Thursday, July 14, 2005
Coldplay - The new Jonestown Koolaid
I don't get it - why is everyone so into Coldplay?? I listen to i-tunes all day, as I'm sure many of you do. Up here, we can also access everyone else's i-tunes in the office and listen away. Well, I've always thought of Coldplay as the antidote to music that's enjoyable to listen to. When 'Yellow' was all the rage, I thought it was a fluke and tried to ignore it. Now, with their new album, X & Y, the world's fascination with this band has finally gotten to me. What's the big deal? How can anyone listen to more than two Coldplay songs in a row without falling into a hypnotic state and fashioning a noose out of the closest rope, cord, or hose? And Chris Martin - dude, what's with that guy's voice?? How is it cool to go back and forth from normal to falsetto? To me, all Coldplay songs are repetitive, similar sounding drones. If aliens existed, and we discovered that they were using Coldplay songs to turn our brains into soup, I wouldn't have any trouble believing it. After all, Coldplay IS the official music of the brainless, entranced, and probed earthling.
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8 comments:
For the most part, I agree with you. The only problem is that they seem to have one song per albulm that the masses like (myself included). For whatever reason, even I like "Speed of Sound" but I can't stand any of the other songs on the albulm.
Here is one that I don't understand: 50 Cent. What is up there? Personally, I can't stand that genre of music but even people I usually consider sane like a song or two by 50 cent. I don't get that one.
I think I will stick with DMB, The Killers, 3 Doors Down, and similar.
AB
There is something about Coldplay that does it. I can't put my finger on it, but to me they are the sound of the 00's, much like the Gin Blossums were the sound of the 90's. Random, I know, but any time I hear the Gin Blossums I'm back in High School or my freshmen year of college. But on that same note, how many Gin Blossums almbums do I own? Not a one.
I don't have the new Coldplay, will probably get it eventually, but I'm in no real rush. I figure as long as I make the purchase prior to 2010, I'll still be cool for listening.
The difference between you and I is that I can understand how someone wouldn't like Coldplay, whereas you seem unable to accept the fact that someone could find solace in one of the few new bands that's not trying to blow your head off. But to each will be his own and so on.
-Chris Martin (you azzhole)
I secretly like Coldplay...but don't tell my husband.
I am an unabashed Coldplay fan - one who waited for ( and pre-bought on iTunes) "X & Y". I have to say I can understand why you don't like them - I am not a fan of Dave Matthews for some of the same reasons ( I do not understand why everyone likes him - it defies every law of popular music) However, let me give you reasons why someone could like them.
1) They have defined a movement - There is something that is now called the "Coldplay" sound. You know it when you hear it. Countless successful imitators - Elbow, Keane, Snow Patrol, Blue Merle and others - show Coldplay's impact on the music world
. However, to truly appreciate this sound - many call it ambient rock - you have to look at the originators. One of which is Coldplay and the other - ironically - is your favorite band : Radiohead. Whereas Radiohead has moved on to explore the wonderful vastness that is experimental music, there is still a place (a hole, if you will) for a band that creates beautiful melodies, couples them with unique chordal progressions, but keeps it simple for the masses. Coldplay fits that mold. They did it simply at first, with "Yellow" and defined their sound with the entire "A Rush of Blood to the Head" album. They have a unique niche that is their own.
2) Raw emotion - If you watched them perform "Polotik" on the Grammys with the Boston Symphony, you would have instantly fallen in love with them. That one performance was majestic, raw and entrancing all at the same time. I believe that is the cause of much of the buzz that they are receiving now. I also believe it won them their Grammy for "Clocks" - a nice song but not in my top 5 from the album. If you didn't know, stopping the show at the Grammys is an instant recipe for "success" - ask Ricky Martin - who also benefited from an unforgettable Grammy performance. You may not like him ( not a fan myself) but Ricky made a killing for 2 years - and it all started at the Grammys
3) A revolutionary album that took chances - Where "X & Y" falls short of what it could have been, "A Rush of Blood to the Head" is their definitive work. One that will be difficult for them to live up to again. An album so good that "X & Y" suffered. There was simply too much for them to live up to. Ask U2 about following up the Joshua Tree - that's the kind of pressure they felt. With "Rush", they could have regurgitated 12 more "Yellow"s, but they took risks in their choral phrases and their rhythmic diversity. History will look back on this album much like "OK Computer" - A brilliant album that was a step beyond what should have realistically been expected.
While I don't believe they are the best band in the world, they are very easy to listen to and have an understated brilliance that takes time to truly appreciate.
All that said - I loved the Gin Blossoms in the 90's too...
( I wore out my "A New Miserable Experience" tape) - so what do I know ?
Kendall.
Oh, thank God... finally the voice of reason. Chris Martin is on my last nerve... not cause I hate Coldplay. I find their music very listenable, in the way that "The Bends" was very listenable ten years ago (and was a several-tiers superior record to anything by Coldplay, for originality if nothing else). Chris Martin seems to believe, however, that his band can compete with U2 and Radiohead for legendary status... and was recently quoted as saying he expects to be remembered as better than both! That's a pretty tall statement from a knockoff band who's never had an OK Computer, Bends, "Creep," Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, or All That You Can't Leave Behind. I first heard of Coldplay on eBay, when searching through the Radiohead listings. It said, "RADIOHEAD- Coldplay" and I thought it was a new R-head album, or a bootleg. Inside, it said, "if you like Radiohead, then you'll LOVE COLDPLAY." etc., etc., etc. OK, right, and they're a better band? Insanity. Shirt-tail peers, to say the least. The angle Coldplay has on Radiohead, though, is the female appeal. And it's formidable... as MY wife (the other Nicole) would strongly confirm! Hey, ten zillion shrieking fans can't be wrong!!!! Look at Jessica Simpson!!! ...but then we get stuck again, this time on U2... hmm...
Now I know how Beatles fans must have felt when Bono said he wanted to be bigger than the Beatles. I don't even like the Beatles, and I know U2 could only hope to come in 2nd on that chart...
I like Coldplay. The new album especially. I can even hear the Joshua Tree influence. I think it's always a mistake to talk about what you're going to do instead of just doing it, but I think that this third album is a whole lot better than U2 were by their 3rd. Maybe their 2nd. Which was their 3rd?
Of course, X&Y cannot begin to compare to OK Computer.
Still, a solid effort. I dig it.
Excellent post.
Coldplay is a bunch of whiny emo mama's boys. Chris Martin looks as though he fell down a flight of stairs as a child and when someone almost tripped over him at the bottom of the stairs, they got angry and said, "Dammit, ugly kid! You almost made me fall!" Then proceeded to kick him in his misshapen head.
Bottom line, Coldplay sucks.
Hey Blair! Great post on this post. I have a site about Fried Farts, do you want to trade links?
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