Coldplay have become a total
enigma to me. How is it that a band who released three amazing albums back to
back Parachutes, A Rush of Blood to the Head, and X & Y can slip up so badly musically, with their latest slip up
Ghost Stories leading me to think whether
there is any coming back for Coldplay.
Things started to go
wrong for Coldplay on Viva La Vida which
was really just Chris Martin buying into his own press that he was the new Bono
and having an inner-self pretentious moment thinking he could record an arty
album with an arty cover and get away with it. Things got even worse on their
next album, the one with a silly name which was an absolute insult to the bands
original fans and was recorded on the back of the success of Viva La Vida to appease those people who
thought Viva La Vida was the bands
first album. It was with this album that I was beginning to lose hope of
hearing another decent Coldplay album, so it is fair to say that with this
latest offering I had lowered my expectations of hearing anything special. And
so I was proven right.
Ghost
Stories is a sombre
low key affair, partly inspired by Martin’s troubled relationship with Gwyneth
Paltrow which we now know led to a breakup. It is less pop-oriented, with the
stadium anthems that dotted the bands last two albums mostly absent, thank
Jesus. The album begins with “Always in My Head”, a slow plod of a song which
is an uninspiring bore to start the album. The signs are not good straight off
the bad, but I keep going. Second song “Magic” is an improvement and has got
somewhat of an urban soul vibe to it, Tracy Chapman immediately comes to mind
on first listening, while “Ink”, a mid-tempo percussive pop track continues this
theme with some nice harmonies thrown in for good measure.
A massive dip occurs in
the middle of the album with “True Love” and then an absolute turd of a track “Midnight”.
At this point words fail me, as Coldplay are at their very worst when they try
and imitate other distinct styles as they have done with pop, dance and
hip-hop. Here it seems they are trying to copy some obscure electro-pop act in what
resembles the pretentiousness I have unfortunately come to associate with
Coldplay. “Midnight” is followed by “Another’s Arms”, a pop/R&B track that
has a very tinny drum part and a rather ghostly female backing vocalist in what
is another laboured track that doesn’t really do anything. A song that is worth
its salt finally comes in the form of “Oceans”, a haunting track that sounds
like a lost Parachutes out-take. This
is what Coldplay should sound like and when they are at their best, just Martin
singing and strumming an acoustic guitar allowing the listener to just close
their eyes and float away think “Spies”, think “Sparks”. “Oceans” is easily the
best track on the album and represents the most Parachutes-sounding song
Coldplay have recorded since, well, Parachutes.
The album concludes with “A Sky full of Stars” which sees the band return to
the stadium anthem sound of their last two albums, and closing track “O”, which
is precisely my reaction to this album. Oh why Coldplay? Why?
C
- Sam
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