EasyToPlease

And I don't think it's up to you to judge her for what she fills her body with - it's her choice and it's not affecting you in any way.

Think Allen has it spot on with this one to be honest. And well said Julie.

The Friday's a nightmare - Neil Young, Bloc Party, Animal Collective and Doves. So tough to chose between those. Yeah Yeah Yeahs/Bat For Lashes/Bon Ivor on Sunday is an amazing trio though. And Nick Cave/Blur to finish the festival off. Superb. No Camera Obscura or Los Campesinos! No James Yuill of yet too. Gutted.

Sorry, I mean, your point didn't appear very evidently in your original piece. x

A few points: 1. Apparently I will never criticise anything the band does - did you not read my review of Prospekt's EP just last week? I've made several points down the year about the downright shoddyness of Chris Martin's lyrics. If you haven't seen them fine, I don't expect people to read my rants, but don't make statements about my opinions if your statements are inaccurate. For the record I gave both versions of Lost about 6 or 7/10. 2. I really don't think they are efforts to sell more records, simply because Coldplay as so commercial and large a band (and have been since AROBTTH) that they don't need such ventures. I think they are actually efforts to do what they want with their music (r.e. Jay-Z) and be a little bit different in their collaborations. 3. R.e. "There is no need for all these collaborations, the band are morIe than capable of growing on their own." - I would agree if the band weren't putting out music on their own at quite an alarming rate - if they hadn't just released 17 or so tracks in the last year that weren't collaborations I'd be worried. But there's no harm in them doing a few side projects to expand their range is there? Especially as some people really love these. 4. I don't think that Girls Aloud is a stunt. I think the thought behind it is that they are a big enough band (but still nowhere near the size of coldplay) to support in such a big venue. Also Girls Aloud appeal is more universal than many other bands. You could argue bands such as Keane, Snow Patrol would be a more conventional choice but hey, the simple fact is, thanks to how popular indie pop is these days, such bands are simply too big to be a support act. Even the magnificent Elbow are too big for such a role these days. Also, who wants to be conventional? 5. "My point is how about they support a few more (decent) up and coming bands." AT LAST! A point we can agree on. I could list loads of smaller bands who I'd love to support them - bands like Mew, Maps, Turin Brakes, Pete and the Pirates, Lightspeed Champion - the list could go on. Trouble is, which of those could draw a decent crowd as an arena support act - you'd get a situation which happens a lot at large gigs, with a huge venue empty and a support act playing to a crowd of about 100 people in a venue that holds thousands. Also, appear point didn't appear very evidently in your original piece.

You what?! So pop music shouldn't be regarded as a legitimate and "serious" form of music?! As for arguing that in choosing such acts Coldplay are going cheesy and commercial, how stupid are you? Especially as there's a very strong case for Coldplay being far more of a commercial artist than all of them, having sold more records by far. Jay-Z - cheesy?! One of the most influential musicians within and outside of his genre of the last 15 years. Kylie Minougue is an institution now, and Girls Aloud make very good pop music. Unless you're one of these music snobs that think that labelling something as 'pop' makes it a lesser form of music, despite the fact that what bands such as Coldplay, Keane, u2, killers etc etc are doing is also pop music. You have been told.

OK, my verdict: Overall it is a solid collection of songs, and I think it's fair to assert that the standard hasn't dropped massively compared to Viva. However, I find it hard to rate the EP as a whole - it isn't as thoughtfully put together as Viva. Now, that may be because it is simply an EP, or maybe that some of the songs on this EP were left off the original album because they proved difficult to fit in coherently with the album material. Furthermore, Rainy Day aside, none of these songs massively pushes Coldplay's sound forward - certainly not to the extent that many of the tracks on Viva la Vida did, such as the title track, Lost and Death And All Of His Friends. However, assuming that this EP is to be judged on a song to song basis rather than as a collection, here goes: Life In Tech ii: 6/10 The basis of this song's quality has already been laid down by the superbly arranged original track, and the lyrics, although amongst Coldplay's better ones, never quite succeed in stealing the show from the original piece itself. The highlight is still the 'woah woahs' at the end of the song. It's a brilliant song, but it would have been a very hard song to mess up, and the lyrics don't add too much. Postcards from Far Away - 8.2 Short though it may be, it's a gorgeous track - this could have made it on to Viva, perhaps as a hidden track between two songs. Maybe instead of Chinese Sleep Chant? As much as I do actually love that song! Glass Of Water: 7.4/10 This is a solid song, but it doesn't challenge any of the tracks on Vida. Although I feared the lyrical concept of the song (how many glass of water metaphors can we get in?!) may harm it, Chris' lyrics are now of a high enough standard to carry it through. The second verse in particular is extremely interesting, with talk of televisions and figurines. It's not good enough to have been on Viva but that says more about the quality of Viva to be honest. Don't really love the ending either. Rainy Day - 8.4/10 The highlight for me. The one song here that truly excites me. Rooted in pop sensibilities, the rhythm on this is fantastic. It would have been hard to fit on Viva just cos it is so different, but I truly believe that it is worth buying this EP (or downloading the leak...) just to own this track. Prospekt's March/Poppyfields - 7.8 Wouldn't have put it on the album, but this is a classic Coldplay b-side. For me it harks back to A Rush Of Blood b-sides era, very well written, moving and in places haunting. Especially the Popplyfields outro. Lost + - 7.9 Although many will disagree with me here, I think that Jay-Z adds to the track, and I much prefer this to the album version. But obviously think that Coldplay and hip-hop together are perhaps an acquired taste, but I'm personally a big fan and love this track. Lovers in Japan (Osaka Sun Mix) - 7.6 I have to give it a high mark, cos it's a fantastic song to start off, but I'm disappointed - this new version really isn't different enough from the original to merit much attention. Now My Feet Won't Touch The Ground - 7.5 I'm tentatively giving this score because, although it hasn't blown me away at the moment, it is exactly the kind of Coldplay song that, by the time album number 5 comes out, will be my favourite thing they've ever done. Until then, it's a nice addition to the EP, and I'd like to see it live. I do actually prefer Death Will Never Conquer though.

Progressive minded people around the world wait with baited breath... Let's hope that we can trust Americans to make the right choice. Vote with your mind, not your religion and money.

Please America, do the right thing. Thanks, The Rest of the World

Viva La Vida 73 Strawberry Swing 38 + Politik 38 Life In Technicolor 36 In My Place 36 The Scientist 29 Death and All His Friends 24 Warning Sign 21 Yellow 22 - Cemeteries of London 24 Lost! 20 Fix You 22 Lovers In Japan 18 Violet Hill 15 A Rush of Blood to the Head 13 Clocks 6 Amsterdam 10 42 4

? It's a crap review because it doesn't like the album? The reviewer might be entirely correct in his criticism. We've no idea, we haven't heard the album. But are you only going to listen to the reviews which praise the album and deride the others as 'crap'? It's only one dude's opinion anyway. I think the review is written in a bit too much in an NME style for my liking, but that's the style its target audience enjoys so fair enough. As for the opinion, as much as I love Coldplay, I couldn't deride it as 'crap' until I'd heard it then, and even then you'd have to remember opinion is subjective.

+ Speed OF Sound - Swallowed In The Sea 54 - Fix You 30 - Talk 31 - Speed Of Sound 9 - Swallowed In The Sea

42.

Hmmm, interesting. It'll have to be an impressive offer to compete with the likes of Tesco - I remember for x&y they priced it at 6.99 or something ridiculously cheap - I went on a mission that morning at 7am to buy it, probably costing just as much extra in petrol. The frustrating part was that my old car only had a tape player and had to drive all the way home before I could hear any of it!

I do actually bloody love trains - wrote my dissertation on 'railways and the Victorian concept of modernity'... my girlfriend's family do think i'm obsessed and go trainspotting though, which isn't the case... yet! ;-) @Chuck Kotte: Very interesting post - I think most western politics are becoming increasingly carried out this way, although hopefully not to the extend of Italy, where governments are replaced by the opposition so frequently, until people quickly tire of the opposition now in charge, and replace them again after a year or so, and so on and so forth. I do think (hope!) that the way in which politics and election campaigns are conducted will change, although I don't see when or how that change is going to come about!