I’m actually not a big fan (I don’t have a single album), but some of you are way overboard on the hate. . .as is the case with any band that makes it big and gets radio play.
The lyrics are sometimes interesting with some nice imagery. The music is multi-layered, and you at least can’t call it “simple”. His voice, while channeling Bono at times, is unique as it cracks slightly and gets slightly “blue” but can also make a nice pure tone. His piano playing is pretty complex, as is some of the drumming.
The problem is, he pulls all that off while writings songs that are catchy with a nice hook, and truly that is all the Radioheaderati needs to hate a band, or to label them as bland.
Personally, I know a couple of people that hate U2, but love Coldplay, and that I don’t fully get. Coldplay is definitely derivative, but that doesn’t mean they suck.
I liked Coldplay from the first time I overheard “A Rush of Blood to the Head” coming from my officemate’s headphones. I must have been pretty vocal in my appreciation because my officemate soon afterward bought me the CD for Christmas. I had no idea who they were, and I don’t really listen to music on TV or the radio, so I can’t be accused of jumping on a bandwagon.
That being said, I listened to the album a few times and found it excellent, but it’s just too bleak and depressing. I haven’t listened to any Coldplay in a couple of years now.
I think Thom Yorke of Radiohead described it best by labeling it “lifestyle music”, which I agree with.
I find that I am able to hum along with the music/singing on the very first play.
That’s okay, if you’re a semi-music fan; however, if certain songs/albums/bands have a dramatic affect on you then Coldplay will eventually “dissapoint” as it doesn’t seem like there is much substance there on repeated listens. (imho!)
They were big in the UK, a minor hit here. I maintain that if the singer hadn’t married Gwynneth, they’d already be forgotten in the US. The Entertainment Weekly article asking if they were the next U2 must have mentioned Gwynneth at least 5 times, which is probably 5 times more than they mentioned the other three guys in the band.
EW is hardily the arbiter of great music, but i think it typifies most interest in Coldplay in the US- " the band with Gwynneth and Apple attatched to the singer".
I don’t really see them as particularly hateable… but I also don’t really see that much about them that could cause someone to passionately like them. They really are kind of bland, I think, though certainly not the be-all and end-all of bland. The people who are comparing them to more recent U2 are right IMO - they aren’t bad, and they probably ARE better than most of the dreck out there, but there’s nothing really interesting about them and most of their songs kind of sound the same.
This thread cracks me up. I don’t listen to the radio, and I had never heard of Coldplay until last weekend. I was on my computer with the TV tuned to VH1 not paying much attention when I suddenly noticed that there was some music playing that I really liked. I focused my attention and realized that I was watching an episode of Storytellers featuring Coldplay. After listening to a few more of their songs, I was very impressed with myself for liking an actual currently popular rock band. Ha! I thought, now when people ask me about music I like, I’ll be able to say something other than Elton John, Barry Manilow, and Billy Joel, and people will maybe believe I have some musical taste.
Then it occurred to me that perhaps I was misreading the situation, and those in the know would class Coldplay in the junk heap with the rest of my favorites. I thought about starting a thread on the subject, but figured I should just keep my mouth shut. And now here it is, the thread about the whiny, dull, boring crap that is Coldplay. At least the consensus seems to be that they’re a step up from Manilow.
Oh, btw, I had no idea that they had any connection to Gwyneth Paltrow until this thread.
They’re not the most exciting band in the world, but they write and perform their own songs, and they’re solid enough and largely unoffensive. While I can see not being “into” Coldplay, I can’t see people vehemently despising them, slagging them off as a bunch of talentless, soulless losers, burning them in effigy. That kind of venom should be saved for bands who deserve it, like Creed and Limp Bizkit.
Not a fan of Coldplay by any means. I wouldn’t like them even if they were good, as its not my sound, but they’re a long way from good. Chris Martin has the sort of intelligent, middle-brow personality that makes for really boring pop music IMO. As has been pointed out already, no one would mind if it wasn’t for the incessant hype that surrounds them and their non-stop radio play.
That said, their hype is nowhere near as over inflated as that peddled for Radiohead. [Dons tin hat and runs for cover ]
Radiohead don’t write catchy songs with nice hooks? Listen to The Bends again and get back to me.
As far as Coldplay goes… well, the best description I’ve seen so far comes from Big Bad Voodoo Lou: “inoffensive.” They write catchy pop tunes, but I can’t imagine listening to them as anything more than bland background music. They’re the Muzak of modern rock.
Ha! Not really. Maroon 5 belong in a different class. They’re a, what I call, One Album Wonder. One of those bands that put out one album, see most of the singles off that album go big and then are pretty much never heard from again. See Matchbox 20.
Nope, sorry. Matchbox 20 has, while not equalled the success from Yourself Or Someone Like You, at least stayed in the public eye. See Bent, If You’re Gone, Bright Lights, and Unwell.
Maroon 5 has become a punch line. When you can predict - accurately - that the radio is going to play a certain band (or a certain song…see This Love), it’s just stupid.
And don’t forget that Rob Thomas, the voice of Matchbox 20, sung “Smooth,” which would become a huge hit and single-handedly bring Carlos Santana back into the spotlight.
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