Mistral Wind
Senior Member
I like Midnight...
but Magic seems to me the worst thing I've ever listened to by them...
but Magic seems to me the worst thing I've ever listened to by them...
Coldplay (Official Thread)
- Thread starter Gabble Ratchet
- Start date
Sharp Dressed Man
Down South Jukin'
Did anyone listen to the new album yet? After a couple of spins, I'm still on the fence about it. It has some beautiful moments, but also some awfully average parts.
Musikwala
Popmartian
I'm somewhat curious but haven't made the effort to get the album. I was quite underwhelmed by Midnight. The next one, Magic was okay but nothing special. Haven't heard anything else. Anyway I have way too many classic albums in general to catch up on than to spend money right now on Coldplay. lol.
Sharp Dressed Man
Down South Jukin'
Classic albums should always have first priority! 
TheSound
An Englishman in New York
I'm never sure about Coldplay, my wife likes them so she will probably get the album, so I'll let her fork out for it I think and then hear it! A couple of the reviews I read are mixed, but they agree that it's a kind of concept-album with 9 songs all about Chris Martin's break up with Gwyneth Paltrow, so I'm not sure I can take that amount of angst.
Musikwala
Popmartian
Angst? On a Coldplay album?
Their brand of pop is generally pretty harmless and melodic, so I don't know what's in store on the new one. The little I heard of it from Midnight and Magic didn't come off as anything that special to me.
Jonny Come Lately
The New Kid In Town
Tend to agree with Musikwala there, I don't think anyone needs to worry about this album having too much angst. IMO Coldplay did sound somewhat angry/intense in places on AROBTTH (see Politik or A Whisper) but only Violet Hill has done this with any success since.
My curiosity regarding the new album has led me to listening to the iTunes preview (can't be bothered listening to the full album right now), here's my run down:
Always In My Head - Not bad, it's got quite a nice atmospheric feel to it and the music fits the mood created by the lyrics well and the central riff is decent.
Magic - Decent enough but think is getting old quick - the bass line is decent but the vocals are beginning to annoy me a bit (a bit too much like hip-hop vocals for my liking).
Ink - Not too keen on the subject matter of this one, don't really like the vocals much either, the music is okay though.
True Love - Not a particular favourite, don't really like the synths on this one. Also don't like the prominent use of 'tell me you love me' - just sounds like self-plagiarism to me from a superior older song (The Scientist). From reading the reviews of this, this apparently features a weird guitar solo at the end which seems to have split people.
Midnight - Still not to my liking, don't really like the keyboard sounds used and this type of music really isn't my cup of tea, not the worst song on the album though.
Another's Arms - Find this nondescript, uses the same electronic sounds and sentiments expressed elsewhere without really doing anything the others don't already do.
Oceans - Pretty good, Martin's vocals and the use of acoustic guitar remind me a bit of the Parachutes era - it sounds a bit like older songs such as We Never Change, I'd rather it was pure acoustic without any electronics though.
A Sky Full Of Stars - An epic fail as far as I'm concerned, horribly obvious synth sound - seems like a blatant commercial track to guarantee radio play, and I could predict the bass drop nearly half a minute before it came. Also, totally out of place on the album. I could only listen to the full preview of this by allowing myself to listen to a Parachutes song afterwards!
O - Nice piano ballad, would probably pick this as the best track, it's got a good melody and the relatively stripped back production is actually quite refreshing by this point.
Overall, I think this a pretty ordinary album with a couple of good songs - the tracks fit well (apart from 'A Sky Of Full Stars') although they seem to merge into one a bit too much, at least based on the previews. It's not their worst album, apart from that one track there's nothing as cringeworthy as the worst material on Mylo Xyloto, but IMO far short of the standard of the first two.
They seem to have gone for a much more understated (although still production heavy) electronic style. The main problem in my opinion is the lack of real drums and the use of synthesisers in place of guitars (rather than supplementing them), which makes the album sound like a Chris Martin solo album rather than a Coldplay album as half the band are ultimately under-utilised - for a band whose major strength is melodies I don't think the new sound really suits their style, making the music seem somewhat dull.
The lyrics aren't very impressive, most of the lyrics are pretty bland and fail to really express anything much (the fact that I can't immediately think of any examples of this without checking emphasises my point). The lyrics on the first two albums were not genius either, but carried greater emotional resonance (think of songs like Shiver or Warning Sign, for instance).
One good thing is that for the most part Martin sounds more like he did in the early days - it's difficult to describe exactly, but he sounds noticeably more poppy from X&Y on compared to the earlier days with the obvious exception of A Sky Full Of Stars, and to a lesser extent Ink. Also, it's more mature than Mylo Xyloto, which is something of a relief.
I don't think I'll get this album, at least not immediately, I've got a lot of catching up to do myself, there's plenty of classics I've not discovered yet! I might download one or two tracks, though I'd definitely want to hear them in full first before buying.
My curiosity regarding the new album has led me to listening to the iTunes preview (can't be bothered listening to the full album right now), here's my run down:
Always In My Head - Not bad, it's got quite a nice atmospheric feel to it and the music fits the mood created by the lyrics well and the central riff is decent.
Magic - Decent enough but think is getting old quick - the bass line is decent but the vocals are beginning to annoy me a bit (a bit too much like hip-hop vocals for my liking).
Ink - Not too keen on the subject matter of this one, don't really like the vocals much either, the music is okay though.
True Love - Not a particular favourite, don't really like the synths on this one. Also don't like the prominent use of 'tell me you love me' - just sounds like self-plagiarism to me from a superior older song (The Scientist). From reading the reviews of this, this apparently features a weird guitar solo at the end which seems to have split people.
Midnight - Still not to my liking, don't really like the keyboard sounds used and this type of music really isn't my cup of tea, not the worst song on the album though.
Another's Arms - Find this nondescript, uses the same electronic sounds and sentiments expressed elsewhere without really doing anything the others don't already do.
Oceans - Pretty good, Martin's vocals and the use of acoustic guitar remind me a bit of the Parachutes era - it sounds a bit like older songs such as We Never Change, I'd rather it was pure acoustic without any electronics though.
A Sky Full Of Stars - An epic fail as far as I'm concerned, horribly obvious synth sound - seems like a blatant commercial track to guarantee radio play, and I could predict the bass drop nearly half a minute before it came. Also, totally out of place on the album. I could only listen to the full preview of this by allowing myself to listen to a Parachutes song afterwards!
O - Nice piano ballad, would probably pick this as the best track, it's got a good melody and the relatively stripped back production is actually quite refreshing by this point.
Overall, I think this a pretty ordinary album with a couple of good songs - the tracks fit well (apart from 'A Sky Of Full Stars') although they seem to merge into one a bit too much, at least based on the previews. It's not their worst album, apart from that one track there's nothing as cringeworthy as the worst material on Mylo Xyloto, but IMO far short of the standard of the first two.
They seem to have gone for a much more understated (although still production heavy) electronic style. The main problem in my opinion is the lack of real drums and the use of synthesisers in place of guitars (rather than supplementing them), which makes the album sound like a Chris Martin solo album rather than a Coldplay album as half the band are ultimately under-utilised - for a band whose major strength is melodies I don't think the new sound really suits their style, making the music seem somewhat dull.
The lyrics aren't very impressive, most of the lyrics are pretty bland and fail to really express anything much (the fact that I can't immediately think of any examples of this without checking emphasises my point). The lyrics on the first two albums were not genius either, but carried greater emotional resonance (think of songs like Shiver or Warning Sign, for instance).
One good thing is that for the most part Martin sounds more like he did in the early days - it's difficult to describe exactly, but he sounds noticeably more poppy from X&Y on compared to the earlier days with the obvious exception of A Sky Full Of Stars, and to a lesser extent Ink. Also, it's more mature than Mylo Xyloto, which is something of a relief.
I don't think I'll get this album, at least not immediately, I've got a lot of catching up to do myself, there's plenty of classics I've not discovered yet! I might download one or two tracks, though I'd definitely want to hear them in full first before buying.
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Musikwala
Popmartian
Interesting review, Jonny. Yeah, I'm not all that excited to get this album anytime soon. At the least, I will listen on Grooveshark and then decide. The last album of theirs that I purchased and thoroughly enjoyed was Viva La Vida back in 2008. I didn't even bother with Mylo. Rush Of Blood remains my ultimate favourite.
Sharp Dressed Man
Down South Jukin'
That is absolutely spot on, Jonny!
Up to and including "Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends", I had no problem buying Coldplay albums blindly, but "Mylo Xyloto" was a disappointment and having heard two tracks from "Ghost Stories", I decided to listen to the album before buying. After a couple of spins, I stick to my opinion above, some beautiful moments, but also some awfully average parts. I might buy it cheap some day.
On a side note, I heard a track called "Ghost Story" on Youtube, supposedly a bonus track on a so called Deluxe Edition. Dunno how to get hold of it though, as they only have the regular edition at my local record store. That track was actually the best thing I've heard from the "Ghost Stories" sessions. I'd be tempted to buy the album sooner with that song on it.
Musikwala
Popmartian
That was a good one, SDM! I quite liked the lyrics there. 
