mylo xyloto

It's widely known, as one can gather from reading some of the Amazon reviews for their latest album, that being a Coldplay fan is fodder for bullies.  I'm not so sure why - some people are annoyed at their self-deprecation, but I find it kind of endearing. I actually think it's pretty cliche to bag on Coldplay. Whatever. As a fan since 2000, I remember hearing 'Yellow' and thinking that the song was catchy, didn't sound like any other band I had heard before, and felt it fit really well into my fascination for all things British spawned from my brother moving to Sheffield for a year.

Then I remember the first time I saw the Yellow video...I was in a Roman Diesel store killing time while my dad went to look for a phone? some change? I forget. I just remember him telling me to just stay there until he came back, as we were stranded after riding a public bus, getting fined for not following some boarding protocol and having to give the cop all the money we had, then forced to de-board in a neighborhood with which we weren't familiar (we were looking for a particular church). Anyway, the Diesel store had televisions on which the video played.

The point of this story? There isn't one really, but I remember thinking Coldplay had a sound all their own, and having listened to Mylo Xyloto (which dropped last week), thought their unique sound came through.

(photo cred: Coldplay's online store)

There were some songs that sounded like the group experimented with some new sounds and instruments (somewhat like the new instrument sounds in Viva La Vida), but there were others that possessed some melodies that were characteristically, classically Coldplay. There's one acoustic song on Mylo Xyloto that sounds like early Coldplay, while the first full-length song sounds a lot like Phoenix (I actually thought they collaborated with Phoenix on the album, which, if they did, would be pretty awesome). The collaboration with Rihanna, 'Princess of China,' (the only song title I can recall) was not my favorite. I don't feel Rihanna added anything to the song but instead just made it an additional selling point...and I guess play the female part in a song with 'princess' in the title.  The 'oooohhh' part of the chorus reminds me of the song in this commercial:

Sure I think Chris Martin's vocals can sound whiney at times and yes, there may be some sort of formula they follow in every album, but I did enjoy this latest release, and will continue to unabashedly be a fan (though I remember feeling they sold out when I had to settle for bad seats in a too-huge show at Hollywood Bowl once).

(...and that my friends may be the worst album review you've ever read - you'll notice I didn't use any song titles except one! Similar to how I talk about wine, however, I realize I may not know what I'm talking about when it comes to music, but I know what I like.)