thu 12/12/2024

CD: Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto | reviews, news & interviews

CD: Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto

CD: Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto

Stadium rock for the keep-calm-and-carry-on generation

Coldplay's 'Mylo Xyloto': they feel your pain

Is there any point criticising Coldplay? You might as well take issue with your own digestive system, or the word “the”, or the colour brown. They're there, they're part of the fabric of things, they're not going away.

Indeed, so etched are they into our culture, with not just ambitious indie bands but every rapper from Jay Z on down adding a mopey none-less-funky chant-along chorus into their tracks in the hope of getting some of those Chris Martin dollars, that getting riled by their sound is, frankly, a short cut to insanity.

And anyway, they're not awful as such. For every mimsy-whimsy bedwetting “Yellow” or “The Scientist” in their catalogue there's a huge, soul-stirring “Clocks” or “Viva La Vida” which even the most curmudgeonly would have to admit is at the very least perfectly constructed to reach vast festival and stadium crowds. Chris Martin has stated that every track they write is created with the Glastonbury main stage in mind, and you can hear that fact shot through this album, which is even bigger, more anthemic, more injected with all the sonic fizz and pizzazz that Brian Eno brings to proceedings than anything they've done to date.

All the tics are there too – the build-up to Martin's leap into falsetto, the last word of verses held to a ridiculous degree so that crowds singing along will get all tingly from hyperventilation, the billion layers of chiming guitars that sound like U2 if they were made out of sugar and lace, the endless vague “feel your pain” platitudes wrapped up in mildly kooky artiness. There are some new twists like the zippy tempo and Oasis riffs of “Hurts Like Heaven”, or the ambient Sigur Rós chords of “Up With the Birds” but these are hardly radical. It's stadium rock for the “Keep Calm and Carry On” generation, as untroublingly pleasurable as spending your life thinking about elaborate cupcakes and unpretentious interior décor. And there's nothing wrong with that... is there?

It's as untroublingly pleasurable as spending your life thinking about elaborate cupcakes and unpretentious interior décor

rating

Editor Rating: 
3
Average: 3 (1 vote)

Share this article

Comments

Coldplay have always made good albums. I would listen to each new release for a couple of months, enjoying the music without really connecting with it, before filing the disc away with the rest of my music collection. Their fourth album - Viva La Vida - caught me totally off guard - the detail invested in the music and Chris Martin's Blakean lyrics grabbed my attention in a way the band hadn't managed before. I never stopped listening to it and I never put it away. Now it lives in a small stack of CDs that I keep next to my hi-fi. I'm trying to approach new one - Milo The Axolotl - with lowered expectations because lightning seldom strikes twice. I can't see myself falling for it in the same way that I did with its predecessor.

Every Coldplay album has a smattering of classic songs, from parachutes yellow, beautiful world and shiver, from a rush of blood the achingly beautiful the scientist, clocks, In my place and a few others such as politik. On the much maligned x and y, fix you and till kingdom come. From viva you have the title track , life in technicolor, death and all his friends and strawberry swing from mylo hurts like heaven, Charlie brown are two absolute standouts for me. Over the 5 albums loads of amazing amazing songs

I take issue with the above comment, calling Chris Martin's lyrics BLAKEAN??? As in William Blake??? Oh my. I gather it must have been a typing error. Middle of the road "Blokean", rather.

why do these guys have to sound "radical" as if that's the basis of good music? they've improved/expanded on their overall sound on this and the last album/EP yet lazy critics still treat them like "X&Y" just came out. i get that they are not "cool" to like and i understand why to an extent but i'd rather they continue on this path of opening up their sound without losing what made their best songs good in the first place, as opposed to making up-its-own-ass "challenging" music like post-"Kid A" Radiohead that gets props cuz of the impression it's difficult.

LOVE IT! Kinda funny... even the songs I don't seem to love at first such as Paradise & Charlie Brown really grows on you after a while... two more days until I rock the roof off!

You know what I want, I really want someone who actually likes coldplay to be able to actually put a few sentences together that can explain why they like the group. I am completely baffled as to why they exist. I mean sentences more complex than "they are great"; "they make good albums" "i like their music"; "my husband likes them" "Brian Eno likes them" "he's married to Gwyneth Paltrow" " I need a new sofa" "they sell many albums". Let's say a mini descriptive essay with mild usage of adjectives. Unfortunately the level of writing used in the comments defending coldplay idoes not go much further than that of Chris Martin's songs, which, let's face it, have no content whatsoever. This is the Explain Coldplay Contest. Win a dictionary! Or a punch in the face! (just kidding!)

I'm dissapointed so far Mylo Xyloto/Hurts Like Heaven - awesome Paradise - too weak and boring Charlie Brown - probably the best song on new album Us Against The World - sounds like a B-side from Parachutes MMIX/Every Teardrop - also one of the better songs first half is much better than second

okay my review coldplay's new record loady bullocko out now What is this mysterious title? "it's a holy pot from eastern asia used to serve testicle soup" track 1 - gwynne likes this. she does yoga stretches. Brian Eno Yawned. He says it was one of the instructions on his high-minded conceptual cards. "yawn and feel the power of the dollar" track 2 - better song. Boring yet calm. Uplifting yet cloudy track 3 - time for a new sofa track 4 - better than their song "the sun sets" or "bread tastes better with butter". track 5 - like waiting at the dentists' whilst reading heat magazine track 6 - love this song. It's called " the day has 24 hours". Wow. Chris Martin is just like Keats. track 7 - "tear falls from the eye, not the nose". What a great song. I'll put that on when I've got a runny nose. track 8 - it's better than the last one. You know, the one I really like track 9 - it's exactly what I expected a new sofa would sound like. But better Overall I like the record. I think it's a good record. People buy this record. Gwyneth Paltrow said it's a masterpiece. I was thinking this is good.

Add comment

The future of Arts Journalism

 

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters