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Post by The Escapist on Sept 7, 2022 14:17:03 GMT -5
Stuff from the latest interview: - Next instalment of MOTS is on-schedule but the next "phase" will include a musical/film that may take a while. - Making the current tour more green was a big financial strain. - Chris has an edited version of X&Y on his laptop but doesn't think Will would allow it to be released. - It's still the plan to retire from albums but not touring in 2025. - He wants the band to be remembered for "freedom". What year are we talking about regarding the next album/instalment? Very soon or the usual 3/4 year cycle? From what Chris said, it seems Vol II is finished basically, but they want to release it with the film and that is taking a while. Hard to tell, but since the self-titled final album is scheduled for 2025, I'd say sooner rather than later. |
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Post by matt on Sept 7, 2022 14:22:02 GMT -5
What year are we talking about regarding the next album/instalment? Very soon or the usual 3/4 year cycle? From what Chris said, it seems Vol II is finished basically, but they want to release it with the film and that is taking a while. Hard to tell, but since the self-titled final album is scheduled for 2025, I'd say sooner rather than later. Just reminded me that they are touring next year, so assume they will have something ready to promote then, with the film and album. Personally looking forward to creating the inevitable personal tracklist to compile one ideal album! |
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Post by The Escapist on Sept 12, 2022 7:10:39 GMT -5
On X&Y, it's interesting that Chris desired "editing" rather than, "concision", suggesting that it's not just the tracklist he considers bloated, but the songs themselves. We know Eno thought so, with the songs on Viva being much more to-the-point than previously. Anyway, to explore the idea, I did a trim of "Low", and ended up with a version that's a minute shorter. Wonder if he had this kind of thing in mind:
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Post by The Escapist on Sept 15, 2022 16:26:52 GMT -5
Listening to Ghost Stories in the dark of night is genuinely just one of my hobbies in life at this point. Love this aesthetic board a fan made for it:  It feels like a mediocre, lightweight album in the day but at night it's like this secret place of ice and candles and the journey it takes you into the middle of the night and then the light returning at the end is just very lovely. Their hidden gem. |
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Post by matt on Sept 15, 2022 17:08:24 GMT -5
Listening to Ghost Stories in the dark of night is genuinely just one of my hobbies in life at this point. Love this aesthetic board a fan made for it: It feels like a mediocre, lightweight album in the day but at night it's like this secret place of ice and candles and the journey it takes you into the middle of the night and then the light returning at the end is just very lovely. Their hidden gem. The night time vibes is something I definitely get from it, and together with just keeping the theme as generally a more intimate album rather than rigidly sticking to the break up album concept would have opened it up for better songs I think. |
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Post by The Escapist on Sept 15, 2022 17:27:00 GMT -5
Listening to Ghost Stories in the dark of night is genuinely just one of my hobbies in life at this point. Love this aesthetic board a fan made for it: It feels like a mediocre, lightweight album in the day but at night it's like this secret place of ice and candles and the journey it takes you into the middle of the night and then the light returning at the end is just very lovely. Their hidden gem. The night time vibes is something I definitely get from it, and together with just keeping the theme as generally a more intimate album rather than rigidly sticking to the break up album concept would have opened it up for better songs I think. D'you think? For me, that laser-focused theme and sound is the record's biggest strength. It's not an album you can throw on for casual enjoyment, but when you're in that space for the journey it takes you on, there isn't a second wasted. That's why I think they were right to leave both All Your Friends and the title track off; the former is the right sound but the wrong theme, and the latter is the opposite. Ghost Stories stands out with that tightness, that nine-track focus, that journey. That's why it's probably the Coldplay album I've listened to front-to-back the most, other than Viva. My criticisms of the album are: - "Always in my Head" could do with a middle-eight. - Guitar solo in Another's Arms is mixed way too low. Other than that, I think it's a pretty seamless execution of the nocturnal/minimalist/gothic break-up pop album it was always meant to be. I'd put it in my top tier of their albums in terms of personal enjoyment. |
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Post by matt on Sept 16, 2022 18:14:42 GMT -5
The night time vibes is something I definitely get from it, and together with just keeping the theme as generally a more intimate album rather than rigidly sticking to the break up album concept would have opened it up for better songs I think. D'you think? For me, that laser-focused theme and sound is the record's biggest strength. It's not an album you can throw on for casual enjoyment, but when you're in that space for the journey it takes you on, there isn't a second wasted. That's why I think they were right to leave both All Your Friends and the title track off; the former is the right sound but the wrong theme, and the latter is the opposite. Ghost Stories stands out with that tightness, that nine-track focus, that journey. That's why it's probably the Coldplay album I've listened to front-to-back the most, other than Viva. My criticisms of the album are: - "Always in my Head" could do with a middle-eight. - Guitar solo in Another's Arms is mixed way too low. Other than that, I think it's a pretty seamless execution of the nocturnal/minimalist/gothic break-up pop album it was always meant to be. I'd put it in my top tier of their albums in terms of personal enjoyment, this being my current ranking:  I get what you're saying. It's been so long since I listened to that album that I forgot the tracklist but looking back at it, there's not a single song I'd consider bad. Albeit I've never been a fan of Always In My Head, it just doesn't work for me. Ideally I'd like the lyrics to be a bit less on the nose, it's just a wee bit too literal and lumpen at times for me, and doesn't hold the imagery of the previous albums. But I absolutely love Magic, Midnight and O, all top top tier Coldplay songs for me. |
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Post by The Escapist on Sept 17, 2022 15:30:29 GMT -5
D'you think? For me, that laser-focused theme and sound is the record's biggest strength. It's not an album you can throw on for casual enjoyment, but when you're in that space for the journey it takes you on, there isn't a second wasted. That's why I think they were right to leave both All Your Friends and the title track off; the former is the right sound but the wrong theme, and the latter is the opposite. Ghost Stories stands out with that tightness, that nine-track focus, that journey. That's why it's probably the Coldplay album I've listened to front-to-back the most, other than Viva. My criticisms of the album are: - "Always in my Head" could do with a middle-eight. - Guitar solo in Another's Arms is mixed way too low. Other than that, I think it's a pretty seamless execution of the nocturnal/minimalist/gothic break-up pop album it was always meant to be. I'd put it in my top tier of their albums in terms of personal enjoyment, this being my current ranking: I get what you're saying. It's been so long since I listened to that album that I forgot the tracklist but looking back at it, there's not a single song I'd consider bad. Albeit I've never been a fan of Always In My Head, it just doesn't work for me. Ideally I'd like the lyrics to be a bit less on the nose, it's just a wee bit too literal and lumpen at times for me, and doesn't hold the imagery of the previous albums. But I absolutely love Magic, Midnight and O, all top top tier Coldplay songs for me. Likewise, I do take the point of the obviousness of the lyrics, but for some reason it doesn't affect my enjoyment at all. Viva/Mylo is the only time Chris has been anything close to a strong lyricist, and the blunt confessions of Ghost Stories is better than the messianic self-help of X&Y, for instance, for me. I think, again, the clarity is a strength. I know he means every word, and that gives it a weight that allows me to bypass how literal it is. Something like " Tell me you love me, and if you don't, then lie to me, and we'll call it true love." isn't Leonard Cohen, but it's real enough for me to make me care. I love the words to O as well; that vision of love as a flock of birds that comes and goes through life is something that's genuinely been a balm for me at times. Always in My Head is a track that I admit wouldn't work as a standalone; it's desperate for a middle-eight or melodic switch-up to flesh out the song-writing. But I think what it excels at is just pulling you into the vibe of the album, being a mood-piece that sets the tone and, for me at least, convinces me to commit the next forty minutes to the sound. By the time it gets to the instrumental run at 2:31, with the phantom guitars lapping against that aching bassline and all those icy vocals laced in the background, I'm always just totally immersed in the sound they're going for. I'm in that place that Ghost Stories takes me to: all star-light and lighthouses, ice and the sea and warm candles in the night. Agreed on those songs being excellent. I'd always throw A Sky Full of Stars in that company, I think it's just a magnetic piece of songwriting that gives the album that final focus on the light which exists in the dark. That gives me four fantastic songs out of nine, and tracks like Ink and Oceans and True Love are more than enough to be the second-tier, especially with that cohesive mood and atmosphere they all bring. I think Ghost Stories will be remembered as a hidden gem when the band is all said and done. Personally, it's one of my absolute favourites. |
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Post by The Escapist on Sept 17, 2022 15:41:39 GMT -5
Also, made my ranking more accurate to how I feel:  |
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Post by World71R on Sept 17, 2022 15:57:16 GMT -5
Also, made my ranking more accurate to how I feel: Happy to see you're also a steadfast Mylo Xyloto lover  Also, I like your ranking of Ghost Stories. It feels like Parachutes but with some of the irons worked out and a nice mix between producer-driven music and a full-band effort. I don't know if I'd put AHFOD with EL and Parachutes but AHFOD is certainly higher than Music of the Shi-Spheres, which is just a headscratcher of an album tbh. I'd almost put X & Y just a tick above AHFOD because so many of the songs sound the same that it washes together after a while. Still, there are some fantastic tunes (Fix You, White Shadows are some of the band's best). AHFOD has aged well too but those initial flaws still get me, and the other two feel like really good sketches that point to somewhere the band should go (and have some all-time tunes like Yellow and Arabesque). |
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Post by The Escapist on Sept 17, 2022 16:22:43 GMT -5
Also, made my ranking more accurate to how I feel: Happy to see you're also a steadfast Mylo Xyloto lover Also, I like your ranking of Ghost Stories. It feels like Parachutes but with some of the irons worked out and a nice mix between producer-driven music and a full-band effort. I don't know if I'd put AHFOD with EL and Parachutes but AHFOD is certainly higher than Music of the Shi-Spheres, which is just a headscratcher of an album tbh. I'd almost put X & Y just a tick above AHFOD because so many of the songs sound the same that it washes together after a while. Still, there are some fantastic tunes (Fix You, White Shadows are some of the band's best). AHFOD has aged well too but those initial flaws still get me, and the other two feel like really good sketches that point to somewhere the band should go (and have some all-time tunes like Yellow and Arabesque). I love Mylo, always will: a dense, ambitious, vibrant art-pop record that fully deserves the reputation-shift it's enjoyed over the last five years. I was just listening to "Don't Let it Break Your Heart" and remembered what a relentless assault of colour it is, the whole band just spray-painting the track in melodies, everyone on top form together. A worthy successor to Viva, and the album that I would most-commonly say is my second-favourite. I think my low ranking of Parachutes, certainly in comparison to where indie-heads would have it, is just a product of them not quite having found themselves yet, to my ear. Too many tracks feel like "We have Radiohead/Buckley/etc at home" for me. The lyrics to Shiver are a major turn-off, and if you took away Don't Panic and Yellow and Spies, I wouldn't go back to much. The rest is all pleasant, with that Coldplay-before-the-stadiums nostalgia and an appealing late-summer warmth to it, but it's still the sound of a band getting things together before they found their real confidence on A Rush of Blood to the Head. And if I went off the original tracklist of AHFOD, in fairness, it would rank lower. Fun is possibly their worst-ever song. I rate them based on the versions I listen to, though, and replacing Fun/X Marks the Spot with Hypnotised/Someone Special does a lot to give the back half more to enjoy. I have no illusions of it being a great album but it's such a trim, lithe, and fun listen that I come back to it a a hell of a lot more than I thought I would. Plus, shock horror, I enjoy modern pop - so sounds like Hymn for the Weekend and Army of One work for me. I prefer that sound to post-Bends indie, if I'm honest. Sexier, more confident, more fun. I want to go for a drink with the guy celebrating his love, not the guy apologising for it. But it all depends on mood. I know Viva is my favourite, I know Spheres is my least. The rest honestly just throws itself about depending on the day. Sometimes I want the stark, confident power of A Rush of Blood to the Head. Sometimes the earthy emotion of Everyday Life. Sometimes the warm haze of Parachutes, sometimes the vibrant colour of Mylo Xyloto. I just quite like Coldplay, really. |
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Post by matt on Sept 17, 2022 16:36:51 GMT -5
I definitely agree with the sentiments about Mylo Xyloto The Escapist and World71R. Of all the Coldplay albums, it's aged the best in that it's only got better with age for me after my initial indifference towards it. Very energetic, poppy and feels like real band effort too. Only criticism is to take the slower numbers out like UFO which make it feel a bit bloated (replace them with full on pop in my opinion - wonder what the unheard Car Kids was like??), and maybe let the end take a bit of a breather by separating the final two tracks with Aiko. Fascinated by what was in the vaults to make the album even more of a full on pop assault. I still feel for all their post-VLV albums, Everyday Life has by far the best potential to be maybe even the best Coldplay album. Let that one cook for a year or so more and it would have been great. The core songs of that album are some of the greatest Coldplay songs ever, nothing sums it up more than my love of Church. |
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Post by The Escapist on Sept 17, 2022 16:52:31 GMT -5
Love to see Church getting praise. An utterly blissful piece of music.
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Post by World71R on Sept 18, 2022 22:08:02 GMT -5
Love to see Church getting praise. An utterly blissful piece of music. Combine that with the standouts Champion of the World, Arabesque, Trouble in Town and others like Orphans, Guns, Daddy, BrokEn, When I Need a Friend and Everyday Life, not to mention the Sunrise piece that opens the album, and throw in a couple more songs that would've arisen, and you've got the best post-VLV album. Even as is, I really like it but I think it's disappointing that the band sees the approach on EL as 'experimental' when it's just a good approach to writing and recording that they should always be using...not whatever the hell approach they used on Music of the Spheres... |
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Post by The Escapist on Sept 19, 2022 4:22:49 GMT -5
Love to see Church getting praise. An utterly blissful piece of music. Combine that with the standouts Champion of the World, Arabesque, Trouble in Town and others like Orphans, Guns, Daddy, BrokEn, When I Need a Friend and Everyday Life, not to mention the Sunrise piece that opens the album, and throw in a couple more songs that would've arisen, and you've got the best post-VLV album. Even as is, I really like it but I think it's disappointing that the band sees the approach on EL as 'experimental' when it's just a good approach to writing and recording that they should always be using...not whatever the hell approach they used on Music of the Spheres... I agree with the general consensus that Everyday Life needed a few more full-band songs to live up to their Viva/Mylo peak; the likes of WOTW/POTP, Old Friends, and the dreadful Guns should all have been traded for more fully-fleshed tracks. My personal tracklist has All I Can Think About is You on it, that's the kind of song that could easily have been saved for a more organic record. You can throw Flags on there, although I'm not a big fan of the song myself. Something like this, maybe:  I have to say that even still, it wouldn't beat Mylo Xyloto for me. |
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Post by The Escapist on Jan 27, 2023 22:34:06 GMT -5
Vol. II of Music of the Spheres ("Moon Music") on the way, apparently.
Hoping for another good four/five tracks to round out a complete MOTS single-volume for my laptop.
1. Music of the Spheres
2. Humankind
3. Higher Power
4. -
5. Human Heart
6. -
7. -
8. Biutyful
9. My Universe
10. -
11. -
12. Coloratura
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Post by durk on Jan 28, 2023 10:59:16 GMT -5
ive largely lost interest in this band after that last album- and that's a real shame. i had enjoyed them for years.
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Post by Lennon2217 on Jan 28, 2023 12:54:57 GMT -5
If Coldplay’s plan to release their final 3 album by the end of 2025 then they better get cracking. One a year from here on out I guess.
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Post by World71R on Feb 1, 2023 22:39:16 GMT -5
If Coldplay’s plan to release their final 3 album by the end of 2025 then they better get cracking. One a year from here on out I guess. Right? My thought when I heard about "Moon Music" was just my hope that it would be better than Music of the Spheres. Coldplay are creatively-malnourished right now. They have the potential to do great music (see Colouratura, Everyday Life album, even some of the songs on AHFOD) but they keep working with flavor of the month producers, writers and artists, and they quadrupled down on that with MOTS. Makes me wonder how hard Brian Eno is laughing right and how loud he's saying "I told you so," as he switches on Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends with all the masterpieces he helped oversee, due in part to kicking out Chris for a bit. |
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Post by Lennon2217 on Feb 2, 2023 0:42:02 GMT -5
If Coldplay’s plan to release their final 3 album by the end of 2025 then they better get cracking. One a year from here on out I guess. Right? My thought when I heard about "Moon Music" was just my hope that it would be better than Music of the Spheres. Coldplay are creatively-malnourished right now. They have the potential to do great music (see Colouratura, Everyday Life album, even some of the songs on AHFOD) but they keep working with flavor of the month producers, writers and artists, and they quadrupled down on that with MOTS. Makes me wonder how hard Brian Eno is laughing right and how loud he's saying "I told you so," as he switches on Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends with all the masterpieces he helped oversee, due in part to kicking out Chris for a bit. I've long said that the declining of "full band" tracks and the multiple producers (Sometimes 10+) they use on each passing album weakens the overall Coldplay product in my eyes. As always, their strongest material is when it is the four of them doing their thing. Bringing in Max Martin just reeked like a desperation move by the band. They don't need him. They had plenty of worldwide hits without his touch. His touch and feel is all over Spheres it feels just as much his album as theirs. I don't personally like that. |
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Post by Lennon2217 on Feb 5, 2023 2:02:12 GMT -5
Coldplay on SNL tonight. JIN cover apparently. Vocal parts remind me of “Daddy”.
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Post by The Escapist on Feb 5, 2023 2:42:37 GMT -5
Coldplay on SNL tonight. JIN cover apparently. Vocal parts remind me of “Daddy”. That thumbnail is cursed as fuck, what is that. |
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Post by Lennon2217 on Mar 30, 2024 23:06:24 GMT -5
I'm not sure how I missed this but about 2 weeks ago a whole treasure trove of Coldplay demos leaked, mostly from Everyday Life and some from Viva. One biggie was this......
Been waiting for this one since 2007. Finally!!!! Unfortunately, I have no trails to find this leak of the other 12+ songs.
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Post by glider on Mar 31, 2024 15:11:18 GMT -5
I'm not sure how I missed this but about 2 weeks ago a whole treasure trove of Coldplay demos leaked, mostly from Everyday Life and some from Viva. One biggie was this...... Been waiting for this one since 2007. Finally!!!! Unfortunately, I have no trails to find this leak of the other 12+ songs. Viva sessions version right? Brilliant. |
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Post by Lennon2217 on Mar 31, 2024 21:33:18 GMT -5
I'm not sure how I missed this but about 2 weeks ago a whole treasure trove of Coldplay demos leaked, mostly from Everyday Life and some from Viva. One biggie was this...... Been waiting for this one since 2007. Finally!!!! Unfortunately, I have no trails to find this leak of the other 12+ songs. Viva sessions version right? Brilliant. Yes. There is also a Famous Old Painters from Everyday Life sessions but I haven't located that one yet. A few lyrics tweaked about the racist grandfather. |
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Nov 4, 2024 5:04:30 GMT -5