Obviously I agree with much of what Gill said (thanks for the link, made my day), but it wasn't just some blind hit-piece. The guy at least knows all the albums well enough to draw comparisons and contrasts.
And while it's snarky, it's not that there's isn't some kind of legitimate point going on about watered-down white rock. I don't recall Gill saying anything bad anywhere about pop music being bad. And I'm surprised intedomine's not lathering this guy's balls right now just for this: "But at least Oasis promulgated the kind of spirit and energy that galvanises the soul, rather than the notion that all problems can be assuaged by impotent sympathy set to repetitive piano ostinatos."
My favorite: "...Chris Martin, the world's least impressive rock star by virtually any criteria connected with rock'n'roll as we know it."
QFT.
Listened to VLVODAAHF yet, my good friend?
Ultimately Gilly was bagging Oasis, referring to them as "copyists" rather than inspired musicians (which they are, (or an inspired Noel if we are brutally honest)).
I kinda feel that the "spirit" that Gill refers to is related more to the "scene" spawned by the the enormity of Oasis and the Brothers Gallagher overbearing character, namely music made by working-class lads celebrated by even skinheads (of all people). Mind you, Oasis are always thought of in terms of their first three albums, which is a shame really because there is some cracking musical departures from the Oasis sound on the following three albums. Anyway, the point is that criticism of Oasis is based on obvious reasoning (copyists, people don't like their personality, people don't like 'philistinal' skinheads) and Brothers Gallgher couldn't really give a toss what these people say.
Criticism of Coldplay (the band) seems to be based on people digging to find reasoning to hate the band's music, but really struggling. A couple of tracks from X&Y aside, there isn't much to genuinely dislike. There's no specific identifiable "scene" attributed to Coldplay and their contemporary associates (Snow Patrol, Travis, Keane, Athlete, U2). There is no stereotypical Coldplay fan to make fun of. People dont go around thinking that they are Chris Martin (except me
). Coldplay songs are just listened to by people in general. Old or young, indie or mainstream. Coldplay songs (attempt to) have that universal appeal U2 and Rolling Stones have. And the band, like Oasis, are open about who and what directly inspires their songs, though Coldplay rarely seem to stick it up to their critics in interviews, but they probably really do care. Whereas Oasis dont give a toss, Coldplay are reactive to crticism, and act accordingly.
Ultimately both Oasis and Coldplay are about writing songs which are cracking and that people enjoy, and a lot of people are enjoying them, even Be Here Now and X&Y have many lovers. Both bands are also about trying to earn universal appeal and to properly do that, ya need to write songs people think are good.
There are two sides to authenticity in music. There is the innovation of new sounds, and then there is the genuinely writing the songs you wanna write. Both are as credible as each other, and both can be done really well and really badly.
Thanks for not being greedy bastards, Coldplay.
