# What is so great about Coldplay? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-great-about-coldplay/308290 "2005-06-14T23:28:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RTA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RTA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTA)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-great-about-coldplay/308290/41 "2005-06-16T12:15:07Z")
I listened to _X + Y_ for the first time yesterday, and I thought I was listening to U2. More accurately, I knew I was listening to Coldplay, but what it really sounded like to me was a U2 album. (One of the crappy, boring ones.) I think it’s because that singer is basically a Bono impersonator, and the rest of the band obviously takes great pains to sound like their U2 counterparts. Hence the eternal comparisons. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2005, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-great-about-coldplay/308290/42 "2005-06-16T14:30:41Z")
> [@AlbertRose](#): > > Quote: > Originally Posted by The Scrivener > Well, you liked “Yellow” a helluva lot more than I did. I’d sooner listen to Lou Reed scraping amplified fingernails against a cheesegrater the length of the Atlantic City boardwalk. > > How about this? Yep, you got it. ---
**Author:** ![Bomzaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Bomzaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bomzaway)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-great-about-coldplay/308290/43 "2005-06-17T15:25:54Z")
> [@Indygrrl](#): > > My thoughts exactly. > > I need some sex with my rock and roll, and these guys just don’t have any zing whatsoever. They are as vanilla as it gets. But infusing sex into a song is so…easy. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big Van Halen fan and good portion of their stuff is sexual, but in they’re apples to Coldplay’s oranges. I’ve not heard their latest release, but judging from what I’ve heard from them, Coldplay is strictly a love song band. Granted, they also write stuff like Politik, which is a social commentary, but the love song is their bread and butter. Kind of like Journey back in the day. I’m not a big fan of Coldplay, but I think they operate within that love song niche quite well, especially when the topic is reconciliation or forgiveness. I’ve dabbled in songwriting in the past and at least for me, writing decent lyrics for a song about love is much harder and far more personal and exposing than writing a song about sex. That said, the buzz mentioned in the OP is just a sales pitch. Ignore it. It’s the work of some overzealous publicist. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-great-about-coldplay/308290/44 "2005-06-17T15:36:49Z")
There’s sexy music and then there’s music with lyrics about sex. VH did the latter in typical cheap fasion, and I think their stuff was lame and not sexy. Coldplay’s not sexy either, but at least they’re not writing a bunch of sleazy garbage. I don’t think it’s really much harder to write ‘sensitive rock,’ though, and doing so is very popular these days. I have to agree with what **Superdude** said. I’m okay with U2, but Dave Matthews, Matchbox 20 and now _Journey_? Good lord. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-great-about-coldplay/308290/45 "2005-06-17T15:47:32Z")
> [@Bomzaway](#): > > But infusing sex into a song is so…easy. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big Van Halen fan and good portion of their stuff is sexual, but in they’re apples to Coldplay’s oranges. > > I’ve not heard their latest release, but judging from what I’ve heard from them, Coldplay is strictly a love song band. Granted, they also write stuff like Politik, which is a social commentary, but the love song is their bread and butter. Kind of like Journey back in the day. I’m not a big fan of Coldplay, but I think they operate within that love song niche quite well, especially when the topic is reconciliation or forgiveness. I’ve dabbled in songwriting in the past and at least for me, writing decent lyrics for a song about love is much harder and far more personal and exposing than writing a song about sex. > > That said, the buzz mentioned in the OP is just a sales pitch. Ignore it. It’s the work of some overzealous publicist. I think she’s talking about a song that makes you feel like fucking, regardless of lyrics. It’s hard to get that feeling from a whiney-voiced, neutered, Brit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-great-about-coldplay/308290.md?page=2)