Coldplay - Viva La Vida - ongoing discussion

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I actually agree about Life In Technicolor. Excellent song, but it's a shame that more of the album isn't that propulsive. Furthermore, the more I listen through this album, the more I realize it's just the same old Coldplay tricks wrapped up in a much prettier package. The bigger problem is that there isn't a song as good as Yellow or Shiver here...but there also isn't anything as bad as Swallowed In The Sea. Heck, the worst songs here are as good as the very best of X&Y, so it's a nice progression, but it won't change your life.
 
Thanks for the link, LM. I love the photo caption:

"(Politely) tearing down the walls that hold them inside"

Also, Gibson Girl would do well to read this part, about Life in Technicolor:

"Eno's sweetly pastoral synth landscape sets the tone, and soon it all piles on: the jangly electric-guitar riff, the cheerful acoustic to sketch out the simple chords, the rumbling bass and drums to give those chords muscle and propulsion, the ecstatically clanging piano, a few joyful oh-oh-oh's from Martin just to remind us who's in charge here—a steady and true and exhilarating 150-second rise in volume and intensity that's pure "Where the Streets Have No Name," and if it doesn 't quite blossom into a full, magnificent anthem the way "Streets" did, the point is made."

Guess he's as crazy as everyone else.

Here's another gem:

"...Martin's normally sleek falsetto squeaking amid swirling guitar-hero blasts, as though he actually did give his left ball to write something as good as OK Computer and got ripped off."

:lol:

"And when the pastoral Eno flourishes that started Vida off so promisingly return for a quick coda, Martin reverts back to his suavely crooning self, but blows it with his first four words: "And in the end . . . . " Bam, you're thinking Abbey Road, and while Vida is far from a dog, it's just another unflattering comparison that the record itself needlessly invites—an extremely overconfident way to handle a crisis of confidence. Big isn't necessarily good, no, and bigger isn't necessarily better."

:sigh:


You and anyone else can continue saying the same thing over and over, but—and I'm speaking for myself, here—you will never, EVER be able to change my mind.

The signs can be be blantantly obvious for some, but my ears like what they hear, and my ears do not know whether Martin is a "twat" or not. My ears just like what they like, no matter what anyone else says.

I realize that this is a losing battle, since people have been criticizing other people's musical choices since the dawn of mankind. Personally, I think what you're really saying is that your tastes in music are much better that some people here because we like Coldplay. And this smacks of elitism.

Well, in keeping with my "music=subjective" mantra, there are bands that you personally love that others other there are revolted by. This is a fact, given that human nature is what it is. And if these people constantly rag on your musical tastes, a) it would get tiresome in the extreme and b)I doubt very much you'd heed these people's criticism's and go right on listening to the music that you love.

In my mind, this is logical. But, as someone so aptly put it last week, "logic is for chumps." So you can go right on increasing your post count with the same garbage. It won't make one iota of difference, as far as I'm concerned.
 
:shrug: What are you getting so upset about, BoMac? It's not garbage anymore than the mindless "Viva La Vida's string arrangement :drool::drool::drool:" posts are. It's just an opinion, one you happen to disagree with. Perhaps said opinion doesn't come across all that well in a thread like this one, but you shouldn't call it garbage.
 
:shrug: What are you getting so upset about, BoMac? It's not garbage anymore than the mindless "Viva La Vida's string arrangement :drool::drool::drool:" posts are. It's just an opinion, one you happen to disagree with. Perhaps said opinion doesn't come across all that well in a thread like this one, but you shouldn't call it garbage.

Yes, perhaps garbage is too strong a word. But, it just gets tiresome and annoying to me, because it seems like some go out of their way to continuously drive home the same point over and over and over. I'm just having a hard time seeing through his disdain for Coldplay, specifically Chris Martin, and digesting the points he's trying to make, valid as they may be.

So, I apologize for using the word garbage.
 
Yes, perhaps garbage is too strong a word. But, it just gets tiresome and annoying to me, because it seems like some go out of their way to continuously drive home the same point over and over and over. I'm just having a hard time seeing through his disdain for Coldplay, specifically Chris Martin, and digesting the points he's trying to make, valid as they may be.

But they are valid, no? Laz is obnoxious in many threads he posts in, but usually has a good point or two to share in the process. Just take it in stride.
 
:shrug: What are you getting so upset about, BoMac? It's not garbage anymore than the mindless "Viva La Vida's string arrangement :drool::drool::drool:" posts are. It's just an opinion, one you happen to disagree with. Perhaps said opinion doesn't come across all that well in a thread like this one, but you shouldn't call it garbage.

Not to speak for BoMac but the problem I have at least is that if you don't like Coldplay, fine. Come in here, once, maybe twice and say so and hopefully give some reasons (with actual thought behind them) as to why.

I know Laz doesn't like Coldplay, you know it, everyone knows it... Now I will give you that he does back up his statements for the most part but after his first couple of posts all the rest are just a re-hash of the same thing - Chris Martin is a Pussy/Bono/Thom Yorke wannabe and all of their songs are trite and copy U2... :blahblah:

We get it, and as much as discussion is nice, do you honestly think anything I say will change his mind? I know that nothing he says is going to change mine so what is the point exactly?
 
But they are valid, no? Laz is obnoxious in many threads he posts in, but usually has a good point or two to share in the process. Just take it in stride.

Yes, they are valid, because they're his subjective opinions. I just think they'll resonate more, at least with me, if he's not so obnoxious about it. And I usually enjoy his posts. They're positively cracking.
 
Not to speak for BoMac but the problem I have at least is that if you don't like Coldplay, fine. Come in here, once, maybe twice and say so and hopefully give some reasons (with actual thought behind them) as to why.

I know Laz doesn't like Coldplay, you know it, everyone knows it... Now I will give you that he does back up his statements for the most part but after his first couple of posts all the rest are just a re-hash of the same thing - Chris Martin is a Pussy/Bono/Thom Yorke wannabe and all of their songs are trite and copy U2... :blahblah:

We get it, and as much as discussion is nice, do you honestly think anything I say will change his mind? I know that nothing he says is going to change mine so what is the point exactly?


:up:




And I can span the globe and read a million reviews that back up my opinions and post them here and say 'See? See others think the same thing.' But I can also find many, many more reviews that say the exact opposite. So, what is the point exactly? Who is right and who is wrong?
 
The signs can be be blantantly obvious for some, but my ears like what they hear, and my ears do not know whether Martin is a "twat" or not. My ears just like what they like, no matter what anyone else says.

:up::up::up::up:

and I've never given 4 thumbs up to anyone in this forum before! :wink:

This should be repeated forever...

my ears do not know whether Martin is a "twat" or not. My ears just like what they like, no matter what anyone else says.

my ears do not know whether Martin is a "twat" or not. My ears just like what they like, no matter what anyone else says.

my ears do not know whether Martin is a "twat" or not. My ears just like what they like, no matter what anyone else says.

my ears do not know whether Martin is a "twat" or not. My ears just like what they like, no matter what anyone else says.

my ears do not know whether Martin is a "twat" or not. My ears just like what they like, no matter what anyone else says.
 
And I can span the globe and read a million reviews that back up my opinions and post them here and say 'See? See others think the same thing.' But I can also find many, many more reviews that say the exact opposite. So, what is the point exactly? Who is right and who is wrong?

Was he trying to prove his point with that review? Does he even have a point that's provable? :lol:

Honestly, I think the "music is subjective, so discussing it is basically pointless" argument that gets made all too often when things get heated is a bit fluffy. Shooting fish in a barrel, really. Obviously, no one can change the opinion of another, but as long as the discussion is respectful, there's always a "point" to such discussion.
 
The signs can be be blantantly obvious for some, but my ears like what they hear, and my ears do not know whether Martin is a "twat" or not. My ears just like what they like, no matter what anyone else says.

You know, Twinkies taste really good to some people, and if they eat too many of them, they become obese. Because they aren't good for you.

Yes, I am an elitist. I never denied this.
 
Obviously, no one can change the opinion of another, but as long as the discussion is respectful, there's always a "point" to such discussion.

That's the key right there... I personally don't think calling Chris Martin a pussy or a twat or whatever over and over again is very respectful, do you?

I could go into Zoo Station and repeatedly take a shit all over The Gilmore Girls over and over again because I hate that show but I don't because I realize that it would probably get on people's nerves and that's not very respectful of people who like that show...

but maybe I'm just crazy or something.
 
That's the key right there... I personally don't think calling Chris Martin a pussy or a twat or whatever over and over again is very respectful, do you?

I could go into Zoo Station and repeatedly take a shit all over The Gilmore Girls over and over again because I hate that show but I don't because I realize that it would probably get on people's nerves and that's not very respectful of people who like that show...

but maybe I'm just crazy or something.

Nor would I. Perhaps I'm just getting so used to Laz acting the way he does and being amused by it that I instinctively come to his rescue whenever he gets bashed for it. :lol: Plus, I understand his complaints perfectly in this case.

Come to think of it, I bitch about Coldplay in here as much as he does, but I guess it's just balanced more evenly or something.
 
I could go into Zoo Station and repeatedly take a shit all over The Gilmore Girls over and over again because I hate that show but I don't because I realize that it would probably get on people's nerves and that's not very respectful of people who like that show...

You could, but Gilmore was considered critically to have some of the best-written dialogue on television. Where is Coldplay considered among the best of anything? What is so unique about them? What do they define?
 
Nor would I. Perhaps I'm just getting so used to Laz acting the way he does and being amused by it that I instinctively come to his rescue whenever he gets bashed for it. :lol: Plus, I understand his complaints perfectly in this case.

Come to think of it, I bitch about Coldplay in here as much as he does, but I guess it's just balanced more evenly or something.

at least you give me some stuff I can work with; you like Coldplay for the most part so it's not the same thing over and over again...

X&Y wasn't that bad btw :wink:
 
at least you give me some stuff I can work with; you like Coldplay for the most part so it's not the same thing over and over again...

X&Y wasn't that bad btw :wink:

I'm surprised by how many folks are chiming up now about how X&Y wasn't really all that bad. It's like the inverse of HTDAAB; hated upon release, but starting to get some respect. Kind of. Critics still hate it. :hug:

I'm curious to see if the opposite happens with Viva and if, as it's put so astutely in Lost!, "the shine wears off". Right now it's doing very well.
 
And if there's a reason I harp on this so much, it's because I'm so offended by the safe and inoffensive. I hate Linkin Park but I won't waste my time talking about them because their fans are neanderthals. But with Coldplay, you have a lot of lapsed alterna-people whose tastes have mellowed, or those who admire the ambition so much they're somehow immune to the notion that there's no sex, no shuffle, no soul to this music. And I find that disheartening because life is too short to listen so intensely to an pale approximation of anything. Wow, they're better than Travis or Snow Patrol, congratulations.

Excuse me while I go listen to the new Supergrass again.
 
So you're basicaly telling me that unless something has "critical aclaim" it has no merit?

Critical consensus carries a lot of weight. It's rarely wrong. Depeche Mode is the only example I can think of, and they eventually earned a modicum of respect by the mid-90's.

I mean, I like Journey, but it's a guilty pleasure; I'd never call them great.
 
Where is Coldplay considered among the best of anything? What is so unique about them? What do they define?

What does it matter? :lol: There are fans here obviously and they like talking about the new album. I guess you're entitled to your negative opinion as well but I can see how it can get tiring if it's the same thing over and over again.

*waits for somebody to come in and say that it's the same thing with Hutdab in EYKIW* :crack::wink:
 
To be fair, the new Supergrass is a pretty pale combination of T. Rex riff-rock and Bowie at his most preening and lyrically sleazy, along with some of the more traditional Britpop that the band is known for. That sounds great, but very few of the songs are memorable (though When I Needed You is pretty great), and playing spot-the-influence is rather easy with that one. I prefer Road To Rouen.
 
And if there's a reason I harp on this so much, it's because I'm so offended by the safe and inoffensive. I hate Linkin Park but I won't waste my time talking about them because their fans are neanderthals. But with Coldplay, you have a lot of lapsed alterna-people whose tastes have mellowed, or those who admire the ambition so much they're somehow immune to the notion that there's no sex, no shuffle, no soul to this music. And I find that disheartening because life is too short to listen so intensely to an pale approximation of anything. Wow, they're better than Travis or Snow Patrol, congratulations.

Excuse me while I go listen to the new Supergrass again.

Good reason :up: and I like Travis too :lol:

It's odd because I do hear sex and shuffle and soul in their music as you put it and I think that's why I get angry because I don't understand why you can't...
 
I could go into Zoo Station and repeatedly take a shit all over The Gilmore Girls over and over again because I hate that show but I don't because I realize that I'm dead wrong. It's actually a great show.

FIXED.

Or, to keep this on the topic of Coldplay...

Fixed You.

:wink:
 
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