Comments on: Coldplay’s iTunes Ad Somehow Not Worst Thing On TV

By: moomintroll

moomintroll — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:56:17 +0000

@Halfwit: ITA, I think when Chris Martin started to actually proclaim that he wanted Coldplay to be the next U2, it was like "oh...THAT'S what you're doing? I thought you were going to be something else entirely"
Parachutes was one of my favorite albums of 2000 though.

By: Halfwit

Halfwit — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:22:59 +0000

I remember a number of people (myself included) feeling unreasonably... betrayed for some reason when Coldplay "changed" from sensitive Brit indie popsters to U2 scale monsters on "A Rush of Blood to the Head".

@bcapirigi: The scientist is quite good, and I think that the band is forgiven for most everything just for the simple, shimmering guitar riff on "In My Place". Having said that, all their good was tarnished when "Clocks" beat "Hey Ya!" for single of whatever year that was.

By: bcapirigi

bcapirigi — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:06:15 +0000

the scientist is a really good song. i also liked talk on x&y, which i think was a single. i kinda dug in my place, too, although i don’t think i’ve heard it since it was new.

By: Thierry

Thierry — Thu, 22 May 2008 08:19:11 +0000

@moomintroll: I actually think there is just enough of a difference - a bit more piano and a bit less guitar - on X&Y, which is why I was intrigued when I first came across "Violet Hill" and its big guitar sound. I'm cautiously optimitic about Viva La Vida...

By: Audif Jackson Winters III

Audif Jackson Winters III — Thu, 22 May 2008 07:52:50 +0000

I remember when Coldplay’s U.S. fanbase was SoCal-centric and spurred on by Nick Harcourt, KCRW, and the big British ex-pat population in LA (and Santa Monica in particular) .. there was definitely a “my little secret” quality to the appreciation (and anticipation for the U.S. release of “Parachutes”) that seems pretty amusing 8 years later.

By: moomintroll

moomintroll — Thu, 22 May 2008 07:46:48 +0000

@chim_richalds: well, I think the point is that yeah, they didn't change their sound much once they got commercially successful, which is probably why I drifted away from them. Their first two albums were sufficient for that sound, I didn't need X&Y.

By: Ned Raggett

Ned Raggett — Thu, 22 May 2008 06:52:33 +0000

@chim_richalds: Well see, I'm lucky there -- I never liked Coldplay to start with. (I see why they're as successful as they are but that vein was just plenty tapped out for me by that point and my interests were shifting elsewhere.)

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 22 May 2008 06:28:43 +0000

the thing is, they didn’t really change their sound that much after the second album – it just stopped being cool to like them.

case in point: “the scientist” and “sparks” (you can really take your pick from any album) are as “adult contemporary” as it gets.

the whole thing is somewhat similar to the dave matthews band – a ton of people were on the bandwagon at their height, but now they get all insecure and won’t even admit to liking them back in the day. or they reluctantly admit to having once enjoyed them but with the oh-so-mature disclaimer that they’ve moved on since then…

By: Thierry

Thierry — Thu, 22 May 2008 06:24:13 +0000

@moomintroll: Yeah, it's too bad that they became piano balladeer Chris Martin and His Cold Players on X&Y - I thought the Echo-y sound on A Rush... suited them fine. Still thought so when I listened to that album again for the first time in eons last week - so it survived spring cleaning.

By: Chris Molanphy

Chris Molanphy — Thu, 22 May 2008 06:19:04 +0000

@Ned Raggett: Don't forget "With or Without the Car Running" and "Bullet the Black Mirror."

Anyway...

I kind of love the Coldplay ad. It's easily Apple's most effective single-artist ad since the Caesars "Jerk It Out" spot about three years ago and arguably better designed/edited. And the single's good; I half-wonder why EMI's bothering with "Violet Hill" if they've got this one ready to go to radio.

What makes me laugh is the Internets are clearly gearing up for a mass all-is-forgiven with Coldplay after the mass go-fuck-yourself in '05.

Not to portray myself as some steadfast opinion-maker or anything, but: I called Rush of Blood my second-best album of 2002, and give or take an album or three I stand by that; it's an almost embarrassingly mainstream but flawlessly crafted album, and when he applies himself Martin can write limey anthemic rock hooks like taking a breath. Now they need to just stop replicating the formula of that album and releasing third-rate snoozefests like X&Y.

I look forward to the Killers backlash-reversal in '09.