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  1. Originally posted by ahn1991:There's going to be that one person who will make an instagram video saying "U2 wrote Miami" and the band will go "Alright boys, let's play Miami!"
    At least that would mean something from Pop would finally get played on the i+e tour
  2. I can imagine the Pop fans saying "Not like this! Not like this!"
  3. Originally posted by ahn1991:There's going to be that one person who will make an instagram video saying "U2 wrote Miami" and the band will go "Alright boys, let's play Miami!"

    Hell yes! I'd welcome Miami any show, any place in the setlist.
  4. final song of their final show of their final tour
  7. Originally posted by ahn1991:The equivalent of what's happening here would be us requesting that U2 play Acrobat and having it actually happen.
    With see you soon just coming back for its first play since 03, I think these are definitely a chance
  8. These rotations are single-handedly making me think about hitting as many shows as I possibly can if (when?) they make it to our shores
  9. Looking at these sets, I think I'm going to hit up that Glasgow show.
  10. Been going through a serious Coldplay kick the last few days, but mainly only their first three albums. What happened to this band?

    I gotta wonder if people said the same thing after U2's first three albums that had a distinct sound and then they went in a totally different direction. I guess the only difference is, it seems like MOST people agree that the direction CP has gone in isn't necessarily an objectively good one (critically, commercially, etc.).

    Their first three albums had such character to them to me, and such a distinct sound. It was late 90s, electric acoustic with some piano thrown in. Start throwing in some sci-fi elements and 80s synths and you've got yourself an interesting (but critically divisive) direction. They throw that aside for Viva La Vida, and while it was successful, something suddenly changed.

    The songs were more produced, more poppy, more experimental, they started playing with their sound a bit. It seems like ever since then they've never really settled on a particular tone. I don't mean that all of their songs should sound the same, I just mean that having Midnight, Oceans and Magic all on one album is odd, and to me it was the sound of a band not knowing where it should go next. Ghost Stories was intriguing to me, opinions aside. To me, it was their Unforgettable Fire. I guess with A Head Full of Dreams I was hoping for their Joshua Tree. An album where they took all they had learned over the past few years dabbling in something different but rekindling what made them exciting in the first place. Instead they've sort of gone further into the deep end of production and pop music, seemingly because they don't find "rock" interesting anymore? (I've read that Chris Martin said this recently).

    To me Coldplay were never rock, the same way U2 was never rock. They had a road to go on and they were paving their own way, regardless of how they started out. I want Coldplay to take a page out of U2's book and treat the reception of A Head Full of Dreams like U2 treated the reception of Pop. Go back to basics. Go back to REAL drums, bass, guitar, acoustic guitar and piano. Go back to writing songs, with heartfelt lyrics that might not turn into commercial jingles or top 40 hits. CM's lyrics seem to be drenched in hope and joy rather than uncertainty and a wide variety of emotions like they used to me. Something abstract like Square One vs something like Hymn For The Weekend...?

    I guess I'm just ranting, but listening to Coldplay's first three albums is disappointing to me. It's like they were a light snuffed out before really given a chance to blaze. Or if this is them ablaze, I don't really like the colour of the fire.
  11. Got tickets for their show in Buffalo on August 1st!
  12. Originally posted by RattleandHum1988:Been going through a serious Coldplay kick the last few days, but mainly only their first three albums. What happened to this band?

    I gotta wonder if people said the same thing after U2's first three albums that had a distinct sound and then they went in a totally different direction. I guess the only difference is, it seems like MOST people agree that the direction CP has gone in isn't necessarily an objectively good one (critically, commercially, etc.).

    Their first three albums had such character to them to me, and such a distinct sound. It was late 90s, electric acoustic with some piano thrown in. Start throwing in some sci-fi elements and 80s synths and you've got yourself an interesting (but critically divisive) direction. They throw that aside for Viva La Vida, and while it was successful, something suddenly changed.

    The songs were more produced, more poppy, more experimental, they started playing with their sound a bit. It seems like ever since then they've never really settled on a particular tone. I don't mean that all of their songs should sound the same, I just mean that having Midnight, Oceans and Magic all on one album is odd, and to me it was the sound of a band not knowing where it should go next. Ghost Stories was intriguing to me, opinions aside. To me, it was their Unforgettable Fire. I guess with A Head Full of Dreams I was hoping for their Joshua Tree. An album where they took all they had learned over the past few years dabbling in something different but rekindling what made them exciting in the first place. Instead they've sort of gone further into the deep end of production and pop music, seemingly because they don't find "rock" interesting anymore? (I've read that Chris Martin said this recently).

    To me Coldplay were never rock, the same way U2 was never rock. They had a road to go on and they were paving their own way, regardless of how they started out. I want Coldplay to take a page out of U2's book and treat the reception of A Head Full of Dreams like U2 treated the reception of Pop. Go back to basics. Go back to REAL drums, bass, guitar, acoustic guitar and piano. Go back to writing songs, with heartfelt lyrics that might not turn into commercial jingles or top 40 hits. CM's lyrics seem to be drenched in hope and joy rather than uncertainty and a wide variety of emotions like they used to me. Something abstract like Square One vs something like Hymn For The Weekend...?

    I guess I'm just ranting, but listening to Coldplay's first three albums is disappointing to me. It's like they were a light snuffed out before really given a chance to blaze. Or if this is them ablaze, I don't really like the colour of the fire.
    Oldplay was great, but honestly speaking you can't make a musical career by doing the exact same thing over and over again. The first three albums have a lot of classics, but musically and thematically those three albums may have easily came from the very same recording session. With a band like U2 that has been around for a long while, you can tell just by listening to different songs that they belong on different albums. When I listen to Coldplay's first three albums, they don't sound different at all.

    Viva was their first true departure, but even that doesn't compare to MX in terms of directional shift. MX was great because it was a flashpoint of success that put them on the map unlike any album they've had prior. Let's be honest with ourselves, the only exposure Coldplay had on mainstream media was "Fix You" being played during elimination segments on reality game shows. This isn't to say that bands should strive to make it on every radio station or have their songs played in every show, but when your band is literally known for just one song that's beyond overused in popular media it's not really the best place to be.

    Ghost Stories as an album was totally genius, in my opinion. I have yet to find an album that plays so well as a cohesive unit from start to finish. Ghost Stories is an album that I can set in my proverbial CD player and let it play without touching it to skip a song or feel that the track order is off. To me, it is a display of their musical flexibility. Even better is the live album in which every track on Ghost Stories is performed. I wish they had promoted this album with a proper tour instead of limiting it to a small number of shows in very limited capacity venues. Granted, I'm certain the experience of seeing Coldplay in that setting must have been something else.

    A Head Full of Dreams is an interesting album to me because I initially rated it very poorly, dismissing it simply as an announcement from Coldplay that they are "still releasing music" and haven't retired yet. However, after listening to it for a long while I think my opinion has drastically shifted. I would actually rank this album above MX and probably on par with Viva. It won't match Ghost Stories as a whole, but AHFOD does have a few tracks that I think could contend for some of the best Coldplay has ever released. It should be no surprise that those two tracks are Up&Up and Everglow. I like these two tracks because I feel they represent the culmination of Coldplay's growth up to this point. Everglow proudly displays the piano driven melodies we're used to hearing in something like The Scientist. Up&Up features amazing guitar work and a melody that seems to catch you and draw you in. Also, the lyrics in Up&Up are amazing. I mean, look at this. It's more than just words that sound good together.
    see the forest there in every seed
    angels in the marble waiting to be freed


    Anyways, I think the point of all this is to say that if Coldplay had continued to release albums identical to their first three we probably wouldn't be having this conversation since there's no way they would've lasted to this point with only one style to offer.
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