Late night thoughts on Coldplay.

As I was preparing what I'd hoped would be a well thought-out blog post on Coldplay, I came across this NYTimes article and thought it was a good time to post. While I don't necessarily agree with everything the guy said, I think much of his critique deserves to be considered, and he expresses, possibly better than I will attempt to do below, a lot of very valid arguments in his Case Against Coldplay. Before I begin, let me say that Coldplay is definitely one of my favorite bands.

I'm fairly certain this rant, or review, or whatever you'd like to call it, was brought on by my cringe-inducing Ticketbastard experience this morning as I purchased tickets for the Coldplay show coming here in September. I knew I should expect some ridiculous big stadium prices à la U2, but actually seeing the price pop up-- with over $10 tacked on for convenience & processing fees-- definitely left me feeling a little sick to my stomach.

And it left me with the whole day contemplating Coldplay and whether they were worth the exorbitant ticket price. I'm not going to complain because 1) obviously nobody forced me to log onto Ticketmaster at 10 am, and 2) I actually did manage to get general admission orchestra pit tickets, which give me the potential for a great view (in fact, I had decided that unless I got that close, I wasn't going to shell out anything, because for the same price or even $20 less, you're a hundred yards back or even on the lawn.).

That said, I spent some time today with X&Y, the highly anticipated album set to release this Tuesday (which of course has already been heard in full by any Coldplay fan who spends a decent amount of time on the Internet, including myself.)

So, Coldplay. They are the everyman's band. They appear on a wide range of favorite music lists, from casual radio music listener to hardcore indie music snob, to my 6th grade sister and her friends. Coldplay seems to be enjoying levels of fame/fanhood right now that remind me of DMB around the time Crash was released. With this explosion, however, also comes massive backlash (we "hardcore" fans denounced all those "Crashheads"), and for every huge fan is an even bigger critic.

Coldplay will have to fight off a lot of these critics when X&Y comes out. So far it's probably been the most anticipated release of 2005, with enough hype that it will likely end up as one of the biggest albums of the year, but probably with just enough musical sustenance to back it up.

I enjoy the album. I can't say there are any standout tracks for me the same way there was with A Rush of Blood to the Head. And I don't really think they'll ever top their Parachutes opening with "Don't Panic." In fact, on X&Y, I can't quite distinguish between the songs-- yet, that is. It may be a case of me not being familiar yet (though I've just completed the third listen, which everyone knows is a prerequisite to judgment), but it also might be that they are all starting to sound the same.

Most of the tracks seem to adopt this kind of ambient, fill-the-room with echoes, super programmed sound. It's like I'm in a bubble, or something, and the sound is being projected at me from the outside. It's almost as if it was written with a 30,000-fan concert in mind, so the band could fill a stadium with all this energy and great big sound. There's that bit of rawness missing, the stripped-down element that made Parachutes so great, so genuine. That's what gives an album its soul...in my opinion, anyway... the sense of vulnerability, of true sentiment behind each song. Songs like "White Shadow," "Talk," "Speed of Sound," and "Low" all share a similar drumbeat and while they are obviously different songs, they seem more or less indistinguishable. Each song could be a continuation of the previous one.

That being said, the original song is a good one. And this is why Coldplay should be applauded, for being able to craft a good melody and truly perfect songs. The regret, though, is that it seems to be down to a formula. Their catchy hooks present themselves immediately, then build up to a booming chorus, then an interlude/breakdown, followed by some kind of huge climax/singalong style follow-up chorus when Chris Martin hits those reeeeally high notes (he kind of goes overboard with his falsetto on this album), closed out with his calmed down normal-range voice, singing over a simple piano or guitar as the quiet resolution and fadeout.

Maybe I'm being unfair, and maybe this critique can be applied to countless acts out there now, and I'm just pinpointing Coldplay. To give proper credit, the album has its highlights.

After I heard "Fix You" on one of the last episodes of "The O.C." this season, I was truly moved; the song was used perfectly. It was the scene when Caleb falls into the pool, and Kirsten later gets the phone call about it. "Fix You" is going to be one of those songs, the song of the summer, perhaps... a song that ends up on countless mix CDs people make, a song whose lyrics will end up in many an AIM profile or will be quoted in high school yearbooks all over. It just goes to show, Coldplay's got this knack for writing that killer ballad that's totally universal and really speaks to a lot of people. And in the end, that ain't so bad, right? It's not a bad way to sell records, anyway. Call it cliché, call it cheesy, call it what you will, you'll still find yourself listening to it on repeat. Let's just hope it doesn't end up on every TV promo or movie trailer ("Clocks," anyone??). Though I'm thinking the first single, "Speed of Sound" might be the one that fits that bill, since it's basically the 2005 version of "Clocks."

Other album highlights for me are "A Message," "Swallowed in the Sea," and "Til Kingdom Come."

In any case, Coldplay is lucky enough that it doesn't really matter what this album sounds like. They're at their peak-- the album has already set records for Internet pre-sales in the UK-- and fans will pretty much enjoy whatever they have to put out. Despite ticket prices that really are unjustified, they'll sell out their concerts . And it's not like I'm sitting up here laughing at all those folks, cause I'll be there bobbing my head. X&Y will become a fan favorite even before people have heard the whole thing, based on "Speed of Sound" and "Fix You" alone. I dig it-- I can't say that it'll be on constant rotation (or one of my current fixations, if you will), but at it's best, it's Coldplay doing what they do. I just hope that they eventually show a bit of growth and/or experimentation because they can't keep mirroring themselves forever.

Yikes, sorry for the lengthy post. That was completely unexpected. Blame it on insomnia...


Current Music: Swallowed in the Sea, by Coldplay
Current Mood: restless