I'm tired of being a Coldplay apologist. Admitting you like Coldplay can result in you being a social outcast, I almost feel like I should be joining Coldplay Anonymous. Hello my name is Tony and I like Coldplay.
There does seem to be a lot of hatred out there. Insult you often hear are "They are so bland", "All the songs sound the same" and "Chris Martin is just a ******* (add your own expletive)". I have to confess that I don't really understand what the problem is. I can see why some people think the songs are similar although there are very few bands that reinvent their style every album. Each Coldplay album is different so it's not as if they are standing still. People just seem to hate them because they are successful and Chris and Gwyneth can come across as a little pretentious sometimes. However that is no reason to write off their music.
For me good songs make you feel something. Whether that be positive or negative emotions or even a soaring feelings that can be produced, it's the emotion that makes it worthwhile. There is nothing worse than a song that you can't connect with and leaves you feeling cold.
All Coldplay songs fulfil this requirement and that is what is important. They have a lot more talent than some of the acclaimed artists out there who don't actually justify the praise. I'm thinking specifically of Pete Doherty who has yet to demonstrate to me any of the talent he is supposed to have. There are a couple of songs he has done that aren't bad but he seems to be more famous for drugs rather than music. Despite this he is still highly praised and rated for his music. I'm also unsure as to why Lily Allen is so popular critically and commercially. She doesn't even sing, just talks over some music with some butchered rhyming. Is she famous because of her Dad and the fact she provides a good sound bite?
Coldplay concerts are also very good. One of the best gigs I've been to was Coldplay at the Liquid Rooms. It was initially scheduled for just after the first album came out but was postponed due to illness. By the time of the rescheduled gig, the album had taken off and Coldplay were on their way to becoming very successful. It meant that they were probably too big for the venue which actually made for a great concert. All the crowd were completely behind the band and were singing along. We even started singing Everything's Not Lost to encourage them back for the encore. Usually there is just cheering and stamping of feet so this made it pretty special, you could tell the band appreciated it.
Anyway to sum up Coldplay are a great band with great songs and it's about time people realised this instead of jumping on the I Hate Coldplay bandwagon.
5 comments:
I find this happens a lot. A band comes out, gets lots of sucess, both critical and commercial and then all of a sudden the press just turn on them. I think Travis are a lot like that. I've really enjoyed their last couple of albums, and yet they got panned for the last one. At the same time, Keane, a pish Travis rip-off band get loads of praise. It's all about trends, which does make me wonder about the music press. They should have a bit of integrity instead of simply trying to create bandwagons to jump on.
I'm sorry, but Travis are pish. They showed so much promise with The Man Who...but instead they got stuck in a holding pattern churning out soundalike songs. Before you start, I own the greatest hits, and there are some very good songs on there, but some of them (is this a symptom of age?) just sound the same. I'm happy that Fran Healy loves his girlfriend, but does he really have to tell us over 2 albums??
Coldplay on the other hand...genius. They may not be the most exciting band on the planet, but every song they have is a joy to listen to. It's safe to say that Parachutes, as fine as it was, was a Jeff Buckley/Radiohead tribute. Rush of Blood.. and X&Y are the sound of a band going places. A good anaolgy was one that Q used saying that the 1st album was then taxiing to the runway, the 2nd was them taking off, and the 3rd was them in full flight. Any one who hates Coldplay should be given the birch.
Now. Keane. I hate to admit it, but I like them. I couldn't care tuppence if they're posh, and they are certainly not Travis wannabes. Under the Iron Sea is a jump from the 1st album, and it can be lyrically quite dark (always a good thing in the musical world of the Mitchyban). A fine band.
Don't get me started on The Fray though...utter P-A-S-H.
I have to agree with Scott to an extent on Travis, they seem to have gone downhill since The Man Who. Whilst the aobums after haven't been that bad, they have had less and less good songs. They never really did build on the initially promise.
On Keane I agree with Alan, they are pish, just a Coldplay/Travis rip off. Some of their songs sound decent as standalone tracks but I just can't listen to a whole album. They are just bland and I keep wanting to punch the lad singer, he has that kind of face and voice. They just strike me as too pretentious. I was probably initially put off by the music press hyping them up before the release of the first album. They were billed as the next Coldplay and quite clearly aren't.
I do think the music press has it's own agendas not always related to the music. Witness Kula Shaker and Menswear. Both bands received massive amounts of press during the Britpop era but hadn't very little in the way of talent to back it up. Once the press realised this, both bands were then the target of relentless mocking. They built them up just to knock them back down again.
First Xtina and now Keane, Scott, you should get yourself to a doctor mate and get yourself checked out.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
What a pair of haters you are. Keane are rock and roll, and if you can't see that, you should go to Spec-Savers.
They have no guitarist, how punk rock is that for a time where guitar bands are two-a-penny?
The lead singer's done time in rehab (for Port addiction, according to Kasabian, brilliantly)Fran Healy probably thinks rehab is something you do to a shed roof.
I'm not saying that they are the Sex Pistols of the noughties, but Keane rock, end of story. Now scurry back to your copy of the Invisible Band.
Bringing Xtina into the argument is just playing dirrty though.
I completely agree with poking fun at Kula Shaker. Only album I've ever taken off the ipod.
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