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Post by The Escapist on Nov 22, 2019 13:07:57 GMT -5
I love Cry Cry Cry. Sounds like if Bon Iver was making music seven decades ago.
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Post by Lennon2217 on Nov 22, 2019 13:19:25 GMT -5
It's definitely a mix of Ghost Stories and Viva. My ranking based off initial impressions: 1. Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends 2. A Rush of Blood to the Head 3. Mylo Xyloto 4. Parachutes - Everyday Life 5. Ghost Stories 6. X&Y 7. A Head Full of Dreams Hot-takes are that Sunrise might be their most beautiful intro, and that the acoustic guitar riff on Old Friends is the sweetest one Chris has ever wrote. Highlights are Sunrise, Trouble in Town, Arabesque, When I Need a Friend, Orphans, and Cry Cry Cry. WOTW / POTP should have been the bonus track, with Flags in there instead. My main complaint is that it's too Chris-centric. Coldplay are at their best when all four members are bursting with riffs, grooves, and rhythms, and they're too reserved on Everyday Life for it to rank amongst their true masterpieces. Still, it's an emotional album that you can tell Chris poured a lot of honest feelings into. Giving it a light eight on day of release. They've been Chris centric for the last several releases. Mylo Xyloto was their last "band" record. Everything since has been either Chris + piano, Chris + acoustic, and Chris collaborating with (insert here any popular hip hop or pop artist). You'll occasionally get the flare of Johnny's 'The Edge' style guitar work, and Guy's bass. Coldplay has been more of a vehicle for Chris's forthcoming solo career lately rather than a true ensemble. I use to think back in 2014 that Chris was angling for a solo career. Magic sounded like a solo song. I don’t believe this anymore. He absolutely loves Coldplay and being in coldplay. Dedicated his life to it. Reminds me of Paul and The Beatles. He would probably would have had them last forever like The Stones. |
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Post by glider on Nov 22, 2019 13:59:38 GMT -5
They've been Chris centric for the last several releases. Mylo Xyloto was their last "band" record. Everything since has been either Chris + piano, Chris + acoustic, and Chris collaborating with (insert here any popular hip hop or pop artist). You'll occasionally get the flare of Johnny's 'The Edge' style guitar work, and Guy's bass. Coldplay has been more of a vehicle for Chris's forthcoming solo career lately rather than a true ensemble. I use to think back in 2014 that Chris was angling for a solo career. Magic sounded like a solo song. I don’t believe this anymore. He absolutely loves Coldplay and being in coldplay. Dedicated his life to it. Reminds me of Paul and The Beatles. He would probably would have had them last forever like The Stones. Of course, they've been together for a long time, similar to Travis, Radiohead, and U2. Unlike the others mentioned, I think the rest of the band has taken a backseat to Chris's choices rather a full group effort. The work Guy and Johnny (or was it Will) did together several years ago was nothing like the pop influences Chris has been apart of. I forget the name of that album. |
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Post by matt on Nov 22, 2019 15:06:55 GMT -5
First impressions? It’s a really really pretty album and I really like it. I’ll write more soon but while its lyrics are quite ham fisted at times, I hear the sincerity of the messages in the sonic mood and melodies alone. It’s incredibly moving at times.
It’s the first very decent album of theirs in a long long while. By no means in the top echelons of Coldplay albums and I think over time we will look at it and see it as what could have been a potentially great album. Whatever other album they are working on, there is argument to say they should have put full effort behind this and expanded upon its slighter moments, but we won’t be able to make that judgement until we hear how good LP 9 is. For an apparent stop-gap album, that’s a compliment though.
But it’s an array of excellent tunes to add to a swelling and eclectic mix from this band. It’s good to look at them again without any scorn.
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Post by batfink30 on Nov 22, 2019 15:24:50 GMT -5
Listening to "When I Need a Friend" from Jordan, I can't help wonder whether this would have been a real classic if it was fleshed out. It reminds me live of an almost unfinished "Everything's Not Lost". The melody is incredibly good but it's almost an idea of a song. Tbh, a lot of EL is like this.
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Post by The Escapist on Nov 22, 2019 16:02:16 GMT -5
 Alright, last tracklist change, I promise  Old Friends and Eko are pretty tunes, but they balance the album too much in solo-Chris favour. Trimming them gives the album a more fleshed-out feel. Overall, I'd rank it a solid fifth in their catalogue. That might sound low, but I fucking love Parachutes, A Rush, Viva, and Mylo, so coming fifth to them is no bad showing. It'll probably swap around with Ghost Stories and X&Y in the mid-table of their career. But, as matt said, it's a nice eclectic addition to the world's most under-appreciated pop discography. |
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Post by Lennon2217 on Nov 22, 2019 16:36:46 GMT -5
Chris’ first solo album.......
Guns
Eko
BrokEn
Daddy
WOTW/POTP
Cry Cry Cry
Bani Adam
Old Friends
When I Need A Friend
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Post by durk on Nov 22, 2019 19:36:13 GMT -5
the best song on the album isn't even on the album
Flags
released as a bonus track in Japan today
Amazing
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Post by glider on Nov 22, 2019 20:57:59 GMT -5
Chris’ first solo album....... Guns Eko BrokEn Daddy WOTW/POTP Cry Cry Cry Bani Adam Old Friends When I Need A Friend Legitimately would look like this: 01. Always In My Head 02. Something Just Like This (feat. The Chainsmokers) 03. Miracles (feat. Big Sean) 04. Fun (feat. Tove Lo) 05. Army of One / X Marks the Spot 06. BrokEn 07. Magic 08. Daddy 09. Guns 10. Hypnotized 11. When I Need A Friend 12. O (Fly On) |
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Post by The Escapist on Nov 22, 2019 21:03:14 GMT -5
Don't understand why people are calling Magic a Chris solo song. Not only do all four members feature nicely on that track, it's actually one of the few Coldplay tunes *not* to be started by Chris. Unlike 99% of their songs, it began with Guy. He came up with the bass loop, and then the band worked up the song from there.
Anyway, this is the Everyday Life tracklist to go with:
1. Sunrise
2. Church
3. Trouble in Town
4. Daddy
5. BrokEn
6. Arabesque
7. When I Need a Friend
1. Guns
2. Orphans
3. Flags
4. Cry Cry Cry
5. Bani Adam
6. Champion of the World
7. Everyday Life
Enjoying it a lot more like this. Feels more fleshed out, with less throwaway tracks and the band featured on a higher percentage of tracks.
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Post by Lennon2217 on Nov 22, 2019 22:32:07 GMT -5
Thank the maker! The lyrics video uploaded to YouTube does not contain the police banter on it. I'm gonna have to rip this to mp3 and swap it out on my iTunes library. I hate altering artists stuff but I just can't always listen to the police brutality. A tad jarring.
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Post by mystoryisgory on Nov 23, 2019 2:39:26 GMT -5
Some first impressions:
- Really damn surprised how different this album is from what came before. The closest comparison I can make is Ghost Stories just because the first half mostly eschews the typical Coldplay melodrama, but this album really is its own beast.
- It's very patient music, very calculated and delicately arranged. A bit like A Moon Shaped Pool, I suppose, but I'm trying not to make lazy or cliched comparisons. Unlike every other 10's Coldplay album, the production level on Everyday Life is just perfect. No songs feel weighed down by too many layers of instruments, nor does it sound muddied or overthought by too many cooks in the kitchen. This is despite a long list of collaborators too! Nice job Coldplay, it's not easy to balance so many people
- The two halves of the album are quite different from each other, if only in tone and not in style. Rn I prefer the first half just because it feels more cohesive, but time will tell which is the better of the two.
- That being said, there's an odd fractured, confused feel throughout the entire album that slightly recalls The Life of Pablo, but is more a lost-at-sea kind of haze rather than a direct transmission from the crazed psyche of a complex artist. Everyday Life doesn't have complexities in the same way, in fact its morality is pretty straightforward in a very Coldplay-ey way.
- Daddy, despite the awkward title, is probably the most genuine Coldplay ballad since Reign of Love (?), and Chris sounds so much more intimately exposed than most of anything we've ever heard from him, ever! And that's an accomplishment considering that Coldplay's entire career has been built on Chris endlessly examining his feelings, but here it sounds more real because here Chris doesn't talk in riddles and rhymes.
- I don't know why y'all are hating on WOTW/POTP. Sure it sounds like something off Damon Albarn's Democrazy but it has a very raw and low-fi charm not found anywhere else in Coldplay's discography. Everything Coldplay is usually pretty polished, for better or worse. Plus this is a nice interlude that sets the stage nicely for Arabesque.
- Arabesque is still my favorite song on the album by some distance. Utterly unlike anything in Coldplay's catalog. I wish the rest of the album had gone in this direction. More on that later.
- Not sure why, but When I Need a Friend struck a serious emotional chord with me when I first heard it and brought me to tears. Such a simple lullaby sung by Bon Iver church harmonies, utterly perfect without ever trying to be.
- The second half of the album needs more listens to fully judge, but, as good as Orphans is, it feels terribly out of place on here. Especially after the spitting and snarling Guns. They should've saved it for the next album.
- Which brings me back to my previous points about Everyday Life being disjointed. All throughout this decade, Coldplay have been trying to make two albums at once rather than focusing on just one. MX started as two albums, and it still kinda shows. Ghost Stories and AHFOD were written at the same time but split into two albums. And apparently with the next album rumored to be out next year, not only was Chris's new output split into two albums, one of those albums was further split in half. Seems to be a lack of focus on Chris's part. It seems like this approach is part of Chris's notorious attitude of wanting to please everyone. You could even say that this album is a apology to the Oldplayers who gave up on Coldplay post-MX, and the album out next year is Chris's apology to those who hopped on board circa AHFOD. This is probably what prevented Coldplay from going full out in the Arabesque direction, which is something they are 100% capable of and should do sooner rather than later. Instead, in wanting to please everyone Chris ends up not pleasing nobody but blunting his full creative potential. That's not to say that Everyday Life isn't a very enjoyable album, and an improvement on what came before, but I would like to see another Coldplay unleashed in the same way AROBTTH and VLV are pure unbridled creativity.
More thoughts to come, right now I'm about to fucking pass out. Thanks.
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Post by glider on Nov 23, 2019 3:44:45 GMT -5
Some first impressions:
- Really damn surprised how different this album is from what came before. The closest comparison I can make is Ghost Stories just because the first half mostly eschews the typical Coldplay melodrama, but this album really is its own beast.
- It's very patient music, very calculated and delicately arranged. A bit like A Moon Shaped Pool, I suppose, but I'm trying not to make lazy or cliched comparisons. Unlike every other 10's Coldplay album, the production level on Everyday Life is just perfect. No songs feel weighed down by too many layers of instruments, nor does it sound muddied or overthought by too many cooks in the kitchen. This is despite a long list of collaborators too! Nice job Coldplay, it's not easy to balance so many people
- The two halves of the album are quite different from each other, if only in tone and not in style. Rn I prefer the first half just because it feels more cohesive, but time will tell which is the better of the two.
- That being said, there's an odd fractured, confused feel throughout the entire album that slightly recalls The Life of Pablo, but is more a lost-at-sea kind of haze rather than a direct transmission from the crazed psyche of a complex artist. Everyday Life doesn't have complexities in the same way, in fact its morality is pretty straightforward in a very Coldplay-ey way.
- Daddy, despite the awkward title, is probably the most genuine Coldplay ballad since Reign of Love (?), and Chris sounds so much more intimately exposed than most of anything we've ever heard from him, ever! And that's an accomplishment considering that Coldplay's entire career has been built on Chris endlessly examining his feelings, but here it sounds more real because here Chris doesn't talk in riddles and rhymes.
- I don't know why y'all are hating on WOTW/POTP. Sure it sounds like something off Damon Albarn's Democrazy but it has a very raw and low-fi charm not found anywhere else in Coldplay's discography. Everything Coldplay is usually pretty polished, for better or worse. Plus this is a nice interlude that sets the stage nicely for Arabesque.
- Arabesque is still my favorite song on the album by some distance. Utterly unlike anything in Coldplay's catalog. I wish the rest of the album had gone in this direction. More on that later.
- Not sure why, but When I Need a Friend struck a serious emotional chord with me when I first heard it and brought me to tears. Such a simple lullaby sung by Bon Iver church harmonies, utterly perfect without ever trying to be.
- The second half of the album needs more listens to fully judge, but, as good as Orphans is, it feels terribly out of place on here. Especially after the spitting and snarling Guns. They should've saved it for the next album.
- Which brings me back to my previous points about Everyday Life being disjointed. All throughout this decade, Coldplay have been trying to make two albums at once rather than focusing on just one. MX started as two albums, and it still kinda shows. Ghost Stories and AHFOD were written at the same time but split into two albums. And apparently with the next album rumored to be out next year, not only was Chris's new output split into two albums, one of those albums was further split in half. Seems to be a lack of focus on Chris's part. It seems like this approach is part of Chris's notorious attitude of wanting to please everyone. You could even say that this album is a apology to the Oldplayers who gave up on Coldplay post-MX, and the album out next year is Chris's apology to those who hopped on board circa AHFOD. This is probably what prevented Coldplay from going full out in the Arabesque direction, which is something they are 100% capable of and should do sooner rather than later. Instead, in wanting to please everyone Chris ends up not pleasing nobody but blunting his full creative potential. That's not to say that Everyday Life isn't a very enjoyable album, and an improvement on what came before, but I would like to see another Coldplay unleashed in the same way AROBTTH and VLV are pure unbridled creativity.
More thoughts to come, right now I'm about to fucking pass out. Thanks.
Agree with everything said here. The current climate has forced their hand into writing properly meaningful music again, which has given us this solid record. At the same time, they're still holding back their true potential. Arabesque is the exact kind of risk taking they should be making at this point to keep things exciting. Releasing a safe and bland pop record for LP9 will not work in 2020 like it did in 2015. I've continued to say this, they need some sort of abstract project, akin to U2's Passengers project with Eno. This record showed me they have what it takes to make something akin to it. The guys have much more talent than the vast majority of popular artists today, they are amongst the last of the rock stars (as Bono would put it). |
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Post by The Escapist on Nov 23, 2019 6:41:37 GMT -5
- Which brings me back to my previous points about Everyday Life being disjointed. All throughout this decade, Coldplay have been trying to make two albums at once rather than focusing on just one. MX started as two albums, and it still kinda shows. Ghost Stories and AHFOD were written at the same time but split into two albums. And apparently with the next album rumored to be out next year, not only was Chris's new output split into two albums, one of those albums was further split in half. Seems to be a lack of focus on Chris's part. It seems like this approach is part of Chris's notorious attitude of wanting to please everyone. You could even say that this album is a apology to the Oldplayers who gave up on Coldplay post-MX, and the album out next year is Chris's apology to those who hopped on board circa AHFOD. This is probably what prevented Coldplay from going full out in the Arabesque direction, which is something they are 100% capable of and should do sooner rather than later. Instead, in wanting to please everyone Chris ends up not pleasing nobody but blunting his full creative potential. That's not to say that Everyday Life isn't a very enjoyable album, and an improvement on what came before, but I would like to see another Coldplay unleashed in the same way AROBTTH and VLV are pure unbridled creativity.
More thoughts to come, right now I'm about to fucking pass out. Thanks.
This is a very good point. Although I don't agree about MX sounding anything but fully-formed (there are only two acoustic songs on the album, one of which is less than two minutes long), I agree that the reason albums like Everyday Life - and, dare I say it, Ghost Stories - are just "very good" and not "another masterpiece" is because the band is looking in two directions. Said it many times, but they work best when there is a guiding producer like Eno who can push them all towards one common goal. Viva and Mylo both feel like Chris, Jonny, Guy, and Will were all bringing their colourful contributions to a sound. However, I think we should still be really very happy with what we got yesterday. Sunrise is such a beautiful piece of music. Arabesque might be the best song they've ever made. Stuff like BrokEn, When I Need a Friend, and Cry Cry Cry are gorgeously experimental interludes. And then you get more traditional Coldplay anthems in Church, Orphans, Daddy, and Champion of the World. They did good this time. I'm very happy with the album, overall. |
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Post by modxxii on Nov 23, 2019 7:00:29 GMT -5
Nice album.
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Post by Lennon2217 on Nov 23, 2019 8:40:46 GMT -5
- Which brings me back to my previous points about Everyday Life being disjointed. All throughout this decade, Coldplay have been trying to make two albums at once rather than focusing on just one. MX started as two albums, and it still kinda shows. Ghost Stories and AHFOD were written at the same time but split into two albums. And apparently with the next album rumored to be out next year, not only was Chris's new output split into two albums, one of those albums was further split in half. Seems to be a lack of focus on Chris's part. It seems like this approach is part of Chris's notorious attitude of wanting to please everyone. You could even say that this album is a apology to the Oldplayers who gave up on Coldplay post-MX, and the album out next year is Chris's apology to those who hopped on board circa AHFOD. This is probably what prevented Coldplay from going full out in the Arabesque direction, which is something they are 100% capable of and should do sooner rather than later. Instead, in wanting to please everyone Chris ends up not pleasing nobody but blunting his full creative potential. That's not to say that Everyday Life isn't a very enjoyable album, and an improvement on what came before, but I would like to see another Coldplay unleashed in the same way AROBTTH and VLV are pure unbridled creativity.
More thoughts to come, right now I'm about to fucking pass out. Thanks.
This is a very good point. Although I don't agree about MX sounding anything but fully-formed (there are only two acoustic songs on the album, one of which is less than two minutes long), I agree that the reason albums like Everyday Life - and, dare I say it, Ghost Stories - are just "very good" and not "another masterpiece" is because the band is looking in two directions. Said it many times, but they work best when there is a guiding producer like Eno who can push them all towards one common goal. Viva and Mylo both feel like Chris, Jonny, Guy, and Will were all bringing their colourful contributions to a sound. However, I think we should still be really very happy with what we got yesterday. Sunrise is such a beautiful piece of music. Arabesque might be the best song they've ever made. Stuff like BrokEn, When I Need a Friend, and Cry Cry Cry are gorgeously experimental interludes. And then you get more traditional Coldplay anthems in Church, Orphans, Daddy, and Champion of the World. They did good this time. I'm very happy with the album, overall. This is the result of a couple of issues.......... When the band was initially promoting MX, they made a point of telling everyone they started making two albums, acoustic and experimental. That started to shade opinions and expectations, fair or unfair. Besides the obvious acoustic songs like Us Against The World and UFO, we know Charlie Brown was reworked from the acoustic album along with a few others the band mentioned over time. I'm assuming songs like Up In Flames and Up With The Birds had piano/acoustic beginnings. So what would be 5 songs right there. God only knows how many other songs were abandoned and sent to the basement. I feel like this band has 100 fully formed released songs in their vaults. Mylo Xyloto era was first gonna be acoustic, then electronic, then combined, then an animated film was going to support the overall theme of the album and then abandoned (although comics now exist apparently) until we are just left with Mylo Xyloto. That is some wild ride of directions. |
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Post by Lennon2217 on Nov 23, 2019 9:01:11 GMT -5
I really want this mysterious billboard in the artwork of Everyday Life to be the first signs of the next album to follow up in 6 months or less. Imagine announcing an album that way? What a killer and secretive idea. Hope it happens. So meta.
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Post by The Escapist on Nov 23, 2019 9:20:09 GMT -5
This is the result of a couple of issues.......... When the band was initially promoting MX, they made a point of telling everyone they started making two albums, acoustic and experimental. That started to shade opinions and expectations, fair or unfair. I feel like you'd have to know about the band initially wanting to make an acoustic album to find that Mylo sounds like two records mashed together, though. No-one would listen to Charlie Brown or Up With the Birds without that context and think "Ah, sounds like an acoustic album dressed up to me". It just sounds like what it is, colourful art-pop music. I for one was shocked when I found out it was initially worked on as a stripped back record. Glad they abandoned that idea. The intense sound is what makes it great. |
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Post by modxxii on Nov 23, 2019 9:20:17 GMT -5
The more I listen the more I love it.
I didnt like Orphans but it has grown on me.
The album is full of nice moments and heartfull pieces of music. Maybe I will buy the vinyl.
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Post by Lennon2217 on Nov 23, 2019 9:24:50 GMT -5
This is the result of a couple of issues.......... When the band was initially promoting MX, they made a point of telling everyone they started making two albums, acoustic and experimental. That started to shade opinions and expectations, fair or unfair. I feel like you'd have to know about the band initially wanting to make an acoustic album to find that Mylo sounds like two records mashed together. No-one would listen to Charlie Brown or Up With the Birds without that context and think "Ah, sounds like an acoustic album dressed up to me". It just sounds like what it is, colourful art-pop music. I for one was shocked when I found out it was initially worked on as a stripped back record. Glad they they abandoned that idea. The intense sound is what makes it great. Well that is my point. They literally told everyone who interviewed them for the upcoming record these two album facts. When the first news of the album coming out contained this info. So it was never not in my mind in the run up. For the casual listeners who hears Coldplay on the radio yes you are correct. |
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Post by The Escapist on Nov 23, 2019 9:25:06 GMT -5
Chris says that all the unreleased old Coldplay songs will be released one day. "Just for anyone who might be interested. Not as a big thing." Lennon2217 |
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Post by Lennon2217 on Nov 23, 2019 9:28:05 GMT -5
Chris says that all the unreleased old Coldplay songs will be released one day. "Just for anyone who might be interested. Not as a big thing." Lennon2217When did he say that? That is great and expected news. Too much material is just sitting there and probably won't be revived for future projects. Some of these songs are well well into the past. 15-17 years now. Granted we saw Noel do this with a bunch of songs STC, RM, LATD, Come On Outside, but Coldplay are different. Once a moment of a song is past, its fucking gone. |
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Post by Lennon2217 on Nov 23, 2019 9:30:48 GMT -5
I read the press leading up to Mylo but never any actual songs from their live gigs that summer (2011) except for the singles like Teardrop, Paradise, Major Minus, Moving To Mars.
This was my first introduction to the album. When I caught the band in person on Live On Letterman. Was really taken back by so many of the new songs I'd never heard before (Hurts Like Heaven, Charlie Brown, Us Against The World).
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Post by Lennon2217 on Nov 23, 2019 10:15:01 GMT -5
Chris says that all the unreleased old Coldplay songs will be released one day. "Just for anyone who might be interested. Not as a big thing." Lennon2217I really thought the proper time to do something like that was last November to support their band doc. Normally in the past, a greatest hits would be a part of such a retrospective look back but with streaming that concept is now extinct. A best of the unreleased songs compilation over the years would have been PERFECT. Some songs I'd like included. Harmless (2000) Idiot (2002) Ladder To The Sun (2002) View From The Top (2002) Solid Ground (2002) Pour Me (2003) Sweet Marianne (2003) Bucket For A Crown (2006) Famous Old Painters (2007) Leftrightleftrightleft (2007) Don Quixote (2009) Wedding Bells (2009) Car Kids (2011) The Race (2014) I remember back in college, back in 2003ish, I listened to bootleg versions of Idiot, Ladder To The Sun, View From A Top, Solid Ground, Gravity, Pour Me and Sweet Marianne assuming they would make up the bulk of LP3. None of them made it!!!! |
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Post by matt on Nov 23, 2019 10:54:35 GMT -5
Chris says that all the unreleased old Coldplay songs will be released one day. "Just for anyone who might be interested. Not as a big thing." Lennon2217When did he say that? That is great and expected news. Too much material is just sitting there and probably won't be revived for future projects. Some of these songs are well well into the past. 15-17 years now. Granted we saw Noel do this with a bunch of songs STC, RM, LATD, Come On Outside, but Coldplay are different. Once a moment of a song is past, its fucking gone. Coldplay aren’t averse to savvy releases, I could see them just unexpectedly chucking it all for free somewhere that’s accessible (and no, not forcing it on iTunes like U2). Noel and his management would most likely make it a drawn out procession like it’s the 90s. |
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Nov 4, 2024 5:04:30 GMT -5