Coldplay - Ghost Stories
Coldplay - Ghost Stories
Parlophone Records
Tiger Rating: 6.5 / 10
Coldplay have always been the knobs you love to hate. They were egocentric and overrated before Kanye. So why am I reviewing their album?
Trying to be less contrived.
So on a positive, Martin is a good song writer. Only an uneducated person would think otherwise. His problem has always been that he tried too hard. When 'Viva La Vida' came out, he told NME that he had penned "the greatest song ever written by anyone". Ever.
What a tool.
Thing is though it was a good song. Not the best song in the world by far. Definitely not the most enduring (that honour belongs to whoever wrote 'Happy Birthday' - hey, everyone knows it and it's a century old).
Martin and the guys always try too hard. They're the 40 year old father of two who runs to get his hair cut like the Biebs. They're the soccer moms with tramp stamps. They don't know how to keep it simple. Maybe until now.
Gone are the eye-wateringly AWFUL collaborations with Rihanna & potential for Pitbull remixes and instead we have an album whose first half at least is incredibly subtle tales of longing.
Divorce suits Martin.
Stand out tracks are the opener 'Always In My Head' (which supposedly dismisses rumours of an ugly break-up, but which is a very sweet song nevertheless), the gorgeously simple, synthy, Bon Iver-esque 'Midnight' and beautiful closer 'O' (in which the words "flock of birds" sound very much like something else...)
This time, even when they try to go urban and get some attitude, they restrain themselves from going balls to the wall, cheese fest with featured artists, and rather keep it real and white and British ('Another's Arms').
The only mis-step on the album is possibly 'A Sky Full Of Stars', which borders nauseatingly close to being an Aviicii track. It just has no bearing on the rest of the album.
Will I ever be caught listening to Coldplay? Not a chance. Is this album rather good? Yes. As albums go generally and for a Coldplay album.
WVS
Trying to be less contrived.
So on a positive, Martin is a good song writer. Only an uneducated person would think otherwise. His problem has always been that he tried too hard. When 'Viva La Vida' came out, he told NME that he had penned "the greatest song ever written by anyone". Ever.
What a tool.
Thing is though it was a good song. Not the best song in the world by far. Definitely not the most enduring (that honour belongs to whoever wrote 'Happy Birthday' - hey, everyone knows it and it's a century old).
Martin and the guys always try too hard. They're the 40 year old father of two who runs to get his hair cut like the Biebs. They're the soccer moms with tramp stamps. They don't know how to keep it simple. Maybe until now.
Gone are the eye-wateringly AWFUL collaborations with Rihanna & potential for Pitbull remixes and instead we have an album whose first half at least is incredibly subtle tales of longing.
Divorce suits Martin.
Stand out tracks are the opener 'Always In My Head' (which supposedly dismisses rumours of an ugly break-up, but which is a very sweet song nevertheless), the gorgeously simple, synthy, Bon Iver-esque 'Midnight' and beautiful closer 'O' (in which the words "flock of birds" sound very much like something else...)
This time, even when they try to go urban and get some attitude, they restrain themselves from going balls to the wall, cheese fest with featured artists, and rather keep it real and white and British ('Another's Arms').
The only mis-step on the album is possibly 'A Sky Full Of Stars', which borders nauseatingly close to being an Aviicii track. It just has no bearing on the rest of the album.
Will I ever be caught listening to Coldplay? Not a chance. Is this album rather good? Yes. As albums go generally and for a Coldplay album.
WVS
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