I'm comfortable with what they are doing these days even if I don't necessarily listen to that style, but I get why they do it. They're still massive and playing sellout stadiums and its to their credit that it's not just reliant on albums from 15-20 years ago. I don't pine for the early Coldplay because I think they still make affecting records, Everyday Life including some of my favourite Coldplay songs ever. There's still a freshness to them which wouldn't be the case if they just followed the formula of the first three records.

Guarantee if they did, they'd just end up repeating themselves and end up touring smaller arenas like their peers, probably doing a nostalgic 20th anniversary tour or something.

Finally listened to 'Spheres'. Considering it's the 20th anniversary of in my opinion their best album (Viva might be neck and neck), I thought I'd do a quick review.

If 'A Head Full of Dreams' is the band at their weakest, bar the excellent Birds, solid Adventure of a Lifetime and bang average Up&Up, 'Spheres' is them at their argueably safest and somewhat insipid. Can't help but feel songs like Humankind were written specifically for a big stadium crowd and nothing else from a purely studio-creative endeavor. Higher Power also sounds engineered directly for radio play and nothing else. The Let Somebody Go track with Selena Gomez being another Martin collaboration that is once again riddled with cheap and cliched themes, sounding like an uninspired and repetitive tactic at securing a chart spot. My Universe is essentially just a BTS track featuring Chris, not at all any sort of band effort (not a knock on the track nor its audience, but it isn't Coldplay whatsoever). Biutyful also sounds very cheap as well. 

That leaves tracks such as Human Heart, which is once again not really a Coldplay track yet Chris Martin with collaborators, albeit remains a tasteful and well done choral ballad. People of the Pride absolutely sounds like the band covering a Songs of Innocence/Experience outtake. Of course, the best song of the entire album is the highly favoured Coloratura: a piece of music that shows what happens when the band ignores the charts and gives it their all as a single, unified coalition, whether it is a big hit or not. 

'Spheres' is definitely a step up from AHFOD in many ways - the alien, exterrestial themes on their own foster much better musical opportunity than the sickly sweet and airheaded vibes of their worst album, and the weaker tracks (minus Let Somebody Go), benefit from the cosmic thematic foundation of the album and avoid the territory of self-parody. Nevertheless, albums like this show the band may or may not care to put in more extensive effort in the studio, as after watching their latest tour footage, they're still the all-conquering live act after all these years. With Everyday Life, and songs such as Coloratura, the band proves they're still as talented and as creatively brillant as they were 20 years ago and when they made Viva and the eclectic pop of Mylo - but it's clear that they don't need to be anymore.       

I'm glad some people like Music of the Spheres but what gets me is how missing the band sounds. So many songs on AHFOD were overblown in their pop production but you could tell a band was behind it. A lot of MOTS, even People of the Pride, just sounds so generic and engineered by a producer and their team.

I quite like A Head Full of Dreams, to be honest. Vibrant, confident pop album.

Fun and Amazing Day are dreadful but I enjoy the other tracks. Throw Hypnotised on instead, and it works.

Music of the Spheres is the first Coldplay album I honestly just don't enjoy. I like a chunk of the songs individually (Higher Power, Humankind, Biutyful, Coloratura) but it just doesn't all hang together at all. Feels like an undercooked grab-bag of ideas that could be trimmed to a half-decent EP but has no business following Everyday Life, let alone the likes of their Viva-era brilliance. Like World71R said, the band seem content to be Martin's session musicians at the moment, and while Chris is obviously the main talent who still provides some great melodies and clearly has passion to explore new genres, that still takes away half the brilliance of the band. 

I didn't mind it on Everyday Life because the band was present (Church, Orphans, Arabesque, Trouble in Town, etc...) and the  stripped-back compositions fit the earthier tone that record was aiming for, but on what was billed as an alien-pop album, Music of the Spheres does not let the others off the reins enough to achieve what it wants. Bin off rubbish like People of the Pride, Let Somebody Go, the interludes, Infinity Sign, and even Human Heart - which should have been an Everyday Life song anyway - and let Johnny create some mad alien guitar sounds for some more vibrant, fleshed-out songs. He's done it for you before!

i havent listened to that album again since it came out last fall

As soon as they announced the album and said Max Martin was the producer I did a major eye roll. That guy is a mega super duper pop songwriter/producer. He’s way over the top doing what he does. It works. He’s one of the best at it but it just seemed like a desperation play after Everyday Life met low low sales/streams (expected but it was prob way off what they imagined). Chris is starting to feel like that 60 year old uncle who shows up at the family bbq in the Yeezys sneakers. And I’m not saying uncle John isn’t a good time but man it feels like an over reach.

I wonder what exactly they were expecting with Everyday Life commercially. They had stated it wasn't going to be toured, nor was aimed at the charts due to there being next to no popular artist collaborations. It was better for them to drop it when they did since the following year no one would be even touring. Also, who was the album for and what compelled them to release it? I can't help but feel the lashing they got in the press from AHFOD had something to do with it and they wanted to come back into good graces with them. It kind of rebukes Chris constantly saying he doesn't care what people think about the music they currently make.

There is a great interview on ITunes with Guy and Will looking back at AROBTTH after 20 years.

I thought this too about some of my favourite singers/bands after the Win Butler allegations.

It's getting so bad now. We're really through the looking glass here when thinking "pray god Chris Martin isn't a sexual deviant".

Spotify's app currently has a storyline feature that tells the story of the song. AROBTTH has it right now and it looks like Chris wrote for each song. A lot of interesting tidbits I didn't know:
- A Whisper was done in one take and they've ever been able to recapture the timing again
- Daylight was built around Guy's bassline
- The Scientist's piano intro was Chris attempting a circular chord progression like on Isn't It A Pity
- Green Eyes is about Jonny and a girl from the U.S.
- Amsterdam was the last song Chris demoed on a 4-track tape

A lot of similarities between Dave Matthews Band and Coldplay. Both sold boat loads upon boat loads of records. Both can and do sell outs venues far and wide. Both have a huge catalog of well known songs. Neither in my life has ever been “cool” to say you like out loud. Just an observation.

It’s an American perspective. DMB had legions upon legions of fans. Sold 4-5 million copies each record. Sold out arenas and football stadiums on the regular yet I never heard anyone ever call them cool. That’s the angle.