coldplay is definitely one of the very best rock band since U2

I just hope they don't turn out the modern version of U2...

Their new EP is pretty good, anyone heard it yet? "Glass of Water" and "Rainy Day" are actually better than some of the tracks that made it onto the album!

Yeah, there is some great material on the new EP, for sure! Definitely does play out like the extended missing second side to Viva La Vida, but thankfully it follows in the interesting / creative vein of Viva. T'is a good EP!

Coldplay is definitely a "love them or hate them" sort of group. I fall somewhere in the middle. X&Y was pretty boring, but Viva La Vida and A Rush of Blood... are both pretty solid.

Best quote so far this year.

Thanks, but it's still pretty early in the year. Haha

All I have to say is, wow...

But anyways I would agree, X & Y was good, but sort of boring compared to Rush of Blood to the Head. I would say that there are better songs on it.

Oh, I have to admit to largely ignoring X and Y - it just didn't do a whole lot for me, unfortunately... there were nsome great individual songs on it, no doubts about that whatsoever... but as an album it all kinda ran together a bit too bland - REALLY glad they decided to mix it up a bit more on Viva La Vida.

^same.

Strange, hardly hear them on my radio station but today they played all their songs. Not all at once but it was nicely arranged. I can't generally say their my type in music though. Like sound was a bit to slow for me.

re:
 

The thing about Coldplay is that they have mass appeal because they are both intense and poppy at the same time which is quite rare. So metalheads and rap enthusiasts at the same time can enjoy their stuff.

Or so I've found to be the case.

That's actually quite a fair assessment of them, in my opinion - they are a band that has a very broad appeal - so people who like all sorts of different styles can find something in them - some people are led to believe this makes them a bit bland at times, which I guess kinda happens if you shoot for the broad middle of the general publics opinion... but to me they just write some sweet tunes and I really appreciated the added complexity of Viva La Vida.

I'm a musical pluralist with a keen appreciation of pure pop like the Beachboys, Bacharach, XTC, the Brill Building sound, Dido even Petula Clark.

Coldplay has been around for a while now and I've listened to all their albums and I still can't think of single positive thing to say about them. There are dozens of Brit bands worthy of more attention than Coldplay.

For instance the lyrics to Clocks

Are those not the most vapid and derivative lyrics ever? Let me metion the fact that nearly every Coldplay song is a cornicopia of hackneyed cliches. Or the lyrics to Trouble in which the trite "spider web" analogy gets beaten to death with a tire iron.

If you're a real glutton for punishment you can wallow in Hallmark card sentiments of Daylight which manages to use nearly every derivative allegory in the firmament to say abosolutely nothing.

How can "introspective" music be so completely devoid of any emotional or cognitive content?


To make matters worse the musicians in Coldplay sound like a pastiche of every minimalist downtempo "alternative" band... but for all their efforts they might as well be an uninspired crew of session players. Coldplay's musical vision is on par with the anonymous musicians who play on New Age, relaxation therapy, ambient music albums for stressed-out investment bankers.

Nobody should apologize if they think that Coldplay the vapid incarnation of everything that's wrong with popular music, because they are.

...and yet you like Dido

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I don't really understand what 'intense' would be to these people then because some of the songs on Viva La Vida were intense by any definition I've ever seen or read.

I love how these five short words absolutely discredit everything in that lengthy post with song lyrics and everything included to make a point - brilliant! :-)

I hope you intended that sarcastically. Because Gavin B raised some very important points about Coldplay, and also presented them intelligently and eloquently. The band do and always have had extreme weaknesses on the lyrical side of things. If anybody ever stopped to actually listen to the words and consider them with a little more than a pinch of salt's worth of consideration, they'd be struck first and foremost by their sheer vacuous insipidity. I could go ahead and start quoting direct examples, but the snippets presented by the earlier poster are more than enough to give an adequate taste of what we're talking about.

Honestly who listens to Coldplay for the lyrics?

Word to that.

I have never listened to Coldplay for the lyrics. Theres artists and albums I have for that. I also appreciate that Coldplay may not exactly demonstrate top class musicianmanship so I agree with some of Gavins post for sure. However I must admit I read that post and damn near fell asleep. Are Coldplay really everything thats wrong with modern, popular music? No, they are not.

I guess Coldplay kinda fits in with British sound (Radiohead), but why are they in this part of the forum?

I dont listen to it for the music either. Hmmm.?

I would say what's wrong with modern popular music are the Hollister wearing, dips*its that download everysingle song on their iPod, and have absolutly no taste in music outside of what their friends like. Also the people who know songs from guitar hero. I have more but that really sticks out where I live.

Well at least there one to advantage to people who do more than buy itunes singles. You can ALWAYS tell when someone doesn't know what there talking about in a conversation about a band/artist/instrument.

It makes me laugh when a kid has a band's shirt on and you ask to see what songs thay have and they have only 1 album. Their newest album...

I sincerely doubt if you've ever listened,and I mean really listened to Dido's music and you simply dislike her because she doesn't pass your arbitrary litmus test of coolness.

One of the most unappealing aspects of the music business is the insufferable arrogance of self-appointed arbiters of good taste. Musical elitism is often a mask for musical ignorance.

If you're going to heap scorn on me for liking Dido at least give me some valid musical reasons why you think she's lame. Your own musical tastes are as completely subjective as everybody else's, and at the end of the day, nobody really cares what you think.

^^^ I like this guy!

Wow, you're going to last long here

I actually like Dido to an extent, I don't have a problem with her. But, I would put her in the same category as Coldplay at the most.

Secondly, try making your first sentence readable.

Thirdly, all of this preaching about "self-appointed arbiters of good taste" etc is exactly what you were doing when talking about Coldplay.

Fourth, I don't give a damn about being cool.

Fifth, when did I heap scorn at you?

Sixth, of course tastes are subjective, so how come you are right and I am wrong? If anyone should be right (which nobody can) it should be the one who has heard more music and can judge it in relation to everything else.

And finally, fuck off. I think you'll find less people care about your opinions if you keep up that attitude.

^^^^^ I REALLLLLLY like this guy!! :tramp:

I'd have thought quite a few people do. They're obviously catered to pull at the heartstrings, add that to the anthemic songs they do and you have perfect melancholy music to uplift/be unhappy to/whatever.

Ya, I agree totally. Perhaps alt music fans, if they choose to listen to Coldplay, do not do so for the lyrics, but mainstream fans from the general public probably do feel that they resonate with the lyrics and have them as part of the appeal. They're simple, easy to remember, easy to sing along to, and undemanding requiring very little reflection or thought. Basically, the perfect recipe for commercial success.

I think Coldplay are like a lot of middle of the road bands when it comes to lyrics. most of the time there is nothing special about them but occasionally there will be something half decent that catches your attention or resonates with you. However, that's not the primary appeal of the music.

Exactly, I think Viva La Vida has some great lyrics where as Yellow is just awful.

*applause*

I second such applause! Hurrah!

Cold***
 

Yes Coldplay is coffee table music. Or trash pile music. Now hold on there Dad (because thats who is listening now Kids) I didn't say that "they" were garbage (they SOOO are though) now Parachutes, there is an album you can set your watch to. It was before Chris met his darling wife and started to name his offspring after fruit. You remember? when they were honest? young? hungry?

What they have become is like a pathetic, muppets version of their younger cooler selves. I'm so sorry.

Ahhh, such divided opinion over such a "boring" band - if they're so boring and forgettable, I wonder why they provoke such a large degree of dialogue... hehehehehe...


Just being facecious again...

Like I have said all along, they are just an enjoyable band that is stepping up their level of complexity in recent times. They're not the second coming of the Beatles, and I still don't get why everyone has to shoot 'em down.... seems kinda silly...

Yay! Someone else who agrees with me! They just make some damn good music - sometimes its just ok to enjoy a good solid song or album, and leave your cool points at the door...

*psssssst, you can still be a big band with commercial success and make good music............*

Coldplay is a good band, but Death and All His Friends was just awful. It tried way to hard to be Radiohead. Parachutes and Rush of Blood to the Head are fantastic though.