Coldplay album review mega-thread!

[GibsonGirl]

In other words, why the hell is there so much negativity on here for it?

Because it's so bloody unoriginal.

 

[The OOTS]

Because it's so bloody unoriginal.

I guess we could debate whether U2's latest lacked originality...but that has been done to death.

 

[OnFire]

I picked up X&Y today ($9.99 @ Circuit City) and got through the first 6-7 tracks on the drive home. Every other track is unlistenable (couldn't get past the 1st chorus) but I find something enjoyable in just about every other track.

I know these other band comparisons are tedious by now but I couldn't resist googling up an ancient Rolling Stone review of another young band, if you just fill in the blanks with "Coldplay" and "Martin" where applicable, it makes for a suitable review of X&Y although you might add "guitar and keyboards."

"It's impossible to take __ as seriously as they take themselves. When lead singer __emotes lines like "__," I want to usher him aside and wish him a speedy recovery from adolescence. Of course, he means every word. Certainly, he feels like an existential castaway. But until __ outgrows the urge to reinvent every cliché from scratch and shout it to the world, the way to enjoy __is to consider the vocals as sound effects and concentrate, as the band does, on the sound of the guitar."

 

[the tourist]

You know, I really do like X & Y, but Martin really is a bad lyricist. This has to be said. The lyrics to "Fix You" are truely cringeworthy.

"When you try your best but you dont succeed.
When you get what you want but not what you need.
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep.
Stuck in reverse...
And the tears coming streaming down your face.
When you leave something you cant replace.
When you love someone but it goes to waste.
Could it be worse. Lights will guide you home.
And ingnite your bones. And I will try to fix you."


Hmmm. Ick.

"A mole digging in a hole."


nuff said!

 

[GibsonGirl]

"A mole digging in a hole."


nuff said!

Better yet:

"The air is heavy, heavy as a truuuck!"

 

[one4u2]

They are going to be on Storytellers tonight

 

[xaviMF22]

is that so bad ?

 

[one4u2]

is that so bad ?

Not at all....I'm actually going to watch it

 

[the tourist]

Better yet:

"The air is heavy, heavy as a truuuck!"

Touche!

 

[rjhbonovox]

anyone who could give X & Y a bad review either needs to clean their ears or fix their cd player.

Absolutely, the album is real fine and growing on me with each listen. Its a cross between the atmospheric keyboard sounds of Radiohead and the guitar of U2 which makes for great listening. I have to say that this album on the first week of listening has grabbed my attention far more than U2's previous 2 albums.

 

[MrBrau1]

I guess we could debate whether U2's latest lacked originality...but that has been done to death.

Can't have U2 sounding like U2 after 10 years in outer space. Nope. Not allowed. They should've made a jazz-fusion record to keep all 17 indie kids happy.

 

[Mark Freedman]

that Pitchfork review is spot on...

i guess i have to get used to hearing X&Y everywhere - Gap, Banana Republic, Elevators, Supermarkets, car commercials,etc...

but being constantly bombarded with it will only reinforce my belief that the songs are cheesy, trite, banal, cliche, and utterly boring. If this is what passes as a "masterpiece" these days, i am a bit worried.

and for the dude who said that there is U2, Coldplay, and everyone else, you obviously have very limited musical tastes. Is your third favorite band Keane by chance?

Man, your conclusion of my musical tastes is just as baseless as your quick conclusion of this album. I have a HUGE range of musical tastes, and have been a music fan for the past four decades of my life, and own over 1500 CDs, hundreds of tapes and hundreds of albums.

No wonder you have a purple black eye.

 

[rjhbonovox]

You know, I really do like X & Y, but Martin really is a bad lyricist. This has to be said. The lyrics to "Fix You" are truely cringeworthy.

"When you try your best but you dont succeed.
When you get what you want but not what you need.
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep.
Stuck in reverse...
And the tears coming streaming down your face.
When you leave something you cant replace.
When you love someone but it goes to waste.
Could it be worse. Lights will guide you home.
And ingnite your bones. And I will try to fix you."


Hmmm. Ick.

I find this forum amazing. Christ, you can just tell who are the up and coming band that are taking all the plaudits and who are the band that have seen their better days. It smacks of real jealousy on here. Thats all I can think that it is. X and Y is a great sounding album (not gonna say a classic as its only a week old although thats what certain members said about HTDAAB after 15mins but thats another story) and is a far better listen than HTDAAB or ATYCLB. I think if certain members took off their rose coloured glasses and actually listened to these 3 albums they would actually see the light.

I mean to say yuk about one of the finest tracks on the album which is Fix You smacks of real jealousy. If that is Yuk then what is SYCMIOYO? I mean with that awful falsetto part it almost sounds like The Bee Gees crossed with Bon Jovi (listen to me now.....now that is yukky).

Come on guys XandY is being slagged off on this forum cos you are actually a bit pissed that the album is better than U2's 2 mediocre previous efforts. Or am I wrong?

 

[MrBrau1]

I mean to say yuk about one of the finest tracks on the album which is Fix You smacks of real jealousy. If that is Yuk then what is SYCMIOYO? I mean with that awful falsetto part it almost sounds like The Bee Gees crossed with Bon Jovi (listen to me now.....now that is yukky).

You need to get some Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson records. If you hear Bee Gees/Bon Jovi everytime you hear a falsetto, you haven't exposed yourself to enough music. Which is funny, cause Chris Martin's one trick vocally is the falsetto.

 

[The OOTS]

Can't have U2 sounding like U2 after 10 years in outer space. Nope. Not allowed. They should've made a jazz-fusion record to keep all 17 indie kids happy.

Can't have Coldplay sounding like Coldplay either. Perhaps they should do a punk record.

Chris Martin should try singing in another voice too.

 

[elevation2u]

too much hype going for them on a mere nothing-new..pretentious lyrics,too much synth..boring brit pop...i rather listen to travis any day even though 12 memories wasnt exactly the msot inovating last album but at least fran doesnt come of as such a 'goody goody' prick

 

[Bono's shades]

I know these other band comparisons are tedious by now but I couldn't resist googling up an ancient Rolling Stone review of another young band, if you just fill in the blanks with "Coldplay" and "Martin" where applicable, it makes for a suitable review of X&Y although you might add "guitar and keyboards."

"It's impossible to take __ as seriously as they take themselves. When lead singer __emotes lines like "__," I want to usher him aside and wish him a speedy recovery from adolescence. Of course, he means every word. Certainly, he feels like an existential castaway. But until __ outgrows the urge to reinvent every cliché from scratch and shout it to the world, the way to enjoy __is to consider the vocals as sound effects and concentrate, as the band does, on the sound of the guitar."

Fair enough, but that review was written about the time Boy (or maybe October) came out. Coldplay are now on their third album. At that point in their career U2 were releasing War. And when the guys in U2 were about the same age as the guys in Coldplay are now (isn't Chris Martin in his late 20's?) I believe they had also released The Unforgettable Fire and maybe even a little album you may have heard of called The Joshua Tree.

 

[zwervers2]

The new Coldplay album reminds of a sound U2 would have gotten if they combined (a) The Unforgettable Fire Era with (b) The Zooropa Era and had (c) Thom Yorke as their singer. In other words, why the hell is there so much negativity on here for it?

EHMMM YEAH....

 

[CrashedCarDriver]

my short review is that the album starts off with a band with the fantastic square one

has a great title track

it gets a bit tiring to listen to nearing the end

but ends nicely with a solid closing track

so it rates 7.5 out of 10, which isnt bad considering the amount of music i listen to

 

[zwervers2]

Fair enough, but that review was written about the time Boy (or maybe October) came out. Coldplay are now on their third album. At that point in their career U2 were releasing War. And when the guys in U2 were about the same age as the guys in Coldplay are now (isn't Chris Martin in his late 20's?) I believe they had also released The Unforgettable Fire and maybe even a little album you may have heard of called The Joshua Tree.

Excellent post.the Coldplay-posse are around 29 and have made 1 great(AROBTTH) 1 very good(Parachutes) and 1 medicore to say the least record X&Y. U2 before their 2th birthday have made 4 albums and tons of supersongs like SBS, Pride, UF, with or without you, streets etc etc. Suddenly you hear people come up with the "logic" of"I feel that his record is better than the last U2 album. Ehhh hello! Our boys are in their mid 40-s. No disrespect to Bono and Co but that is not an experimenting fase for most people. and for people of THAT age they still sound incredibly fresh. Coldplay is a nice band no more no less with some outstanding songs like Clocks. I'm sorry but after about 10 listens I still don't find anything special about this record. It's okay...and definately not as good as their last release

On another note: As a joke I bought David Hasselhoffs(Hi KIT where are you?) new record "D.H sings America" for my brothers birthday at a German Gass station of all places..it's hilarious and I recommend everbody to buy this. especially his version of La isla bonita by Madonna is Fanfuckingtastic in a funny kind of way of course..

 

[zwervers2]

Oh and I love Square one......

 

[NYbrowneyedgirl]

Come on guys XandY is being slagged off on this forum cos you are actually a bit pissed that the album is better than U2's 2 mediocre previous efforts. Or am I wrong?

I like Coldplay's last two albums, and I've been listening to X & Y since Tuesday. I have to say, that I am pretty dissapointed with it, it does not measure up to the last two albums. After all the media hype and great reviews, I guess I expected more, especially when Entertainment Weekly said X & Y would be the blockbuster that HTDAAB was supposed to be.

Listening to X & Y actually makes me appreciate HTDAAB and ATCLYB even more, they are by far superior albums. That's just my opinion

 

[Lancemc]

Ahh, rjbonovox just in time to disagree with everything I ever have to say.

First of all, in case you haven't even read any of my other posts EVER about Coldplay or the new album, I love X & Y. I think it's their best album yet, and I can't wait to see them in concert this summer.

It IS a beautiful sounding album, and Fix You is a gorgeous song. HOWEVER, that does not change the fact that Chris Martin is a terrible lyricist. He never was. That's the truth.

Bono was never a great lyricist ever, the most notable exceptions being The Joshua Tree and and entire 90's trilogy. But even now, he has had some rather "odd" lyrical moments. I fail to see how this makes me "jealous" of Martin's still terrible lyrics.

 

[OnFire]

Fair enough, but that review was written about the time Boy (or maybe October) came out. Coldplay are now on their third album. At that point in their career U2 were releasing War. And when the guys in U2 were about the same age as the guys in Coldplay are now (isn't Chris Martin in his late 20's?) I believe they had also released The Unforgettable Fire and maybe even a little album you may have heard of called The Joshua Tree.

It's an October review. I didn't realize this until I caught part of the Coldplay Storytellers show on VH1 last night, but They are now in their late 20's. So by the time U2 were in their late 20's they had already recorded JT. So all I can say about my original post now is, uh,...never mind.

 

[purpleblackeye]

Ahh, rjbonovox just in time to disagree with everything I ever have to say.

First of all, in case you haven't even read any of my other posts EVER about Coldplay or the new album, I love X & Y. I think it's their best album yet, and I can't wait to see them in concert this summer.

It IS a beautiful sounding album, and Fix You is a gorgeous song. HOWEVER, that does not change the fact that Chris Martin is a terrible lyricist. He never was. That's the truth.

Bono was never a great lyricist ever, the most notable exceptions being The Joshua Tree and and entire 90's trilogy. But even now, he has had some rather "odd" lyrical moments. I fail to see how this makes me "jealous" of Martin's still terrible lyrics.

and when you confront the Coldplay lovers about the stupid lyrics, they quote one of Bono's.....but they never really face up to the fact that Chris Martin writes songs as deep and original as an elementary school student.

 

[Lancemc]

and when you confront the Coldplay lovers about the stupid lyrics, they quote one of Bono's.....but they never really face up to the fact that Chris Martin writes songs as deep and original as an elementary school student.

Well stated.

 

[Sweet Tart]

i'm sorry but after 8 pages of debating this i have to ask the question....

who cares anymore?????

if ya like it great....if ya don't like it great.

i like it and i don't care if i'm the only one. i couldn't be bothered to try and convince anyone to hear what i hear and like what i like.

is there really a point in slagging off chris or bono or whoever? does a band need to come up with something totally original and different everytime they release an album??? would we still like them if they did??? is there anything still original and inventive left to release????

sometimes re-invention works...sometimes it doesn't. so coldplay didn't really stray too far away from their previous work...maybe they tried to hard to compete with it. there are many bands out there..U2 included that release similar sounding albums because it's their sound and it works. and maybe just maybe after hearing that people thought their album sounds unoriginal they may try something different next time. or maybe the b-sides for this album will show us somthing different..who knows???

 

[purpleblackeye]

i'm sorry but after 8 pages of debating this i have to ask the question....

who cares anymore?????

if ya like it great....if ya don't like it great.

i like it and i don't care if i'm the only one. i couldn't be bothered to try and convince anyone to hear what i hear and like what i like.

is there really a point in slagging off chris or bono or whoever? does a band need to come up with something totally original and different everytime they release an album??? would we still like them if they did??? is there anything still original and inventive left to release????

sometimes re-invention works...sometimes it doesn't. so coldplay didn't really stray too far away from their previous work...maybe they tried to hard to compete with it. there are many bands out there..U2 included that release similar sounding albums because it's their sound and it works. and maybe just maybe after hearing that people thought their album sounds unoriginal they may try something different next time. or maybe the b-sides for this album will show us somthing different..who knows???

you are probably right....but my dislike of Coldplay does not stem from the fact that they haven't reinvited themselves or that they sound like a wimpy version of U2....its the utterly hollow and artificial nature of their songs. they come off as sincere, nice chaps with universal appeal, but if you strip away all the prettiness, you're left with nothing but pedestrian, by the numbers soft rock, smoothed over to the point where it is easily digested by radio, tv, etc. there is nothing wrong with being ambitious and striving to reach as many people as possible with your music, but do it with songs that have something interesting and meaningful to say.

plus, Doves (which you apparently know something about) are far superior band.

 

[digsy]

like Sweet Tart, i don't get what all the arguing is about - why the need to compare them to U2? why can't you guys just form an opinion of them as Coldplay not as "Coldplay in comparison to my favourite band in the world who obviously no one can better U2"

personally i think X&Y is pretty damn good. First listen i thought it was pretty mediocre but a few listens later and some great stuff i didn't hear before is starting to jump out at me.
that said i think AROBTTH is an astounding album but it took me months to get to that conclusion
I do see how a lot of people think X&Y is a bit repetative towards the end, but in general i think its a really good enjoyable listen. Rush of Blood in my opinion is still a better album but that may change in time cause i do think this is a GREAT album and i'm really looking forward to seeing them live later this month!

 

[Sweet Tart]

plus, Doves (which you apparently know something about) are far superior band.

doves are amazing, aren't they?