Review on Coldplay's Ghost Stories

 

Ghost Stories by Coldplay

(Finally a proper review!)

Yes, I know most of my posts have been on Coldplay and on this album in particular (apologies for my obvious preference but they are my favourite band), so I am over the moon to finally be able to do a proper review on the album!

Coldplay still have yet to officially release their album - after much teasing - in 3 days. However we were given a free stream to the FULL album on iTunes on an animated film of the album cover! Fabulous! 
I hoped I wouldn't be disappointed by it and guess what? I WASN'T! This is a great album and I much prefer it to Mylo Xyloto. I love the new sounds of this album (however, I will admit to missing the guitar riffs off Jonny Buckland in some songs) and the synthetics used in the songs.

Anyway, I'll cut to the chase and straight up say that my favourite tracks off this album are 'True Love', 'Oceans', 'A Sky Full of Stars', and what seems to be everyones favourite, 'O'.
'True Love' is a song about unrequited and lost love (Chris/Gwyneth split inspiration?) the lyrics are heartbreaking but the song opens optimistically with a good beat. Maybe this is a sport of metaphor for how things slow down as the relationship in the song breaks down and gets more melancholy. Chris is back to his old whiney singing in this track and we hear Jonny on one of his famous guitar solos wafting gently through the song.. I love it! My current favourite lyrics feature in this song: Remember once upon a time, When I was yours and you were blind? Ugh, perfection.
And then we get to our last track, everyone's favourite, O. This song opens with the sweetest piano piece and beautiful lyrics to accompany it. Chris and Gwyneth's kids, Apple and Moses also appear as bonus vocals towards the end of this track. So cute! 
I've already gone on to explain the other tracks in other reviews on this album. I may have written WAY too much on this album before it was even released but I'm sure you can excuse my excitement.. 
I would also like to take a moment to talk about the artwork on this album created by Mila Fürstová. I think it is simply beautiful and matches the whole theme of the album precisely. The art reflects on the stars which can be seen as "light in the darkness" in bad times, such as a breakup, which is what this album seems to be centered on. 

('A Sky Full of Stars' artwork based on mythology)

Ok so as a conclusion, this album has been far from disappointing. I really enjoyed the long build up to this album and it was worth the wait. I believe that there will be a great tour and hopefully this year they will come to Ireland! Well done Coldplay on making another fabulous album!

Song suggestion: True Love - Coldplay

Personal Coldplay Rant

*Unpopular Opinion Warning*

Look, I am happy for Coldplay's success and everything but I feel like the band may be changing. I always saw Coldplay as being a big but humble band... Yes, sure Chris Martin is still the awkward yet cute dork he used to be all those years ago but I feel like Coldplay are becomming more mainstream than usual.

Rant #1: Chris Martin on The Voice? Their new Target deal? Advertisement in general? What?

Ugh, I don't like it. I remember reading somewhere about them turning down the offer to have their song 'Trouble' played on a Coca-Cola ad. Coca-Cola is a bigger business than Target as far as I'm concerned. Yes, I am aware that Target is more of an American based company but in my Irish eyes I see this as one of those 'exclusive at Tesco' kind of things. THIS IS NOT WHO COLDPLAY ARE! Am I disappointed? Yes, I suppose so but if they think they are making the right decisions then so be it.

Rant #2: The Lyric Hunt? In Ireland? WHAT?!

Okay, haha this is more of a personal rant. Some may be aware that Coldplay had a lyrics hunt in which 9 different hand-written (by Chris Martin himself) lyrical sheets and had been hidden in 9 different libraries ALL AROUND THE WORLD. Kind reminder that there is a hell of a lot of libraries on Earth. Coldplay's twitter had been awash in clues on finding these lyrics and of course I don't have twitter but some of the lyrics to their song 'Midnight' had been hidden. Want to guess which library they were hidden in? That's right, my local library. MY. LOCAL. LIBRARY. Am I annoyed? You can bet your bottom dollar I am.

I didn't find it of course, I found out about 3 days after the sheet had actually been found. I am happy for the finder but also INSANELY jealous. Nothing like this ever happens in Ireland, let alone in my local proximity. And nothing similar will happen again... *sigh*

RANT OVER! SORRY IF I HAVE INSULTED ANYONE!   (it's just personal)

Review of Coldplay's Newly Released Tracks

 

Ghost Stories - New Tracks

Coldplay have their fans on their toes, releasing new songs weeks before their sixth album. Ghost Stories is set to be released (On 19th May). Performances at the iTunes festival showed fans their new songs 'Always in My Head' and 'Another's Arms' which we're greeted with great enthusiasm and praise. Coldplay also released a new song, 'Oceans' while performing at BBC Live Lounge. And their most recent track 'Sky Full of Stars' was released and gained #1 on the iTunes charts in 86 countries! Well done Coldplay!



My personal response is of course, as positive as ever to Coldplay and I highly praise them for such great tracks. Although, most of these tracks are break-up tracks, you can sadly see how many of these songs may have found their inspiration through the Martin/Paltrow split. I found it unusual to have the band have an ongoing theme throughout all their songs so far released. All the songs are about love and/or heartbreak, quite a change from Mylo Xyloto which had a more happier theme with songs not necessarily about love. 

I think I'm just going to miss the era of Xylobands, bright colours, and beautiful confetti. This era seems to be much darker with an ongoing theme of stars, with star confetti and star-shaped hanging lights. It sure is going to be beautiful and without doubt I will love this era too because I have a great obsession with astronomy and stars in general. (Coldplay and stars? My perfect mix!) But I feel like I am going to miss the colours and happiness from the previous era (and more importantly Chris Martin's ridiculous dance moves).

My favourite released track so far is 'Oceans'. When I first heard the track I was temporarily paralysed. This track is pure perfection. It reflects on the 'Parachutes' era as we hear Chris hitting those high, meloncholy notes and they finally reach back into their 'whiney' and 'depressing' themes. I love the acoustics of this song and so far it is without doubt my favourite song from the Ghost Stories album.

Personal thoughts - Chris Martin & Gwyneth Paltrow split

The Concious Uncouple

Earlier this week myself and many fans of both Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow were shocked by some surprising news of their personal lives. A split. Honestly, I never expected to see such a headline myself. I remember when I first saw the post on Gwyn's blog, Goop I was completely taken aback. How could this ever happen? I had thought to myself, hardly believing what my eyes were seeing.

Chris and Gwen were always the perfect example of what I and many other fans saw as being 'the perfect couple' and utterly unbreakable. For 10 years the two were married to each other and had two beautiful children, Apple (9) and Moses (7).

In Gwyn's announcement post she asks for their "space and privacy to be respected at this difficult time." I don't think I could agree more, breaks up can be tough and I am sure there is nothing worse than having the press breathing down their necks at all times. Having 2 young children and making sure their lives remain as 'normal' as possible without them getting any bother from the publicity may be difficult.

[picture used from Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop post]

All I can do is hope for the best for Chris and Gwyneth. I truly admire them both and I hope their privacy is as respected as they want it to be. I wish them health and happiness in the rest of their lives.

Review on The Vaccines' album What Did You Expect from The Vaccines?

What did you expect?

Yes, yes I know it's been 3 years since The Vaccines released this album but I felt like doing another 'oldie but a goldie' review today (also maybe because I have been too lazy to listen to a new album.. Eeek!) . This debut album is up there in my favourite albums and always seems like the kind of album you can rely on to not bore you.

I think that this album is the perfect example of one of those albums where there are no 'filler in' songs. In case you don't know what I mean, my idea of a 'filler in song' is a song just put into the album for no reason. The song doesn't catch the listener's attention and usually leaves them skipping the song on their iPod or CD. All of the songs on this album are different in their own way and are just too good to want to change.

The album opens with a perfect, upbeat start with 'Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)' and ends on a slow soft note with 'Family Friend'.

In a way this whole album has inspired my thoughts on what I want to do in the future. Not a lot of albums can affect a person in this way. I think this album is extremely surfer-esque, it makes me want to go surfing on a grey cloudy day, come in from the sea and sit in one of those vintage Volkswagen busses with a group of friends overlooking the stormy sea under a warm blanket.

I will leave you with my favourite track from the album, giving you a sample of what you can expect from The Vaccines ;) 

Review on Arctic Monkey's AM

         Ahh, yes my favourite album of 2013! This album is just so bad ass. Half of the album makes you wanna dress up in leather, wear red lipstick, drive around on a motorcycle and break boys hearts while the other half makes you wanna fall in love and slow dance with the love of your life. <sigh> I just really love this album, okay? Like, really could this band get any cooler?

I remember seeing such hype before the album was released and months after it was released. Not being a huge fan of Arctic Monkeys before (don't get me wrong, I liked them but just not as much as I do now) I didn't really get the excitement. Seeing posts everywhere on websites like Tumblr encouraged me to listen to a few songs. And oh, did I fall in love!! I knew their previous popular songs but this album is a whole new level!

The tracks on this album are soething of beauty. The singles released include: 'R U Mine?'; 'Do I Wanna Know?'; 'Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?'; and 'Arabella'.
My favourite song on this album is 'Knee Socks' or 'No. 1 Party Anthem'.
The lyrics of some of these songs (in parcticular 'Arabella') are so beautifully written and leave you in complete shok of what you have just heard.
This whole album in general has converted me to an Artic Monkeys fan and I am looking forward to seeing them in concert this summer,
This album deserves every award it has won this year, despite how cringy Alex Turner acted while accepting them...

Coldplay - Ghost Stories (upcoming album)

         A NEW ALBUM BY COLDPLAY YOU SAY? 

YES PLEASE! Coldplay are set to release their new album, Ghost Stories in mid-May 2014.
Rumors have spread that the album will be similar to their old stuff, like 'A Rush of Blood to the Head', my favourite album! I have high hopes for this album and don't want to be disappointed.
9 tracks had already been confirmed :

1.  Always in my Head
2. Magic
3. Ink
4. True Love
5. Midnight
6. Another's Arms
7. Oceans
8. A Sky Full of Stars
9. O

So far Coldplay have released 2 songs, 'Midnight', and 'Magic' but performed two other singles 'Another's Arms' and 'Always in my Head' at the iTunes music festival which were both accepted with great enthusiasm by fans.
Their first surprise single of the album, Midnight was released a couple of weeks ago and was greated with mixed responces. The song is dark and is complimented  by a music video directed by Mary Wigmore (who also directed the video to 'The Hardest Part'). The video reached 1 million views in less than 6 hours. It seems almost as if they did a 'Beyoncé' on their suprise release of this song. Well played, boys.

I, myself wasn't entirely fond of the song. It shows a completely new side of the band and takes a sharp turn from the previous upbeat, 'pop'ish album Mylo Xyloto (also greeted with mixed reviews). I have further hope for this album, however.

Their latest single, 'Magic' is far more to my liking. Wow, I love this tune. It has been accepted very well by fans and seems to be doing quite well in the charts.

Recently Coldplay have joined up with Target to release a deluxe version of Ghost stories that includes 3 bonus tracks:

1. All Your Friends
2. Ghost Story
3. O (Part 2)

I have high hopes for this album. I will be waiting patiently and hope it lives up to its expectations!!