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Post by batfink30 on Oct 16, 2021 6:31:30 GMT -5
Man, Everyday Life and AHFOD really had me going with all of the album hype but this didn't do much for me. It might be something for me personally, it's been an insane time. I'll be checking out the album very soon though. I don't mind MOTS I can listen to it but I'm not compelled to go back to it. I find it quite lightweight and lacking real quality. Was quite hopeful after EL too. |
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Post by Lennon2217 on Oct 16, 2021 6:49:40 GMT -5
Man, Everyday Life and AHFOD really had me going with all of the album hype but this didn't do much for me. It might be something for me personally, it's been an insane time. I'll be checking out the album very soon though. I don't mind MOTS I can listen to it but I'm not compelled to go back to it. I find it quite lightweight and lacking real quality. Was quite hopeful after EL too. As others have mentioned, too much was revealed before Album drop. Higher Power Colortura My Universe Then constantly playing at high profile events Music of the Spheres intros, Human Heart and People of The Pride. That left only 4 tracks we never heard. And of course those were a mixed bag for me!!!!!!!! They shouldn’t have dropped Colortura in July. That would have been an amazing album surprise. |
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Post by Lennon2217 on Oct 16, 2021 9:24:33 GMT -5
It’s weird the band haven’t done too many interviews for this album cycle. I’d love to hear more info on the next Volumes. I feel like they left music in the tank.
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Post by batfink30 on Oct 16, 2021 14:55:40 GMT -5
I don't mind MOTS I can listen to it but I'm not compelled to go back to it. I find it quite lightweight and lacking real quality. Was quite hopeful after EL too. As others have mentioned, too much was revealed before Album drop. Higher Power Colortura My Universe Then constantly playing at high profile events Music of the Spheres intros, Human Heart and People of The Pride. That left only 4 tracks we never heard. And of course those were a mixed bag for me!!!!!!!! They shouldn’t have dropped Colortura in July. That would have been an amazing album surprise. True. Was Noel advising them on their release schedule? Lol. |
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Post by matt on Oct 16, 2021 18:34:10 GMT -5
This album is bang average for the reasons above. It is a severely undercooked album that is totally not worth the 'big album' status that was to follow Everyday Life. It doesn't contain anything offensively bad (although the high pitch vocal on Biutyful comes close) but nothing stands out as proper chart storming pop apart from My Universe. I wasn't privy to any of these songs before I heard them today, so apart from the singles, it was my first listen to all the other tunes and Human Heart is the only one that grabbed me. Others like Humankind (perhaps the most Coldplayish tune of the sort we expect these last ten years) sounds like a poorer cousin of the Hurts Like Heaven/Charlie Brown/Life In Technicolor type song so not too enamoured with it. Was interested in seeing what they did with People of the Pride but after musing on the Muse influences, I've come to the conclusion that Muse - a band I have no real opinion on - are maybe just a shit band and shouldn't be used as inspiration. Infinity Sound is just a waste of an instrumental which I see no point in having no vocals on, and whatever intentions they had for it, certainly doesn't make any sense like Life In Technicolor does (that came at the beginning and was at least a perfect scene setter for VLV).
Incredibly lightweight album. There are a good five/six songs on Everyday Life I prefer - in fairness, that's mainly because I like the art pop indie vibe of Coldplay (my favourite type of Coldplay if we're choosing between the mainstream pop stars they are today or the moody alt rockers of the early 2000s) and Everyday Life suited that vibe. But then again, nothing tops the poppy Orphans from Everyday Life). I wouldn't have had an issue with Coldplay releasing an album of 10 or so 'pop bangers' of the force that they have with Sky Full of Stars/Hymn For The Weekend/My Universe because they do the job. However these songs stick out amongst flimsy filler in my opinion and its the same case for this album.
There's nothing really substantial here and it does feel half arsed, a worrying trend with Coldplay since Ghost Stories where every album since is really undercooked. Everyday Life I could accept it's more undercooked tunes as there's quite a bit going on with that album anyway, and it was deliberately more free and easy in the recording process. It's interesting then that the one album where they are not trying to reach a certain audience and are less self-conscious is by far the most superior one they've released in the last ten years. And the fully formed songs are of a deeper, more substantial nature than anything here.
It's a shame because so many songs on Everyday Life show they could perfectly execute that Viva La Vida style creativity again with a bit more focus. It's just bemusing that an album like VLV, which offered so much variety and packed so much into its 40 plus minutes, could be followed some years later by something so inconsequential as this. They've still got the quality to make something special, but I don't think they know what their standard bearer of quality is. Like VLV and Everyday Life, I'd rather Coldplay once again tap into the traditional music of various countries around the globe rather than the chart pop music. That's when they really stand out from everyone else.
It's a 5/10 for me.
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Post by The Escapist on Oct 16, 2021 20:19:59 GMT -5
Track-by-track with my personal tracklist: MUSIC OF THE SPHERES: Nice ambient intro. Builds hype well. HUMANKIND / ALIEN CHOIR (7/10): Like matt says, the weaker cousin of earlier Coldplay material. Some will hate those ooohh-ohs in the verses, but it doesn't bother me. I like the melody and the energy, it feels like a new morning. Nothing they haven't done before, but the Springsteen sound is fun and Chris sounds impassioned. Nice riff from Johnny. Actual drumming from Will, which is nice to have again. Alien Choir plays it out well enough. HIGHER POWER (8/10): I'm cheating by rating my re-work; the original would come it at a seven. But I trimmed the bridge/middle-eight and added some guitars and it helps the song a lot. I really like this one. I love the verses, in a way that I think a lot of people don't. They sound so magnetic and nocturnal, like a thick chocolate bar of bass with sparks of blue lightning around it. Chorus is sticky, ending refrains are melodic. Fun. PEOPLE OF THE PRIDE (5/10): Gets a five for the middle-eight. That "it's just work...it's not easy" bit is fantastic, great melody and lyrics and fleshes the song out well. But the rest of it, no, thanks. The riff is generic Dad-rock, something that would be played in a crap iPhone advert. This is not a song that needs Max Martin behind the boards. Far too clean and short. Feels like Johnny is about to go crazy at the end, but it just...stops. HUMAN HEART (7.5/10): I like this one. Lyrics are simple but effective, the melody is gorgeous, and the Collier production is superb. We Are King fit in well. The problem is that at this point you realise that although the album is to be commended for its variety, there just isn't any kind of theme or sound to it that will make it stand out for re-listens. Ghost Stories feels like a whole world you can enter, the idea of smashing different worlds together here comes across more scattered than exciting most of the time. But still, good song. LET SOMEBODY GO (3/10): Boooooooooooooooring. Gets three points purely for how gorgeous Selena Gomez sounds on it. The rest is just a waste of time, plain keys and a dull beat and generic lyrics and a melody that's pleasant but forgettable. These are the kind of songs that make you think that Coldplay honestly don't realise how talented they are. I mean, you made Viva la Vida. You don't have to waste our time with this kind of bland rubbish. Will be binned in my Music of the Spheres: Complete when Volume Two comes out. BIUTYFUL (9/10): Fuck the haters, I love this. Really, honestly, love it. It just sounds so splashed in sunlight, so childish, so butter-smooth and love-soaked and nostalgic and ugh. I’m in love. Vocal pitching doesn't bother me in the slightest. In fact, I think it makes the song. Melody is the most naturally pretty one on the album, and the instrumental is straight silk. Crisp beat, hazy sounds, Max Martin runs the show to perfection. Could have done with a shimmery guitar solo to complete it, but still. Pure dopamine for me. Childhood sunlight. MUSIC OF THE SPHERES II: Pointless. MY UNIVERSE (6.5/10): My thoughts on this vary, depending on which areas of it hit my ears on that particular listen. I love the beat, I think BTS are perfect all over it, the energy is high and it sounds destined to smash the charts. But my God, little bits that I hate so much. That call-and-response in the chorus is tacky as fuck, and that robot-voice in the middle-eight is just horrific. Take those two things out and it would be a great pop song, but they make me cringe a little every time. But overall, fun and vibrant and catchy, so cool. BTS rock it. INFINITY SIGN (5.5/10): I mean, okay. Ole chant is cringe, but the second half is pretty. It’s fine. Feels like a bit of a piss-take with only eight full songs, but fine. Will work well in the eventual "Complete" edition. COLORATURA (10/10): Not sure what else can be said. You just can’t get a Coldplay release without something brilliant on it. Lyrics, melody, arrangement, structure, production – it's a home run smash on every single front. There’s just no hiding it anymore: avant-garde Coldplay is the best Coldplay. This, Arabesque, Human Heart, ALIENS, Midnight, there is such a rich talent in this band with their willingness to try anything, their natural pop melodies combined with musical talent and arty influences is just magic. Ah, those Viva/Mylo days. But this is a return straight to that vein. It’s so calming, so wide and cinematic, so wistful and winding, all the colour of a nebula and all the brightness of a supernova. Masterpiece. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OVERALL: 5.5/10: The problem with this album is that it’s less than the sum of its parts. It feels slight. Undercooked. Scattered, limp, because of the lack of a theme and the holes where there should be a strong opener, or a centrepiece. I do think we’ll end up with a good body of work when the other Volumes release and those gaps can be plugged, but for now we have a varied collection of decent/good songs that don’t hang together as an album. Big drop-off from the deep earthy emotion of Everyday Life, that album really was so gorgeous. But like I’ve said, Coldplay owe me nothing at this point: they got me into music and made my favourite album ever. I’ll take the songs I like and look forward to more in the future. |
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Post by batfink30 on Oct 17, 2021 7:04:19 GMT -5
Track-by-track with my personal tracklist: MUSIC OF THE SPHERES: Nice ambient intro. Builds hype well. HUMANKIND / ALIEN CHOIR (7/10): Like matt says, the weaker cousin of earlier Coldplay material. Some will hate those ooohh-ohs in the verses, but it doesn't bother me. I like the melody and the energy, it feels like a new morning. Nothing they haven't done before, but the Springsteen sound is fun and Chris sounds impassioned. Nice riff from Johnny. Actual drumming from Will, which is nice to have again. Alien Choir plays it out well enough. HIGHER POWER (8/10): I'm cheating by rating my re-work; the original would come it at a seven. But I trimmed the bridge/middle-eight and added some guitars and it helps the song a lot. I really like this one. I love the verses, in a way that I think a lot of people don't. They sound so magnetic and nocturnal, like a thick chocolate bar of bass with sparks of blue lightning around it. Chorus is sticky, ending refrains are melodic. Fun. PEOPLE OF THE PRIDE (5/10): Gets a five for the middle-eight. That "it's just work...it's not easy" bit is fantastic, great melody and lyrics and fleshes the song out well. But the rest of it, no, thanks. The riff is generic Dad-rock, something that would be played in a crap iPhone advert. This is not a song that needs Max Martin behind the boards. Far too clean and short. Feels like Johnny is about to go crazy at the end, but it just...stops. HUMAN HEART (7.5/10): I like this one. Lyrics are simple but effective, the melody is gorgeous, and the Collier production is superb. We Are King fit in well. The problem is that at this point you realise that although the album is to be commended for its variety, there just isn't any kind of theme or sound to it that will make it stand out for re-listens. Ghost Stories feels like a whole world you can enter, the idea of smashing different worlds together here comes across more scattered than exciting most of the time. But still, good song. LET SOMEBODY GO (3/10): Boooooooooooooooring. Gets three points purely for how gorgeous Selena Gomez sounds on it. The rest is just a waste of time, plain keys and a dull beat and generic lyrics and a melody that's pleasant but forgettable. These are the kind of songs that make you think that Coldplay honestly don't realise how talented they are. I mean, you made Viva la Vida. You don't have to waste our time with this kind of bland rubbish. Will be binned in my Music of the Spheres: Complete when Volume Two comes out. BIUTYFUL (9/10): Fuck the haters, I love this. Really, honestly, love it. It just sounds so splashed in sunlight, so childish, so butter-smooth and love-soaked and nostalgic and ugh. I’m in love. Vocal pitching doesn't bother me in the slightest. In fact, I think it makes the song. Melody is the most naturally pretty one on the album, and the instrumental is straight silk. Crisp beat, hazy sounds, Max Martin runs the show to perfection. Could have done with a shimmery guitar solo to complete it, but still. Pure dopamine for me. Childhood sunlight. MUSIC OF THE SPHERES II: Pointless. MY UNIVERSE (6.5/10): My thoughts on this vary, depending on which areas of it hit my ears on that particular listen. I love the beat, I think BTS are perfect all over it, the energy is high and it sounds destined to smash the charts. But my God, little bits that I hate so much. That call-and-response in the chorus is tacky as fuck, and that robot-voice in the middle-eight is just horrific. Take those two things out and it would be a great pop song, but they make me cringe a little every time. But overall, fun and vibrant and catchy, so cool. BTS rock it. INFINITY SIGN (5.5/10): I mean, okay. Ole chant is cringe, but the second half is pretty. It’s fine. Feels like a bit of a piss-take with only eight full songs, but fine. Will work well in the eventual "Complete" edition. COLORATURA (10/10): Not sure what else can be said. You just can’t get a Coldplay release without something brilliant on it. Lyrics, melody, arrangement, structure, production – it's a home run smash on every single front. There’s just no hiding it anymore: avant-garde Coldplay is the best Coldplay. This, Arabesque, Human Heart, ALIENS, Midnight, there is such a rich talent in this band with their willingness to try anything, their natural pop melodies combined with musical talent and arty influences is just magic. Ah, those Viva/Mylo days. But this is a return straight to that vein. It’s so calming, so wide and cinematic, so wistful and winding, all the colour of a nebula and all the brightness of a supernova. Masterpiece. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OVERALL: 5.5/10: The problem with this album is that it’s less than the sum of its parts. It feels slight. Undercooked. Scattered, limp, because of the lack of a theme and the holes where there should be a strong opener, or a centrepiece. I do think we’ll end up with a good body of work when the other Volumes release and those gaps can be plugged, but for now we have a varied collection of decent/good songs that don’t hang together as an album. Big drop-off from the deep earthy emotion of Everyday Life, that album really was so gorgeous. But like I’ve said, Coldplay owe me nothing at this point: they got me into music and made my favourite album ever. I’ll take the songs I like and look forward to more in the future. Agree with most of that (apart from Beautiful). Good review. |
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Post by batfink30 on Oct 17, 2021 7:11:56 GMT -5
This album is bang average for the reasons above. It is a severely undercooked album that is totally not worth the 'big album' status that was to follow Everyday Life. It doesn't contain anything offensively bad (although the high pitch vocal on Biutyful comes close) but nothing stands out as proper chart storming pop apart from My Universe. I wasn't privy to any of these songs before I heard them today, so apart from the singles, it was my first listen to all the other tunes and Human Heart is the only one that grabbed me. Others like Humankind (perhaps the most Coldplayish tune of the sort we expect these last ten years) sounds like a poorer cousin of the Hurts Like Heaven/Charlie Brown/Life In Technicolor type song so not too enamoured with it. Was interested in seeing what they did with People of the Pride but after musing on the Muse influences, I've come to the conclusion that Muse - a band I have no real opinion on - are maybe just a shit band and shouldn't be used as inspiration. Infinity Sound is just a waste of an instrumental which I see no point in having no vocals on, and whatever intentions they had for it, certainly doesn't make any sense like Life In Technicolor does (that came at the beginning and was at least a perfect scene setter for VLV). Incredibly lightweight album. There are a good five/six songs on Everyday Life I prefer - in fairness, that's mainly because I like the art pop indie vibe of Coldplay (my favourite type of Coldplay if we're choosing between the mainstream pop stars they are today or the moody alt rockers of the early 2000s) and Everyday Life suited that vibe. But then again, nothing tops the poppy Orphans from Everyday Life). I wouldn't have had an issue with Coldplay releasing an album of 10 or so 'pop bangers' of the force that they have with Sky Full of Stars/Hymn For The Weekend/My Universe because they do the job. However these songs stick out amongst flimsy filler in my opinion and its the same case for this album. There's nothing really substantial here and it does feel half arsed, a worrying trend with Coldplay since Ghost Stories where every album since is really undercooked. Everyday Life I could accept it's more undercooked tunes as there's quite a bit going on with that album anyway, and it was deliberately more free and easy in the recording process. It's interesting then that the one album where they are not trying to reach a certain audience and are less self-conscious is by far the most superior one they've released in the last ten years. And the fully formed songs are of a deeper, more substantial nature than anything here. It's a shame because so many songs on Everyday Life show they could perfectly execute that Viva La Vida style creativity again with a bit more focus. It's just bemusing that an album like VLV, which offered so much variety and packed so much into its 40 plus minutes, could be followed some years later by something so inconsequential as this. They've still got the quality to make something special, but I don't think they know what their standard bearer of quality is. Like VLV and Everyday Life, I'd rather Coldplay once again tap into the traditional music of various countries around the globe rather than the chart pop music. That's when they really stand out from everyone else. It's a 5/10 for me. That's the thing that annoys me. Chris definitely still has it (see EL) but I think he's chasing relevance and chart hits or the record company want big hits. The Selina Gomez duet so is so cynically trying to be something, its just awful. I think when he is truer to himself and doesn't try chasing pop relevance, that's when he gets results. |
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Post by matt on Oct 17, 2021 13:16:10 GMT -5
Track-by-track with my personal tracklist: MUSIC OF THE SPHERES: Nice ambient intro. Builds hype well. HUMANKIND / ALIEN CHOIR (7/10): Like matt says, the weaker cousin of earlier Coldplay material. Some will hate those ooohh-ohs in the verses, but it doesn't bother me. I like the melody and the energy, it feels like a new morning. Nothing they haven't done before, but the Springsteen sound is fun and Chris sounds impassioned. Nice riff from Johnny. Actual drumming from Will, which is nice to have again. Alien Choir plays it out well enough. HIGHER POWER (8/10): I'm cheating by rating my re-work; the original would come it at a seven. But I trimmed the bridge/middle-eight and added some guitars and it helps the song a lot. I really like this one. I love the verses, in a way that I think a lot of people don't. They sound so magnetic and nocturnal, like a thick chocolate bar of bass with sparks of blue lightning around it. Chorus is sticky, ending refrains are melodic. Fun. PEOPLE OF THE PRIDE (5/10): Gets a five for the middle-eight. That "it's just work...it's not easy" bit is fantastic, great melody and lyrics and fleshes the song out well. But the rest of it, no, thanks. The riff is generic Dad-rock, something that would be played in a crap iPhone advert. This is not a song that needs Max Martin behind the boards. Far too clean and short. Feels like Johnny is about to go crazy at the end, but it just...stops. HUMAN HEART (7.5/10): I like this one. Lyrics are simple but effective, the melody is gorgeous, and the Collier production is superb. We Are King fit in well. The problem is that at this point you realise that although the album is to be commended for its variety, there just isn't any kind of theme or sound to it that will make it stand out for re-listens. Ghost Stories feels like a whole world you can enter, the idea of smashing different worlds together here comes across more scattered than exciting most of the time. But still, good song. LET SOMEBODY GO (3/10): Boooooooooooooooring. Gets three points purely for how gorgeous Selena Gomez sounds on it. The rest is just a waste of time, plain keys and a dull beat and generic lyrics and a melody that's pleasant but forgettable. These are the kind of songs that make you think that Coldplay honestly don't realise how talented they are. I mean, you made Viva la Vida. You don't have to waste our time with this kind of bland rubbish. Will be binned in my Music of the Spheres: Complete when Volume Two comes out. BIUTYFUL (9/10): Fuck the haters, I love this. Really, honestly, love it. It just sounds so splashed in sunlight, so childish, so butter-smooth and love-soaked and nostalgic and ugh. I’m in love. Vocal pitching doesn't bother me in the slightest. In fact, I think it makes the song. Melody is the most naturally pretty one on the album, and the instrumental is straight silk. Crisp beat, hazy sounds, Max Martin runs the show to perfection. Could have done with a shimmery guitar solo to complete it, but still. Pure dopamine for me. Childhood sunlight. MUSIC OF THE SPHERES II: Pointless. MY UNIVERSE (6.5/10): My thoughts on this vary, depending on which areas of it hit my ears on that particular listen. I love the beat, I think BTS are perfect all over it, the energy is high and it sounds destined to smash the charts. But my God, little bits that I hate so much. That call-and-response in the chorus is tacky as fuck, and that robot-voice in the middle-eight is just horrific. Take those two things out and it would be a great pop song, but they make me cringe a little every time. But overall, fun and vibrant and catchy, so cool. BTS rock it. INFINITY SIGN (5.5/10): I mean, okay. Ole chant is cringe, but the second half is pretty. It’s fine. Feels like a bit of a piss-take with only eight full songs, but fine. Will work well in the eventual "Complete" edition. COLORATURA (10/10): Not sure what else can be said. You just can’t get a Coldplay release without something brilliant on it. Lyrics, melody, arrangement, structure, production – it's a home run smash on every single front. There’s just no hiding it anymore: avant-garde Coldplay is the best Coldplay. This, Arabesque, Human Heart, ALIENS, Midnight, there is such a rich talent in this band with their willingness to try anything, their natural pop melodies combined with musical talent and arty influences is just magic. Ah, those Viva/Mylo days. But this is a return straight to that vein. It’s so calming, so wide and cinematic, so wistful and winding, all the colour of a nebula and all the brightness of a supernova. Masterpiece. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OVERALL: 5.5/10: The problem with this album is that it’s less than the sum of its parts. It feels slight. Undercooked. Scattered, limp, because of the lack of a theme and the holes where there should be a strong opener, or a centrepiece. I do think we’ll end up with a good body of work when the other Volumes release and those gaps can be plugged, but for now we have a varied collection of decent/good songs that don’t hang together as an album. Big drop-off from the deep earthy emotion of Everyday Life, that album really was so gorgeous. But like I’ve said, Coldplay owe me nothing at this point: they got me into music and made my favourite album ever. I’ll take the songs I like and look forward to more in the future. You could probably dig out a post of mine from 2 years ago when Everyday Life, almost anticipating this album but accepting that fact because they surprised me with Everyday Life. That's my album so they catered for my needs there, so I'm not angry about this release - if this had been what we got after a six year absence, then my god there would be riots on the streets. So it's easier to accept the failure of this album. But I am greedy and selfish for my needs, and I always want more from a band I know has much to offer, so there's always disappointment they haven't provided more. They're still a better band than, say, U2 are at the moment (a band who I don't think have the drive or inspiration anymore) yet still releasing something which is worse than U2's last album (which has really shit tunes on it but its peaks I prefer to things here), which is what frustrates me most about Coldplay. Infuriating band, they've got all the honours and done the biggest things yet still there's a sense they could do a hell of a lot more - the Paul Pogba of pop music. |
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Post by The Escapist on Oct 17, 2021 13:50:24 GMT -5
You could probably dig out a post of mine from 2 years ago when Everyday Life, almost anticipating this album but accepting that fact because they surprised me with Everyday Life. That's my album so they catered for my needs there, so I'm not angry about this release - if this had been what we got after a six year absence, then my god there would be riots on the streets. So it's easier to accept the failure of this album. But I am greedy and selfish for my needs, and I always want more from a band I know has much to offer, so there's always disappointment they haven't provided more. They're still a better band than, say, U2 are at the moment (a band who I don't think have the drive or inspiration anymore) yet still releasing something which is worse than U2's last album (which has really shit tunes on it but its peaks I prefer to things here), which is what frustrates me most about Coldplay. Infuriating band, they've got all the honours and done the biggest things yet still there's a sense they could do a hell of a lot more - the Paul Pogba of pop music.Ha! This is more of an apt comparison than I would like to accept. |
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Post by glider on Oct 17, 2021 13:55:52 GMT -5
So... This is their How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb?
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Post by Lennon2217 on Oct 17, 2021 14:26:15 GMT -5
So... This is their How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb? And sadly that U2 album is much better! |
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Post by matt on Oct 17, 2021 19:50:41 GMT -5
So... This is their How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb? And sadly that U2 album is much better! And yet... I don’t think it would do as much damage to Coldplay as that album did to U2. I’m pretty sure that’s the time that Vertigo was everywhere and the over saturation of U2 for a mediocre album started to piss people off to the point that their impeccable critical legacy beforehand was starting to become severely tarnished (as we all know, it just gets worse and worse with Spinal Tap-esque PR disasters) I can write about Coldplay not making the music I want but they’re in the top 3 or 5 listened to acts on Spotify, while bands I previously thought were their peers 20 odd years ago (R.E.M., Radiohead, U2) are all mulling in the depths of the 300s - recently saw U2 sandwiched between Radiohead and, bizarrely, Phil Collins in the Spotify charts) . Cynical it may be, but Chris Martin knows what people like and he seems to serve up different recipes for different people and always succeeds with what audience he targets (he can keep me happy with things like Everyday Life). Regardless of taste, millions will lap up this incarnation of Coldplay in a manner U2 would fail to do post-All That You Can’t Leave Behind. |
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Post by Manualex on Oct 17, 2021 20:14:40 GMT -5
Who is this album meant for? This has some popstacular singles and features but its all ear candy, interludes that dont bridge songs together they are all just there and go poof to be forgotten. Coloratura is actually worse after such half baked album. Everyday Life had its spots of less spectacular tracks but in Music of the emojis its half or more than that.
Bad move to put Coloratura as a dropplet/promo single, It made me hopefull for something that never came.
X&Y does space themed stuff better than MOTS
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Post by World71R on Oct 17, 2021 21:44:40 GMT -5
Who is this album meant for? This has some popstacular singles and features but its all ear candy, interludes that dont bridge songs together they are all just there and go poof to be forgotten. Coloratura is actually worse after such half baked album. Everyday Life had its spots of less spectacular tracks but in Music of the emojis its half or more than that. Bad move to put Coloratura as a dropplet/promo single, It made me hopefull for something that never came. X&Y does space themed stuff better than MOTS To be honest, even though many people may find the album to be halfcooked and not that great, the singles are still propping it up a lot, especially My Universe, to where this era will be called a success. |
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Post by matt on Oct 18, 2021 7:12:21 GMT -5
Shocked to find out Chris Martin is 44 years old (presumably the rest are about the same age). That's the same age as Noel when releasing his first album 10 years ago, and about the age Bono and co were when Atomic Bomb was released.
And yet he seems so much younger and energetic. Sure, jumping about with aliens in your videos and collaborating with BTS will make anyone seem younger but he doesn't look his age. He must keep himself really fit.
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Post by matt on Oct 18, 2021 7:30:53 GMT -5
Who is this album meant for? This has some popstacular singles and features but its all ear candy, interludes that dont bridge songs together they are all just there and go poof to be forgotten. Coloratura is actually worse after such half baked album. Everyday Life had its spots of less spectacular tracks but in Music of the emojis its half or more than that. Bad move to put Coloratura as a dropplet/promo single, It made me hopefull for something that never came. X&Y does space themed stuff better than MOTS Let's be honest, this is a very blokey thread with blokey music tastes and we're trying to weigh up the merits of a Selena Gomez collaboration? It's clear this ain't for us, and the reality, I'm not the one to judge but millions of younger folk will lap it up so good for them. I don't like this Coldplay album, and I like it less than U2's last album, or Doves last album, or REM's last album. And yet I admire them more for it - they just don't seem to fail with it. Chris Martin has a clear intention and succeeds all the time. Of course, time waits for no man and it won't be long before Coldplay lose their target audience, which will be interesting to see what they do from there on. I much prefer if Coldplay continued in the vein of being prolific rather than waiting for an album every few years - it seems they go in various directions creatively, which while it hasn't produced a wholly complete and substantial album, it does throw curveballs like Aliens one year, Arabesque the next and My Universe the next year. If I could compile a playlist of Coldplay songs from 2000 to present day, the variety on display would be immense. I don't think people give them enough credit for just how varied an act they are. Coldplay's a punchline for people of our generations (pretentious farts) and the critics, so why not appeal to younger folk who will set the agenda for the future and get their acceptance? Younger folk don't turn their nose up at the band like self-proclaimed "serious and more mature" older music listeners but they will have the final say in a few years. And that popular legacy will secure them in a way that U2, Radiohead, REM don't have. What goes around comes around, and the unfair bile they received in the early phase of their career is ultimately leading them down the path of greater longevity and credibility with younger folk, not the 'crusty dad rock' accusations of the other acts I mentioned above. |
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Post by The Escapist on Oct 18, 2021 7:36:01 GMT -5
Who is this album meant for? This has some popstacular singles and features but its all ear candy, interludes that dont bridge songs together they are all just there and go poof to be forgotten. Coloratura is actually worse after such half baked album. Everyday Life had its spots of less spectacular tracks but in Music of the emojis its half or more than that. Bad move to put Coloratura as a dropplet/promo single, It made me hopefull for something that never came. X&Y does space themed stuff better than MOTS Let's be honest, this is a very blokey thread with blokey music tastes and we're trying to weigh up the merits of a Selena Gomez collaboration? It's clear this ain't for us, and the reality, I'm not the one to judge but millions of younger folk will lap it up so good for them. I don't like this Coldplay album, and I like it less than U2's last album, or Doves last album, or REM's last album. And yet I admire them more for it - they just don't seem to fail with it. Chris Martin has a clear intention and succeeds all the time. Of course, time waits for no man and it won't be long before Coldplay lose their target audience, which will be interesting to see what they do from there on. I much prefer if Coldplay continued in the vein of being prolific rather than waiting for an album every few years - it seems they go in various directions creatively, which while it hasn't produced a wholly complete and substantial album, it does throw curveballs like Aliens one year, Arabesque the next and My Universe the next year. If I could compile a playlist of Coldplay songs from 2000 to present day, the variety on display would be immense. I don't think people give them enough credit for just how varied an act they are.Couldn't agree more. It's hard to think of a single mainstream act that's written successful/strong songs in so many genres. But what they've always managed to before now was create an album with a clear identity, a mood and tone that brought the sounds together. Parachutes is the love-lorn, hazy, indie one. Viva is the vibrant, art-rock, historical one. Ghost Stories is the icy, minimalist, heartbroken one. Music of the Spheres, for all its variety, comes across almost as a playlist. I don't know what mood I would have to be in to want to listen to all these songs in a row - there's never a tone set or a mood established. That's what I mean by "less than the sum of its parts" - play me most of these track on their own, and I'll enjoy them, but they don't come together to form a pleasing album. I almost feel that it could have been released as an EP, with Volume II and III to follow, and got a better reception: 1. Music of the Spheres 2. Humankind 3. Higher Power 4. My Universe 5. Human Heart 6. Biutyful 7. Infinity Sign 8. Coloratura |
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Post by matt on Oct 18, 2021 8:00:18 GMT -5
Let's be honest, this is a very blokey thread with blokey music tastes and we're trying to weigh up the merits of a Selena Gomez collaboration? It's clear this ain't for us, and the reality, I'm not the one to judge but millions of younger folk will lap it up so good for them. I don't like this Coldplay album, and I like it less than U2's last album, or Doves last album, or REM's last album. And yet I admire them more for it - they just don't seem to fail with it. Chris Martin has a clear intention and succeeds all the time. Of course, time waits for no man and it won't be long before Coldplay lose their target audience, which will be interesting to see what they do from there on. I much prefer if Coldplay continued in the vein of being prolific rather than waiting for an album every few years - it seems they go in various directions creatively, which while it hasn't produced a wholly complete and substantial album, it does throw curveballs like Aliens one year, Arabesque the next and My Universe the next year. If I could compile a playlist of Coldplay songs from 2000 to present day, the variety on display would be immense. I don't think people give them enough credit for just how varied an act they are.Couldn't agree more. It's hard to think of a single mainstream act that's written successful/strong songs in so many genres. But what they've always managed to before now was create an album with a clear identity, a mood and tone that brought the sounds together. Parachutes is the love-lorn, hazy, indie one. Viva is the vibrant, art-rock, historical one. Ghost Stories is the icy, minimalist, heartbroken one. Music of the Spheres, for all its variety, comes across almost as a playlist. I don't know what mood I would have to be in to want to listen to all these songs in a row - there's never a tone set or a mood established. That's what I mean by "less than the sum of its parts" - play me most of these track on their own, and I'll enjoy them, but they don't come together to form a pleasing album. I almost feel that it could have been released as an EP, with Volume II and III to follow, and got a better reception: 1. Music of the Spheres 2. Humankind 3. Higher Power 4. My Universe 5. Human Heart 6. Biutyful 7. Infinity Sign 8. Coloratura The EP thing would make sense, gives them more flexibility to just release songs that don't have a coherent sound - I keep forgetting Colouratura is on this album to be honest as it doesn't come close to fitting the vibe of other songs. I think this is also telling in that the 'album' as an artform is dying amongst pop acts. It seems hip-hop carries this responsibility in releasing one coherent piece of work. I'm not too fussed, Coldplay these days are like a selection box of chocolates - I can pick and choose tracks here and there that I like, so that's why I advocate them being more prolific these days rather than knuckling down on just one piece of work for 4 years. |
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Post by glider on Oct 18, 2021 11:15:23 GMT -5
Shocked to find out Chris Martin is 44 years old (presumably the rest are about the same age). That's the same age as Noel when releasing his first album 10 years ago, and about the age Bono and co were when Atomic Bomb was released. And yet he seems so much younger and energetic. Sure, jumping about with aliens in your videos and collaborating with BTS will make anyone seem younger but he doesn't look his age. He must keep himself really fit. Yeah, just did the math and Bono was 44 in 2004 when HTDAAB released. Weird. I listened to that album again last night and while songs like Miracle Drug and City of Blinding Lights are guilty pleasures (Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own is a genuinely great piece), the whole album is extremely tepid - the sound of the safety gear in full effect. They still managed to snag 5 grammies for it somehow. |
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Post by thespiderandthefly on Oct 18, 2021 13:22:25 GMT -5
Well said all around, Chaps. I think this album will succeed economically, more so than it will artistically. To my tastes at least. It’s targeted at the right segments to sell concerts tickets and put “butts in seats”—which, unfortunately, is the only way to make meaningful income as a musical artist these days.
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Post by Lennon2217 on Oct 18, 2021 13:56:21 GMT -5
Shocked to find out Chris Martin is 44 years old (presumably the rest are about the same age). That's the same age as Noel when releasing his first album 10 years ago, and about the age Bono and co were when Atomic Bomb was released. And yet he seems so much younger and energetic. Sure, jumping about with aliens in your videos and collaborating with BTS will make anyone seem younger but he doesn't look his age. He must keep himself really fit. Yeah, just did the math and Bono was 44 in 2004 when HTDAAB released. Weird. I listened to that album again last night and while songs like Miracle Drug and City of Blinding Lights are guilty pleasures (Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own is a genuinely great piece), the whole album is extremely tepid - the sound of the safety gear in full effect. They still managed to snag 5 grammies for it somehow. Atomic Bomb actually won every Grammy it was nominated for, 9-for-9, Album of the Year and was one of the biggest selling albums in 2005. The singles were mostly excellent. That tour was also incredible if you caught it. Arena tour where I think U2 excels the best. I don't recall bad reviews for that album. They were ok to good mostly. I think the problem for U2 came with the EXTREME over saturation of U2 everywhere around this time. They just came back in 2000 with ATYCLB and shocked us all. Big time seller, big time tour, emotional Super Bowl performance, they were back on apex mountain. By 2005-2006 the market was done with the band. They were in commercials, newspaper, radio, internet, talk shows, they got their own exclusive iPod for fucks sake!!!!!!! We didn't know it could get worse with Apple but it did in 2014. 2009 really popped the U2 bubble because No Line On The Horizon is a fucking mess and a half with a giant world tour behind it. CLAW!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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Post by Lennon2217 on Oct 18, 2021 14:01:26 GMT -5
Who is this album meant for? This has some popstacular singles and features but its all ear candy, interludes that dont bridge songs together they are all just there and go poof to be forgotten. Coloratura is actually worse after such half baked album. Everyday Life had its spots of less spectacular tracks but in Music of the emojis its half or more than that. Bad move to put Coloratura as a dropplet/promo single, It made me hopefull for something that never came. X&Y does space themed stuff better than MOTS To be honest, even though many people may find the album to be halfcooked and not that great, the singles are still propping it up a lot, especially My Universe, to where this era will be called a success. To be fair even the big misses (X&Y, Dreams) all sold boat loads of records and had massive hit singles on them. I was shocked "Orphans" didn't become a bigger single because that song is on fire from start to finish. Everyday Life is currently their worst selling but is probably better than 99% of bands going today. Its all about perspective. I read an interview recently with James Skelly of The Coral. He said their newest album (Coral Island) is their best selling album since Magic & Medicine but if someone like Chris Martin saw those sales figures for a Coldplay album he would go jump off a bridge. Made me chuckle hard. |
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Post by Lennon2217 on Oct 18, 2021 14:05:26 GMT -5
Who is this album meant for? This has some popstacular singles and features but its all ear candy, interludes that dont bridge songs together they are all just there and go poof to be forgotten. Coloratura is actually worse after such half baked album. Everyday Life had its spots of less spectacular tracks but in Music of the emojis its half or more than that. Bad move to put Coloratura as a dropplet/promo single, It made me hopefull for something that never came. X&Y does space themed stuff better than MOTS Let's be honest, this is a very blokey thread with blokey music tastes and we're trying to weigh up the merits of a Selena Gomez collaboration? It's clear this ain't for us, and the reality, I'm not the one to judge but millions of younger folk will lap it up so good for them. I don't like this Coldplay album, and I like it less than U2's last album, or Doves last album, or REM's last album. And yet I admire them more for it - they just don't seem to fail with it. Chris Martin has a clear intention and succeeds all the time. Of course, time waits for no man and it won't be long before Coldplay lose their target audience, which will be interesting to see what they do from there on. I much prefer if Coldplay continued in the vein of being prolific rather than waiting for an album every few years - it seems they go in various directions creatively, which while it hasn't produced a wholly complete and substantial album, it does throw curveballs like Aliens one year, Arabesque the next and My Universe the next year. If I could compile a playlist of Coldplay songs from 2000 to present day, the variety on display would be immense. I don't think people give them enough credit for just how varied an act they are. Coldplay's a punchline for people of our generations (pretentious farts) and the critics, so why not appeal to younger folk who will set the agenda for the future and get their acceptance? Younger folk don't turn their nose up at the band like self-proclaimed "serious and more mature" older music listeners but they will have the final say in a few years. And that popular legacy will secure them in a way that U2, Radiohead, REM don't have. What goes around comes around, and the unfair bile they received in the early phase of their career is ultimately leading them down the path of greater longevity and credibility with younger folk, not the 'crusty dad rock' accusations of the other acts I mentioned above. It'll be curious to see what comes next for Coldplay after this current SPHERES phase. Like you said they are at ATOMIC BOMB part of their career in terms of age compared to U2. U2 never got their mojo back after Atomic. They don't really have massive global hit singles anymore. Their albums kinda sell the same numbers, strong but not stellar and their tours always sell out. Coldplay has always cooked up mega hit singles from jump. I was 18 the first time I heard "Yellow". I am now 40 years old and have grown with this band since the start. Some of their fan base from 2000 are now in their 50s-60s. Crazy to think that much time has passed. I gotta believe it is the younger demo keeping these newer stream numbers high since around 2014ish. So far Coldplay still is cooking up hit singles with Higher Power and My Universe. |
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Post by Lennon2217 on Oct 18, 2021 19:27:49 GMT -5
I honestly can't think of an album where I enjoy the tracks individually like this and yet have such ambivalence towards the whole. It's like the tracks are demeaned by being placed next to each other. Coloratura is a gorgeous epic that deserves to be at the end of a genuine prog-pop release. Human Heart is a beautiful ballad that deserves to be part of an emotional, Ghost-Stories style album. Biutyful is pure pop strangeness and deserves to be part of an LP that explores all the other colourful and weird fringes of r'n'b/pop music. My Universe is a chart-destroyer with massive melodies and deserves to be part of a anthemic album which smashes the playlists. Stitching them together betrays each one. When you finish the album, you feel as if you've just gone through something which at each individual moment was enjoyable, but somehow added up to a disappointment. If nothing else, it makes you respect the art of album construction. The album feels completely unbalanced. You got a heavy weight giant to finish the album off but nothing before it counters it’s magnitude. Good tracks here and there but nothing of that force or brilliance. Maybe if there weren’t 4 interludes I wouldn’t feel that way. Feels like 2 tracks off. |
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Nov 4, 2024 5:04:30 GMT -5
Nov 4, 2024 5:04:30 GMT -5