strawberrytom

So good Feels like a great evolution of Moving To Mars

So exciting It all sounds so cool. Had hoped for a little more typical ‘space rock’ or similar ala All I Can Think About Is You, Square One, Politik and ALIENS but the snippets sound cool anyway Like others have said, I think if there are more volumes, they’ll probably be EPs, rather than two more full MOTS albums. Maybe one for Silencia with reworked Us Against The World, new UFO etc? And then maybe one for Earth which I really hope would include The Race (Whatever It Takes version or a good mix of both)

Guessing The Race isn’t on there then? ? Hoping for a EP for the next single with some B-sides like A Sky Full Of Stars/Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall

Ok so I try and not complain about big differences between the studio and live versions of songs because it’s nice for live versions to pack an extra punch but WOW I wish Johnny was so up in the mix on the studio version like he is in on the live version, sounds amazing

Ooh very interesting thank you for this!

Is there a thread or something with what’s been said in interviews with the band yesterday? Haven’t seen one on here or Reddit and I’m really intrigued to see if there’s info slowly coming out about the album I think Hopkins is likely to be involved. I really want Eno on the album and I feel like there’s been enough hints to suggest he might be but I wonder if it’s a case of finishing off some old songs he worked on

I get not liking it but I don’t understand why anyone was expecting rock for this lead single produced by prolific pop producer Max Martin (especially when Coldplay have always been pop anyway, the way people talk about rock here you’d think Coldplay’s first three albums were really heavy or something) i like that it’s got a HLH/Birds vibe but with an 80s touch, hopefully there’s some great rifs on there and maybe some spacey type touches to it too

If there is indeed 12 songs like one of the theories based on symbols suggests I really hope that none of them are short interludes. I don’t mind a good interlude, but if they’re going to be really short I’d rather it be tacked on to a song like with Oceans or UFO. I’m all for longer ones having their own track if you count Kaleidoscope and Bani Adam. I do love Mylo and Hopeful transmission but IMO they should have just been the intros to their respective songs on one track. Could have still been titled ‘Mylo Xyloto/Hurts Like Heaven’

I feel like I’ve got no idea what to expect. Obvs it’s going to be poppy, it’s a shame if people are getting their hopes up for a big rock song but I still don’t know what we’ll get. I think it won’t be ASFOS level easy listening, and I think it’ll have more depth than HFTW, but yeah I could see it being Paradise, ETIAW or Adventure level. When I think about the two versions of The Race, they’re both synthy and modern, although the documentary version sounds like it’s got a bit of an older touch and neither of those are overwhelmingly typical pop and I’m kind of hoping that, along with some of their spacier songs have been used as a bit of a blueprint for the album. Idk, I’m sure whatever they put out will be really good!

Gutted to have just missed it! Well done everyone!

Coldplaying is the goat

I’m not sure because a lot of artists get that exact same spot with the YouTube music sign, like Celeste in this post below and when I’ve seen it before I don’t remember it being anything to do with a YoutTube Music exclusive if that’s what you mean. I think they’re just similar to the Amazon Music billboards that tend to say ‘Alexa play Coldplay’ etc as a way to promote both the brand and the artist, rather than saying you’ll hear this music here first/exclusively https://www.instagram.com/p/CKjVNhKFsjJ/?igshid=16yevlbo99j3z

Very excited! Love reading everyone’s theories, really excited to see what the band have cooked up. I was really unsubscribed to the idea that this could end up being for an EP and I’m still hoping this is the start of a new album campaign. However if the idea that the re-recording of Us Against The World is involved is true, mixed with people’s musings on the five symbols, it could maybe be the lead single released as an EP with 4 b-sides if there’s a big gap between the lead single and the album perhaps. I don’t think that’s likely the case, especially with the level of marketing involved but I’m just trying to understand the EP theories and the only way I can see that being the case is if the lead gets it’s own little EP, perhaps with a couple of reworked old songs, before the album comes out a few months later or something BRING ON MOTS and fingers crossed The Race is involved

OK so it's really nice and has a similar vibe to Vampire Weekend's recent output like people of mentioned but I don't know what to do with it. I was originally planning on putting it after guns or Eko but I don't know if it fits now I've heard it but then again the album is so varied, maybe it just needs time in that spot to feel part of the bigger picture

Has anyone mentioned the organ like sounds in Champion Of The World's intro are slightly reminiscent of Fix You?

I think there's definitely cohesion there though. Church, Champion Of The World and Everyday Life feel like they belong together sonically. As do Daddy, Trouble In Town, Arabesque and Guns in a different kind of way. These two sides mesh well together with the seeing life from different angles idea they're going for. Then a lot of the other tracks slot nicely in between and the street sounds and spoken word parts tie it all together nicely. I think the main problem stopping it from feeling truly cohesive is how some of the shorter songs are littered throughout and they're too short to really make a lasting impression on the album. Like BrokEn is fine but feels so out of place where it is, if it had been longer and maybe put somewhere else, it might feel like it had a bigger connection to the rest of the album, same with Cry Cry Cry as it just kind of drops with a disconnected sound and disappears again fairly quickly. Maybe even Sunrise too as I don't think it sets the tone too well even though it makes great use of strings like a few other songs, it's just a bit too 'nice' considering what's coming. Edit: @Jdckcom this post was meant to quote your recent post but it didn't work for some reason

Anyway, here's my track by track thoughts. Not too detailed but just how I'm feeling about the album now. Really really loving it, just feel it needs a bit of a rejig orderwise to make help it flow a bit better.

I think/hope people warm to church. It's really not like AHFOD and I think people aren't taking to it because it's probably the second most 'poppy' after Orphans and that stargate credit. To me it comes from the same place as Rainy Day but just sounds a little more modern, its got a very 2000s melody imo with a more up to date production @IcebatofvalikinRRBZ8 I wouldn't get your hopes up for any big hit single this era. Champion Of The World might be THAT song that really does something for fans this era but I can't really imagine them pushing any of the other songs as singles in a radio sense anyway. It certainly feels like an album that Coldplay felt they needed to make for themselves rather than to please casual listeners. I'm wondering if it's an important stop gap kind of album before they go full force with the next one

OK finally started my second listen and Trouble In Town strikes me as being a great album closer if the album was to end on a darker note. Arabesque too sonically, but Trouble In Town just has an ending feel to it and feels so dark throughout but especially towards the end. There's nothing wrong with BrokEn but it feels so wrong sandwiched between Trouble In Town and Daddy, even if it's meant to be a break. Not sure where else I'd put it though

Also, I know a lot of people here really dislike AHFOD but while I know it's not their best work, I'm always so shocked by the amount of hate it gets. I have such positive memories of that era

Finished my first my first listen more than an hour ago. I'm certainly impressed by how brave they've been with this album, it's certainly experimental and I'm glad they seem to not care that people might not take well to the sound or politics. Having said that, I'm not getting the OK Computer/Kid A feel that some people have mentioned even if a couple of tracks have a slight Radioheadishness about them. Overall I really like it. There's some gorgeous moments on there but I'm worried they hindered themselves with the double album concept because it slightly feels as if they had to quickly throw more (shorter) songs in to boost the amount of tracks. Some of the shorter songs are amongst my favourites in terms of sound but nearly all of them feel too short sadly and I think this is what's bogging the album down for me. The album almost feels like it's drowned by the shorter tracks, making it seem less cohesive as they dip in and out styles/genres without giving you much time to appreciate that sound and it thins out the feel of the rest of the album. I just feel the album would benefit from some of the shorter songs being longer and then the rest of the short ones being reduced to interludes or perhaps even removed entirely (maybe WOTW nd the chimes interlude) . Otherwise, I think there's a distinct sound running through that really pulls the album together, making it cohesive, it's just that some of the songs feel distracting. I was certainly impressed, just not sure how I view it as a whole. That being said, I'm about to start my second listen and I hope to be swept away with the feel of the album a little more this time.

Wanted to try and keep from listening to any more songs released before the album but caved and listened to Everday Life. So 3 songs out, presumably another one before the album release. If there's at least 4 interludes/voice memos/intros on there that could leave 8 songs plus the bonus track left to listen to upon release. I guess that's not too bad considering there were like 2 songs left that we hadn't heard by the time Ghost Stories was released

Annoyed with myself but I caved in and listened. I think it's gorgeous, not what I wanted or expected but I suspect it will be an excellent closer in the greater context of the album

Exactly my thoughts. I'm holding off and a lot of the opinions of the song seem to contradict each other, which while it worries me, it makes me more excited too. My one worry is about people saying it goes nowhere, hopefully it's a great song even without that typical Coldplay climax

I've not heard it yet, I'm so excited but feel like it might be worth saving it for album. I have looked at what you guys have been saying and I'm so intrigued. I was expecting a song somewhere between Fix You and Death and All His Friends but a bit more chilled out, melodic and melancholy basically just discussing going through the motions. Now I don't really know what to expect. Very excited though!