After hearing some of the b-sides from the X & Y sessions, my only qualm with X & Y as an album is why some of these brilliant songs were left off in favour of some weaker "synth-lacking", but more typically Coldplay, songs.
I appreciate the change of direction Coldplay were taking with X&Y, and I adore the songs that epitomised this change (White Shadows, X&Y, Talk, the amazing Square One).
Indeed, the lyrics on X&Y may lack some depth, particularly when compared with some of Martin's heroes (Yorke, Bono, Morrissey), but I can appreciate them for what they appear to be on face value. The lyrics of a reasonably contented man, yet still coming to grips with fame. To be poetic was surely not one of his main priorities.
Overall, I see something very special in X & Y, yet ackknowledge that it is probably a song too long, and is crying out for an alternative and rearranged tracklsiting.
Drop: A Message
Til Kingdom Come
The Hardest Part/Fix You
Include: Gravity
Things I Don't Understand
The World Turned Upside Down
Consider this, and you'll have an album, while by no means necessarily groundbreaking or mind-blowing, but one that is unquestionably solid and is some senses, quite brilliant.
LP4 excites me with Brian Eno at the helm. Bring it on...