I guess that one is more debatable. ?

I like a lot of the research you did here. That said- Whatever him contributing to a major part of the song is, seems subjective. I love his guitar parts on Clocks, mainly the last 1.5 minutes. Chris even talks about how important they are to the song in one of the Coldplay books I read. They're a big part of why it was my favorite song of all time for many years. Whether you consider it as prominent as his guitars in Everglow or Another's Arms or ASFoS I guess is up to you? But I'd take it over those first two any day of the week. Especially since we know just how much MORE guitar there was supposed to be in Everglow. I get the sense of a general bias against MotS in this sense. His guitar playing in Infinity Sign is my favorite part of the song and I'm under the impression hes actually playing two different guitar melodies that are at least tuned a little different if nothing else. I definitely notice his guitar on the last chorus of Higher Power, the big build up in Let Somebody Go at the end and also on the verse parts of My Universe, with the last of those three standing out the most to me. Maybe your definition of "Barely felt" is different than mine. But the parts about Clocks and Infinity Sign specifically do confuse me.

Agreed. Biutyfu has grown on me a lot, with the vocals sounding less harsh in my car I can understand more of the verse lyrics and I really like them. On some songs (Magic, ASFoS, HftW, MU) the lyrics are very simple (and uninteresting) and meant to appeal to the base of the pop sensibilities of the masses. But I don't ever feel like they're done particularly well. But this is different. I really like how they deliver this part- When you love me, love me, love me When you love me, love me, love me I know I'll be on top of the world, man On top of the world I've found myself singing that a lot randomly the last couple of days. Nothing too deep but how they stress this or that syllable, plus how they're not forcing a horrible rhyme on the chorus (see: Let Somebody Go), it comes off effortless. Reminds me of the small number of modern pop songs I do like, Call Me Maybe and We Don't Talk Anymore being the examples that come to mind.

I don't understand anyone who says this album isn't thematic or cohesive, as you said. I know a lot of people don't *like* the album but I don't know how it affects their opinion on this matter, specifically.

Clarification- apparently the Infinity Sign version I have does have the Oles in it and my tablet's speaker is just that bad that I'm not hearing it? Apologies to anyone who got excited at the thought of the song not having it. I dont have hearing problems, either. I don't understand. Will add what I told the two posters who PMed me- Apologies for making anyone think there was a different version of the song. I'll make sure to listen on a device that has better speakers before I make extraordinary claims. ?

Apparently there is haha Just send me a PM so don't I forget. About to start work ?

Such a huge difference listening to the actual CD in my car vs the leak on my tablet. 2008 car vs 2016 cheap model tablet for speaker comparison Humankind- Having a harder time hearing the guitars, for sure. Don't like that. Let Somebody Go- Selena's voice sounds less intense or just better mixed in general. I also notice the bass throughout the song, rather than just near the end. Biuytiful- Still do not know how to spell this damn song. Same thing with LSG, except even more noticeable. The filter Chris uses is not nearly as annoying on the chorus and at the end. Also, I notice the guitars more in this one. Infinity Sign- This is the doozy. The guitar parts I love sound more prominent and the main synth melody less so. But what really stands out is the main beat, which actually sounds like a drum now rather than a drum machine and...the oles. I read a mention of them in the Rolling Stones review and heard a couple people mention it but the leaked version I have does NOT have this. At all. And I dont know why. That and the drum part, in particular, make me confident what I've been listening to is actually a different version. Most of this, I figure, comes down to how different speakers sound but Inifity Sign has to be a different. Trying to decide how this affects my opinion of the song. The drum sound makes it better, for sure. Based on this, I like Let Somebody Go and Biuyiful more than I did originally and Humankind less. Which is unfortunate, because the latter is one of my favorites on the album. Now, I have to listen to Coloratura, People of the Pride and My Universe in the car.

That's pretty interesting, I haven't heard. Guessing Higher Power would be one. I remember thinking the same on a couple of songs on MX even. Maybe.

Where you say "The mix forgets Jonny" is interesting to me. Because it's not like GS where the guitar in songs like AiMH and Another's Arms is quieter than it should be, or on AHFoD where in Everglow it's just taken out for the most part, on Up&Up where the second single is overtracked by the vocals and everything else, or in Amazing Day where it's just very poorly mixed and sounds distorted. I don't feel like the mixing is the problem, more that he just doesn't play that much on MotS period.

You say near-universal backlash but Metacritic Music of the Spheres- 57 AHFoD- 60 Ghost Stories- 61 Now it's still the worst rated but I am betting there are more reviews that will change that score up or down. And it's really not the lowest by that much. They didn't seem concerned by the scores for those other two albums.

Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (9.7) A Rush of Blood to the Head (9.5) Parachutes (9.2) Mylo Xyloto (9.1) Everyday Life (9.0) Music of the Spheres (8.5) X&Y (8.3) A Head Full of Dreams (7.2) Ghost Stories (6.0) And I do think that's where MotS will be. Can't see it higher than 8.7 or lower than 8.3. AHFoD would probably be a 7.7 or 7.8 if the production on songs like Up&Up and Amazing Day were reasonable. Overall, not a perfect album and I do wish there were more guitars but pleasantly surprised. ? Love the Jon Hopkins influences, as well. And you can bet I will be doing everything I can to hear this album live. Especially Coloratura, Infinity Sign, Humankind and People of the Pride.

It was very intimdating. Often I like albums more later on than when they originally release and this was the case with MX but I swear. I remember people losing it over the opening lyrics to ETiaW. Little did they know GS and AHFoD were right around the corner to show them how low lyrics could really go.

I appreciate that, same to you. ?

It's definitely most similar to Parachutes and ARoBttH in its lyrical focus on relationships. I just listen to that album and think any other artist on the radio could have made it. Midnight and O aside, there's nothing for me. But I also really like MX, as I said, and people on this forum acted like it was the end of the world when that came out so to each their own.

I find a lot of what you think about the band interesting. What do you like about GS? Just curious.

I sense an overwhelming sense of judgment and superiority in your post, even though I don't think that's what you were going for. If you don't like electronica then you don't, that's fine. But you don't have to call it a "song" like it isn't actually music. It's not "just synth", as if it doesnt take any talent to play that just because it's not a piano. I love that little "ting ting ting." It actually reminds me a lot of the song for Star City in Diddy Kong Racing. The guitar parts are melodic and well mixed with everything else. Not dissonant or overpowering, not underused either. It's one of my favorite uses of guitars on the album, even though it's not traditional per se. Like someone else said, the vocals at the end are haunting and compelling. It's such an interesting and nuanced progression, as someone who listens to music like this. Jon did such a great job mixing this track. Like I said earlier, Yellow and Fix You are not terribly different from a lot of alternative rock songs made from that time even though I personally love them. In fact, people have claimed striking similarities between Fix You and a lesser known track by Elbow. Who decides that a song "doesn't mean anything?" I hate Magic's lyrics but that also doesn't mean there aren't people who like it's simplicity and relate to it. And SJLT's best quality is the lyrics, it's the music that brings in down, I think. Regardless, SJLT was #2 on the charts in the US and My Universe is currently #1. You can say it will be forgotten because you don't like it (and I don't really either) but opinions are subjective and no one knows what will be remembered twenty years from now. I realize I'm doing a lot of philosophy here in this thread haha

Was thinking the same when he said that song was "too rock" to begin with. Sucks that they're not interested in that but idk

And I want to reiterate- As great as Parachutes, ARoBttH and even X&Y are, they weren't wildly different from what was popular *at the time* If you know about early 2000s music, guitar-based post-grunge and alternative rock was very popular then. I think even a band like Vertical Horizon had a #1 hit. Radiohead, U2 and Oasis were huge influences at the time. Coldplay took from those influences. And they're special albums. But MX and AHFoD are grandiose with pop influences, MotS and GS are strippped back and have a lot of electronic flourishes. That's what's been popular in the past ten years. Viva and Everyday Life are the only albums that strike me as radically different from what was popular in their time. Coldplay has often made music alongside what is popular in that moment. Does that make it bad? No. Does it make Parachutes or ARoBttH or MX or MotS any less special to me? No. But again. I don't know how this is a surprise to people when you really think about it. Every artist is influenced by what is going on around them at any given time. You can claim they're "selling out" for this or that reason but yeah. Take that for what it's worth.

It's always an interesting dynamic to see how different other people feel about an album in question vs you. I disliked Ghost Stories and A Head Fill of Dreams and made my opinion known and complained but there are people who really like those albums, many longtime fans who dig GS which really surprises me. And then to be on the opposite side, to quite like MX and MotS and seeing people complain about them a lot. But that's the thing, every person is different. Also, all of these albums have been divisive after the incredible expectations Viva left us with. And it's best album of all time in my eyes. Everyday Life is the one recent album where almost everyone seems to like it. And I see why, it's fantastic.

I'm very surprised by people saying MOTS doesnt feel cohesive. The common thread to me is that space sound- so many of the songs have prominent synths in them and there's this very humanist message on many tracks like Human Heart, Humankind and Coloratura about (you guessed it) the nature of humanity and acceptance of the self and others. Even People of the Pride has that, though I will admit that song seems out of place musically with how guitar-centric it is. Ghost Stories has Midnight which sounds so different from everything else in its soundscapes, I was so hyped when I heard that as the first single and then disappointed with almost every other song on it. ASFoS is this super upbeat EDM track that is just a completely separate outlook and vibe. I know it's only on there because Chris insisted it be. AHFoD too! I complained about how jarring the difference between Birds and HftW was one right after the other and felt dismissed with "Well they do that on purpose, silly boy." Those two songs shouldn't even EXIST by the same band, not least on the same album. But they're right next to each other. It wasn't a problem then, why is it now? MX did the same thing with PoC and UFO. That whole album was part acoustic, part alt rock, part pop. Like three completely different things in one. Loved the acoustic and alt rock parts and not more pop sounding ones. People can believe whatever they want but it doesn't make sense to me. I think it's cohesive but if it's not, this isn't exactly new. Let Somebody Go, My Universe, Infinity Sign and Biytiful all use a drum machine I believe, though I'm not a percussion expert. Drums vs drum machines sound different. That's almost half the album. Not ideal. That said I think every single song on GS used one, I can't think of any song on that album that had what sounded like actual drums. I do love the percussion on AiMH but I'm not convinced it's a drum set. Pretty sure AHFoD, AoAL and Birds were drums but again, don't think anything else was. Can't tell with Amazing Day because Stargate ruined that song. I think the live version is drums and the studio version is a drum machine. Up&Up I'm blanking on. My point in this regard is not that it's good, just that it's not something new as it sounds like you're suggesting. Coldplay would have to fall into a volcano and be spit out into pieces to sound like new OneRepublic. Sidenote- Will's drumming is one of the main reasons I like MX as much as I do, despite the prevalent opinion about that album. I think it is both Will's and Jonny's best album, musically speaking. Will and Jonny on Hurts Like Heaven is awesomeness.