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Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends

post #1 of 27
6/9/08 at 2:19am
Thread Starter 
Haven't seen a thread started for the new album.

I mentioned this in the "songs that are owning you" thread, but I figured I would send the link to a stream of the new album (legit of course), and it sounds incredible. More layered and diverse in their compositions this time around (Brian Eno can have that effect). Then again, to me, they haven't had a false note in their discography and the album was pre-sold once it was announced. Can't wait!

http://www.iheartmusic.com/cc-common.../coldplay.html

Enjoy!
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post #2 of 27
6/9/08 at 2:22am
"A Rush of Blood to the Head" is still one of my favorite albums and "Parachutes" is also terrific. But after the band started to seek their big, stadium-filling sound I started to lose interest. "X & Y" (is that the name of the album?) did very little for me. But I enjoyed "Violet Hill" so I'm hoping this album proves me wrong.
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post #3 of 27
6/9/08 at 3:48am
I'm sorta in the same boat - I still adore Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head is one of the most accomplished "respectable" pop albums in recent years - But X&Y seemed to just tow the line by pushing their sound higher into the stratosphere. Not that the strategy resulted in a bad album, just a predictable one.

That said, I'm really liking this Viva record - Their old blueprint didn't seem to leave them with too many other places to go, but so far the style of "Viva" is really refreshing.
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post #4 of 27
6/9/08 at 12:57pm
Sadly, liking Coldplay is one of my dark secrets. I've been listening since I saw the video for Clocks in late '02.

Parachutes and A Rush of Blood are both great. The problem with X&Y is that it's an album stuck in one gear. They didn't take any steps forward with it. It was simply A Rush of Blood done for stadiums.

I listened to Viva and really liked it. My two favorite songs are Yes and Strawberry Swing, probably because those are the two freshest-sounding songs they've done.
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post #5 of 27
6/9/08 at 2:21pm
I loved Parachutes and Rush of Blood, but honestly, I never listened to all of X and Y, mostly from the negative press it got. Coldplay is one of those bands where I really enjoy the music without giving much of a care for the band itself (if that makes any sense at all). I'd like to check out the new album though, the snippets I've heard have been promising.
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post #6 of 27
6/9/08 at 3:05pm
Brian Eno! Enough said.
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post #7 of 27
6/13/08 at 7:29am
Bought the album yesterday after discovering MGS was unusually cheap in my local tescos, figured it was a sign that I was being spared some cash.

I took the album back an hour later claiming some fucker had scratched it.

Simply terrible. Couple of radio release tracks, one sounding like U2 and the other had moments - but ultimately it was them beating themselves off knowing people would pay money for them "trying to be experimental".

Made me go home and listen to The Scientist with a renewed respect though.
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post #8 of 27
6/13/08 at 11:21am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bees?! View Post
Bought the album yesterday after discovering MGS was unusually cheap in my local tescos, figured it was a sign that I was being spared some cash.

I took the album back an hour later claiming some fucker had scratched it.

Simply terrible. Couple of radio release tracks, one sounding like U2 and the other had moments - but ultimately it was them beating themselves off knowing people would pay money for them "trying to be experimental".

Made me go home and listen to The Scientist with a renewed respect though.
Wow, "terrible"? I've definitely heard worse. It's no Rush of Blood, but "42", "Viva la Vida," and "Violet Hill" are definite steps in a new direction. Their sound has gotten more spontaneous, layered, and playful (Thanks to Brian Eno's almighty influence). And though they were experimenting, the sound overall stays true to the Coldplay format. Then again, I'm a big CP fan, so I'm biased.
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post #9 of 27
6/13/08 at 11:26am
I gave it a couple of listens, liked some of it. But i still need to listen it a few more times.
Some tracks are good. I love the first track "life in Technicolor" or something like that.
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post #10 of 27
6/13/08 at 2:38pm
I've never understood why liking Coldplay is a bad thing. Was it that line from The 40 Year Old Virgin that tainted them or something? I like who I like, and I refuse to apologize for it. I love this band, and Viva La Vida is a gorgeous song.
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post #11 of 27
6/13/08 at 3:02pm
Don't kid yourselves, besides a few good songs this album is a pretty middling effort. Not as phoned in as X&Y but nothing I'm gonna keep playing over and over again.
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post #12 of 27
6/13/08 at 3:05pm
Yeah, I got to say this thing's pretty shitty.
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post #13 of 27
6/13/08 at 4:09pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarleyQuinn22 View Post
I've never understood why liking Coldplay is a bad thing. Was it that line from The 40 Year Old Virgin that tainted them or something? I like who I like, and I refuse to apologize for it. I love this band, and Viva La Vida is a gorgeous song.
I love the band, and the album, to me, is pretty great. Lots of good tunes. They've always been a band that never dissapoints for me, and they're absolutely electric on stage.

And I don't think 40 y/o virgin did anything more or less to taint the band. It's never been cool to like Coldplay; maybe for a brief time at the end of '02 when Rush of Blood was released (still their best album).
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post #14 of 27
6/13/08 at 5:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by damimegood View Post
I love the band, and the album, to me, is pretty great. Lots of good tunes. They've always been a band that never dissapoints for me, and they're absolutely electric on stage.

And I don't think 40 y/o virgin did anything more or less to taint the band. It's never been cool to like Coldplay; maybe for a brief time at the end of '02 when Rush of Blood was released (still their best album).
It was cooler still to like Coldplay when Parachutes came out.

A lesson in sequence and causality: The 40-Year-Old Virgin joke wouldn't have been funny to most people if there hadn't already been significant Coldplay backlash at that point. I think a lot of said backlash is due to the industry shoving it down our throats that they were destined to be the next Biggest Band in the World when we all know on some level that they're not U2, they're not Pearl Jam, and they're not Radiohead - they're a solid, low-risk/moderate-yield pop band. They're like the Foo Fighters or something - easy to like, hard to love.

I enjoy Parachutes and Rush of Blood (some parts more than others), didn't bother with the last one when it became clear that it basically covered the same territory, and am disappointed to hear that the Eno collaboration didn't produce something grand enough to justify the arena band status they were granted a tad prematurely. I'm still looking forward to giving it a shot, though.
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post #15 of 27
6/14/08 at 1:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveB View Post
It was cooler still to like Coldplay when Parachutes came out.

A lesson in sequence and causality: The 40-Year-Old Virgin joke wouldn't have been funny to most people if there hadn't already been significant Coldplay backlash at that point. I think a lot of said backlash is due to the industry shoving it down our throats that they were destined to be the next Biggest Band in the World when we all know on some level that they're not U2, they're not Pearl Jam, and they're not Radiohead - they're a solid, low-risk/moderate-yield pop band. They're like the Foo Fighters or something - easy to like, hard to love.

I enjoy Parachutes and Rush of Blood (some parts more than others), didn't bother with the last one when it became clear that it basically covered the same territory, and am disappointed to hear that the Eno collaboration didn't produce something grand enough to justify the arena band status they were granted a tad prematurely. I'm still looking forward to giving it a shot, though.
I have to blame British mags like NME and Q hyping the band up to no end. I took a liking to Rush Of Blood around the time of its release, but I haven't listened to it for years. I'd be shocked if it even aged well.

I like them much more than Oasis. MUCH.

The hype this album is getting already...in a perfect world, Belle & Sebastian's The Life Pursuit would've been that album.
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post #16 of 27
6/16/08 at 9:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by damimegood View Post
Wow, "terrible"? I've definitely heard worse. It's no Rush of Blood, but "42", "Viva la Vida," and "Violet Hill" are definite steps in a new direction. Their sound has gotten more spontaneous, layered, and playful (Thanks to Brian Eno's almighty influence). And though they were experimenting, the sound overall stays true to the Coldplay format. Then again, I'm a big CP fan, so I'm biased.
I've heard worse, but not from Coldplay. It's difficult for a band this arrogant to produce something less than what they'd consider perfection - for something this mediocre to be released says they have no idea. The Eno Influence watered them down further. It shouldn't be a point where you defend a band's album because it had a couple of good songs - you can iTunes that stuff. An album should be a mix of sounds that work together - where maybe those one or two, are the tracks that aren't so good.

I've never returned a CD to a store before with the reasoning that it was terrible. It's not even a hard-for-cash month.

I'm just angry that they're not trying to top The Scientist. or Yellow. Even Rush of Blood still sounds fantastic.
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post #17 of 27
6/16/08 at 12:46pm
Album's good.

The first 5 or 6 tracks are actually very good. And then it kinda falls flat at the end.
But i have tremendous love for the first 2 tracks.
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post #18 of 27
6/17/08 at 7:25pm
Either I'm going insane or the fuckers at Capitol Records have conned me into buying yet another CD that will not play in computer CD-ROM drives. My PC doesn't even recognize there's a disc in the drive and my Mac just spits the disc out again after about 10 seconds. Plays fine on my co-worker's CD boombox, though.

Seriously, what the fuck? I spend the money to buy the CD and support the band (and make my wife happy - although she's going to be upset she can't rip it to her IPod, so I'm failing across the board here), and I'm limited to listening to it at home on my stereo or in the car? I should have just downloaded the album on ITunes like a normal person.

I won't be making this mistake again.
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post #19 of 27
6/17/08 at 7:47pm
I think it's great. "Strawberry Swing" and "Viva La Vida" are instant Coldplay classics, on par, at least for me, with "The Scientist" or "A Rush of Blood to the Head." And the attempt at being My Bloody Valentine on "Chinese Sleep Chant" fares a hell of a lot better than many bands' attempts.

I expect to be in the vast minority, but I can't find a bad track on here.
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post #20 of 27
6/17/08 at 7:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveB View Post
They're like the Foo Fighters or something - easy to like, hard to love.
I do not live on a planet where the Foo Fighters are hard to love, and I'm a better man for it!

Regarding the backlash being "due to the industry shoving it down our throats" it is that plus the magnitude of their success. So cheer up Coldplay fans, and think of all the poor Stone Roses fans who never got that lucky.
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post #21 of 27
6/18/08 at 3:05pm
I'm really enjoying it. Viva la Vida, Strawberry Swing and Yes are my top three.

Easily surpasses X&Y, but I can't quite put it on the Parachutes/Rush of Blood level. Maybe in time, but not right away.
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post #22 of 27
6/20/08 at 9:39pm
It was between this and the new Hold Steady. I chose the Hold Steady and have been listening to it all day. X & Y and the song Viva La Vida just soured me on this band too much.
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post #23 of 27
6/20/08 at 10:13pm
I must be the only one in the universe who loves -- yes, absolutely LOVES -- X&Y. The new disc isn't bad but a clear step down from their last two, which were gems front start to finish. Lost! is definitely a keeper, though.
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post #24 of 27
6/20/08 at 11:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tieman View Post
Either I'm going insane or the fuckers at Capitol Records have conned me into buying yet another CD that will not play in computer CD-ROM drives. My PC doesn't even recognize there's a disc in the drive and my Mac just spits the disc out again after about 10 seconds. Plays fine on my co-worker's CD boombox, though.

Seriously, what the fuck? I spend the money to buy the CD and support the band (and make my wife happy - although she's going to be upset she can't rip it to her IPod, so I'm failing across the board here), and I'm limited to listening to it at home on my stereo or in the car? I should have just downloaded the album on ITunes like a normal person.

I won't be making this mistake again.

There must be a way to sublimate your righteous and torrential anger, but how?
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post #25 of 27
6/22/08 at 10:06pm
So glad I don't work in a record store anymore. When X and Y came out, I got to listen to it over 200 times. No joke, I did the math.

Now, I only have to hear the new one anytime I SHOP in a record store. Even Newbury Comics plays the fucking thing. Thanks for giving me post-traumatic stress flashbacks while I'm trying to browse, guys. Then I go down into Borders, and I get to hear the beginning of the album that I missed in Newburys. Why don't they just play it in every fucking store in the mall?

As for the "music", I guess it's a little more upbeat than the last one. It's the same shit, though. I've barely heard it once and I'm already sick of it, just like when I heard X and Y the first time.
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post #26 of 27
6/23/08 at 5:55pm
I know this is a pet peeve, but am I alone in loathing Coldplay for putting Delacroix's masterpiece on the album's cover?
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post #27 of 27
9/24/08 at 9:08pm
So what does everyone make of the Creaky Boards claim that Vida la Vida rips off one of their songs? It and Violet Hill are probably my favourite songs off the album at the moment and I'm actually something of a fan of Coldplay anyways, but even I can hear certain melodic similarities.
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