From time to time, as I mentioned the other day, I will use this blog page to let you know of my top 10 songs by a particular artist/band, explaining my choice behind shortlisting the tracks that I have. To kick this off, it seemed appropriate to consider my favourite 10 Coldplay tracks to date, given that I have just reviewed their latest EP. I realise that music is very subjective, one man's meat is another man's Marmite, to coin a phrase, so no doubt those of you reading this blog will disagree with my choices and will be outraged at some of the tracks which are absent from the shortlist. That is fine, it was in fact quite a difficult process narrowing this list down to 10 tracks given that Coldplay have released a back catalogue of tracks from their four albums and one EP to date and so it is only natural that some songs which others will view as a classic have been left off the final cut. Anyway, here is the magic dectet (if such a word exists), in reverse order:
10. Lovers In Japan
I already mentioned this track in my review of Prospekts March and I think already this has grown on me to the point of me believing this belongs amongst Coldplay's classic pantheon of songs. It seems like a U2 influenced song and the best compliment I can pay is that it would not be out of place on one of their albums.
9. Shiver
This track comes from Coldplay's first album Parachutes from back in 2000. Yellow and Trouble tend to be the tracks that have largely retained the classic status from that album, but this track, which I think I am right in saying was Coldplay's first ever singles release is a mighty fine song in its own right. Chris Martin's vocals capture the vulnerability that the lyrics of the song are trying to convey while the change of moods is equally well captured by there being quieter moments followed by a burst of guitar. A very good song.
8. Trouble
We stay on the Parachutes album and for this track to only poll eighth in my list is some testament to the tracks above it. The haunting piano solo segments are matched only by Chris Martin's haunting vocals on the record. This was iconic at the time it was released and I think it has aged quite well, it still sounds good to hear some eight years after its release.
7. Talk
Again, it is no slight on this track to only poll seventh. Of the singles that Coldplay released from their X&Y album, this was quite clearly their best. Chris Martin's falsetto vocals are at their best on this track and a burst of guitar in the middle of the track are particular highlights. Some see this as quite a sad song, but I actually regard it as more of a hopeful song, an olive branch.
6. Viva La Vida
I must admit this was a song that I did not immediately take to, but over the past few months with more listens, I have realised it is a masterpiece. Thoughtful, clever lyrics which seem be based around how one is judged when their time is up, the great thing about this track is the fusion of instruments that are used in putting the track together. In particular, the strings and the gospel style backing singing go together well and it almost gives this song a religious feel, perhaps in keeping with what the song is about. It is an ambitious composition but it works brilliantly and I imagine it is a marvel to behold when performed live.
5. Life In Technicolor II
It might seem controversial to include this song so high in the list when it is a new track, but I instantly took to this track. It just sounds like a Coldplay signature tune. It starts out with quite an Eastern feel to the track, with instruments that sound from that part of the world. As the track progresses though it feels more and more like a punchy Coldplay track and both the background and Martin's vocals capture extremely well the building of tension that the song seems to be pointing to. If this gets released as a single, I think it could well be remembered as one of Coldplay's finest moments.
4. Green Eyes
This is perhaps something of a curveball, but this was always a particular favourite when Rush Of Blood To The Head. It is just a simple love song, but Martin's vocals are delivered in such a way that he really gets the message across. A lot of the tracks were much edgier and had riffs that people remember and so this song has fallen off the radar. But this is the type of love song that Snow Patrol have been yearning to write for the past three albums and not pulled off. The beauty of this song is in the simplicity of its message and its delivery.
3. White Shadows
Another song from X&Y and I never understood why this was not released as a single in this country. I think it was released as a single in Australia and other parts of the world, but strangely not in Britain. I can only think this was because perhaps at over five minutes long, commercial radio might have been put off. Whatever the reason, it is a great shame. The way the song starts out and the way in which Martin delivers his falsetto vocals, this reminds me a little of The Unforgettable Fire by U2 which is certainly one of that band's finest moments. Martin's vocals on this record are fantastic, but this is a track that is recommended for far more than the vocal or the lyrics, as a musical composition it just sounds so great to listen to.
2. The Scientist
If you don't like Coldplay, you are likely to loathe this song because you will likely see it as depressing. I think that is misleading. I think the message in the song is actually far less morose and more about the concept of going back and correcting past mistakes, at least that is my personal interpretation of the song. Whatever the song actually does mean or is about, Martin's vocals are at their most haunting and the use of the piano on this song is an artform.
1. Violet Hill
The opening to this track sounds a little akin to Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits. Fortunately that is the only element of the track that is in any way reminiscent to the 80s dad rockers. The song is essentially an anti-war song but which sees things from the perspective of a soldier returning home. The piano and guitar are both used to great effect in the song and for a track that lasts less than 4 minutes, so much seems to happen in that time. It has been out for less than a year and already it seems like an epic. This is certain to be on the shortlist at the Brit Awards and quite rightly so, for this listener at least, it is Coldplay's finest work to date.
So there you are. That is my list and there are some very notable absentees from the shortlist, including Speed Of Sound, Fix You, Yellow and Clocks. 42 and Daylight were my eleventh and twelfth choices incidentally and these would have been followed by Square One, Rush Of Blood To The Head and Speed Of Sound had I extended the list further. It was a tough call narrowing this down to 10 tracks though and I know that there are some obvious favourites that would have been top of other people's lists. But, hey, it's my blog!
Showing posts with label Coldplay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coldplay. Show all posts
Saturday, 29 November 2008
Prospekts March review
As I mentioned a few days ago, I have recently purchased Coldplay's new EP, Prospekts March. The EP is essentially an extension of the Viva La Vida album that they released earlier in the year. The band's press people say that the EP's material includes tracks that Coldplay had not recorded in time for Viva La Vida's release date, hence the release of this EP. The more cynical side of me leads me to believe that releasing this EP so close to Christmas has something to do with record company executives hearing the sound of ringing cash registers (do you get those any more?) in their ears. The parallels between Viva La Vida and Prospekts March do not just begin and end with the identical album sleeve covers, but in terms of the music too.
The EP consists of eight tracks in total, although of the eight, two of the tracks, Lovers In Japan and Lost feature on Viva La Vida, while track 2 entitled Postcards From Far Away at just 48 seconds long, is essentially an interlude.
So let's start at the beginning. The first track is called Life In Technicolor II. If you are wondering what happened to Life In Technicolor I, this was track 1 on Coldplay's Viva La Vida album and was an instrumental track which contained the background music to Life In Technicolor II as part of that composition. Whatever the reason for this track appearing at this time, you would like to think that it was not an after thought as it is a fantastic track. It sounds like an iconic Coldplay track which should transfer well to a live audience and because of its radio friendly manner, it has to be a strong candidate to be Coldplay's next single. It can sometimes be a cliche when Coldplay are compared to U2, but on listening to the construction of this track and Chris Martin's vocals, there are certainly noticeable parallels to be drawn with U2's work, particularly from around U2's Joshua Tree period. These parallels are not confined to this track, as I will elaborate on later. This is the stand out song on the EP and I think in time it will be established as one of Coldplay's signature tracks.
The next track is Postcards From Far Away, which as I have mentioned, is just a short piano instrumental. This sounds like the kind of gentle sound to have on in the background when you are chilling out after a hard day at work or after a long run to help you drop off to sleep. Apart from that, it is safe to say that this is not one of the major highlights of the EP. Maybe if the piano solo was longer, it would stand out more as a masterpiece of its type.
Next up comes a rather up tempo sounding Glass Of Water. In many ways this is something the black sheep of the EP. It is a rockier, more energising track than the majority of the tracks on the album and whereas I would say some of the tracks borrow from U2, this sounds more like it is paying homage to the likes of Ash, Embrace or maybe even Muse. It is a rousing track with a fast tempo which you can see being a good track to play early on in a live set in order to get the crowd buzzing.
Track 4 is called Rainy Day and this has a more gentle beat to it. I have been trying to put my finger on what influences have been drawn upon with this track. The track has a poppier, more chilled out, feelgood factor about it and particularly makes use of strings. Some of the mellower parts of the track are the kind of thing that Portishead would have released in their heyday and it also reminds me a bit of a band called Kings Of Convenience who released an album called Riots On An Empty Street a couple of years ago which was full of clever lyrics put to harmonies. Whatever influences Coldplay actually did draw upon, this is a pleasant and mellow song.
Next up comes two tracks for the price of one. This is something that Coldplay did on Viva La Vida where they merged Lovers In Japan into one track with Reign Of Love and which Green Day previously did on their American Idiot album. The first of the two tracks is the title track Prospekts March (not sure why this has been spelt in this way). This is a gentle, vocal based track which would work well in an audience setting where it could be played on acoustic guitar. Again, I can see some similarities with U2 and Joshua Tree which contains a couple of mellow album tracks of this ilk. The second part of the track is called Poppyfields and this is just a 30 second instrumental which does not seem out of place with the track that went before.
Track six is Lost! which has recently been released as a single with three different versions. This track originally featured on Viva La Vida and its original version was among the best tracks on the album. The only difference between the Viva La Vida version and the incarnation on Prospekts March is that it contains Jay-Z does some rapping in the middle part of the song, as indeed he does on one of the versions on the single. This is the only difference between the original version and this version, so whether you like it will depend on whether you appreciate rap music. Personally, as I have generally always held the opinion that rap contains a silent C at the beginning of the word, I do not feel that Jay-Z's contribution adds anything to the song, especially as the track does not differ in any other way from the original.
The next track is Lovers In Japan which the sleeve notes say is the Osaka Sun mix. Not quite sure what the significance of this is because this track was also on Viva La Vida and having played it a few times, it is identical to the track on Viva La Vida, except that it is a standalone track this time around rather than part of a double track. If you think I am about to criticise the track, however, you would be much mistaken. I think it is a great track, and I think it is all the better for being a track on its own. Of all the tracks on the album, I think this one borrows most heavily from U2 and I don't think that is a bad thing. In the same way that The Beatles have always been the template to Oasis's music (although certainly far from being their only influence), then I think U2's political, double edged meaning songs and Bono's vocals have long formed the influential template to Coldplay's songwriting and musical performance. Listening carefully to this song and there is definitely a hint of With Or Without You and Where The Streets Have No Name in the background beat to this track. The track combines piano and guitar and Martin's vocals are at their most powerful. If Life In Technicolor II is not Coldplay's next single, then this should be.
The final track of the EP is called Now My Feet Won't Touch The Ground. This is an interesting song title given that a very similar lyric also features in Life In Technicolor II. In some ways I was expecting fireworks with this track and I thought it would tie in with the mood of much of the EP and of Viva La Vida, being quite dark and having a theme around protestation. Yet for all that, it is actually quite a typical final track of an album, in fact it almost feels like a bonus track because it is a just a gentle acoustic guitar track which lasts for two and a half minutes which by the end sounds like it would make a good theme tune for Last Of The Summer Wine. It is a pleasant enough track but I somehow was expecting more from the last track of the album.
All in all, I am not entirely sure of the reasons for being for this EP if it is not just a commercial exercise, which given that the band have always been major opponents of corporate culture would seem hypocritical. That is not to say that there are not good tracks on the EP, far from it. But I see this album as an extension of Viva La Vida, which I suppose in a way, it is. Tracks like Life In Technicolor II and Glass Of Water could very easily have been on the original album, while Lovers In Japan was on the original album but sounds all the better for being an independent track.
The EP very much expands on the themes and influences that were prevalent on Viva La Vida. That album particularly focused on the subjects of protesting, injustice and religion. These overtones do seem to feature on Prospekts March as well and I think is where Coldplay have particularly been influenced by U2. Their sound as I have mentioned is not dissimilar to U2's Joshua Tree period on a few of the tracks here and given that this was one of U2's most political records, it is not unfair to draw the conclusion that they have drawn from the U2 of that era. The other thing is that Joshua Tree was the album that cracked America for the Irishmen and Coldplay are now at the stage where they have global exposure. Tracks like Violet Hill, 42 and Viva La Vida will translate well to an American audience, even if not all Americans will appreciate Violet Hill's anti-war message. Of the tracks on this EP, Life In Technicolor II and Lovers In Japan at least should be received well by the record buying public over the pond.
If you are a fan of Coldplay, then I would say go and buy the EP as there are enough tracks on the album to keep you captivated and the way the EP is structured will be of interest. For those people who are more casual Coldplay fans, or who perhaps just like the odd song by them or regard them as a "singles" band, my advice to you would be not to go out and get the EP but to download the best songs that feature and stick them on your iTunes. Life In Technicolor II is definitely the standout track, but Lovers In Japan, Glass Of Water and Rainy Day are all fine tracks in their own right and those that like a good piano solo will no doubt admire Postcards From Far Away, although perhaps it needed to be a bit longer.
The EP consists of eight tracks in total, although of the eight, two of the tracks, Lovers In Japan and Lost feature on Viva La Vida, while track 2 entitled Postcards From Far Away at just 48 seconds long, is essentially an interlude.
So let's start at the beginning. The first track is called Life In Technicolor II. If you are wondering what happened to Life In Technicolor I, this was track 1 on Coldplay's Viva La Vida album and was an instrumental track which contained the background music to Life In Technicolor II as part of that composition. Whatever the reason for this track appearing at this time, you would like to think that it was not an after thought as it is a fantastic track. It sounds like an iconic Coldplay track which should transfer well to a live audience and because of its radio friendly manner, it has to be a strong candidate to be Coldplay's next single. It can sometimes be a cliche when Coldplay are compared to U2, but on listening to the construction of this track and Chris Martin's vocals, there are certainly noticeable parallels to be drawn with U2's work, particularly from around U2's Joshua Tree period. These parallels are not confined to this track, as I will elaborate on later. This is the stand out song on the EP and I think in time it will be established as one of Coldplay's signature tracks.
The next track is Postcards From Far Away, which as I have mentioned, is just a short piano instrumental. This sounds like the kind of gentle sound to have on in the background when you are chilling out after a hard day at work or after a long run to help you drop off to sleep. Apart from that, it is safe to say that this is not one of the major highlights of the EP. Maybe if the piano solo was longer, it would stand out more as a masterpiece of its type.
Next up comes a rather up tempo sounding Glass Of Water. In many ways this is something the black sheep of the EP. It is a rockier, more energising track than the majority of the tracks on the album and whereas I would say some of the tracks borrow from U2, this sounds more like it is paying homage to the likes of Ash, Embrace or maybe even Muse. It is a rousing track with a fast tempo which you can see being a good track to play early on in a live set in order to get the crowd buzzing.
Track 4 is called Rainy Day and this has a more gentle beat to it. I have been trying to put my finger on what influences have been drawn upon with this track. The track has a poppier, more chilled out, feelgood factor about it and particularly makes use of strings. Some of the mellower parts of the track are the kind of thing that Portishead would have released in their heyday and it also reminds me a bit of a band called Kings Of Convenience who released an album called Riots On An Empty Street a couple of years ago which was full of clever lyrics put to harmonies. Whatever influences Coldplay actually did draw upon, this is a pleasant and mellow song.
Next up comes two tracks for the price of one. This is something that Coldplay did on Viva La Vida where they merged Lovers In Japan into one track with Reign Of Love and which Green Day previously did on their American Idiot album. The first of the two tracks is the title track Prospekts March (not sure why this has been spelt in this way). This is a gentle, vocal based track which would work well in an audience setting where it could be played on acoustic guitar. Again, I can see some similarities with U2 and Joshua Tree which contains a couple of mellow album tracks of this ilk. The second part of the track is called Poppyfields and this is just a 30 second instrumental which does not seem out of place with the track that went before.
Track six is Lost! which has recently been released as a single with three different versions. This track originally featured on Viva La Vida and its original version was among the best tracks on the album. The only difference between the Viva La Vida version and the incarnation on Prospekts March is that it contains Jay-Z does some rapping in the middle part of the song, as indeed he does on one of the versions on the single. This is the only difference between the original version and this version, so whether you like it will depend on whether you appreciate rap music. Personally, as I have generally always held the opinion that rap contains a silent C at the beginning of the word, I do not feel that Jay-Z's contribution adds anything to the song, especially as the track does not differ in any other way from the original.
The next track is Lovers In Japan which the sleeve notes say is the Osaka Sun mix. Not quite sure what the significance of this is because this track was also on Viva La Vida and having played it a few times, it is identical to the track on Viva La Vida, except that it is a standalone track this time around rather than part of a double track. If you think I am about to criticise the track, however, you would be much mistaken. I think it is a great track, and I think it is all the better for being a track on its own. Of all the tracks on the album, I think this one borrows most heavily from U2 and I don't think that is a bad thing. In the same way that The Beatles have always been the template to Oasis's music (although certainly far from being their only influence), then I think U2's political, double edged meaning songs and Bono's vocals have long formed the influential template to Coldplay's songwriting and musical performance. Listening carefully to this song and there is definitely a hint of With Or Without You and Where The Streets Have No Name in the background beat to this track. The track combines piano and guitar and Martin's vocals are at their most powerful. If Life In Technicolor II is not Coldplay's next single, then this should be.
The final track of the EP is called Now My Feet Won't Touch The Ground. This is an interesting song title given that a very similar lyric also features in Life In Technicolor II. In some ways I was expecting fireworks with this track and I thought it would tie in with the mood of much of the EP and of Viva La Vida, being quite dark and having a theme around protestation. Yet for all that, it is actually quite a typical final track of an album, in fact it almost feels like a bonus track because it is a just a gentle acoustic guitar track which lasts for two and a half minutes which by the end sounds like it would make a good theme tune for Last Of The Summer Wine. It is a pleasant enough track but I somehow was expecting more from the last track of the album.
All in all, I am not entirely sure of the reasons for being for this EP if it is not just a commercial exercise, which given that the band have always been major opponents of corporate culture would seem hypocritical. That is not to say that there are not good tracks on the EP, far from it. But I see this album as an extension of Viva La Vida, which I suppose in a way, it is. Tracks like Life In Technicolor II and Glass Of Water could very easily have been on the original album, while Lovers In Japan was on the original album but sounds all the better for being an independent track.
The EP very much expands on the themes and influences that were prevalent on Viva La Vida. That album particularly focused on the subjects of protesting, injustice and religion. These overtones do seem to feature on Prospekts March as well and I think is where Coldplay have particularly been influenced by U2. Their sound as I have mentioned is not dissimilar to U2's Joshua Tree period on a few of the tracks here and given that this was one of U2's most political records, it is not unfair to draw the conclusion that they have drawn from the U2 of that era. The other thing is that Joshua Tree was the album that cracked America for the Irishmen and Coldplay are now at the stage where they have global exposure. Tracks like Violet Hill, 42 and Viva La Vida will translate well to an American audience, even if not all Americans will appreciate Violet Hill's anti-war message. Of the tracks on this EP, Life In Technicolor II and Lovers In Japan at least should be received well by the record buying public over the pond.
If you are a fan of Coldplay, then I would say go and buy the EP as there are enough tracks on the album to keep you captivated and the way the EP is structured will be of interest. For those people who are more casual Coldplay fans, or who perhaps just like the odd song by them or regard them as a "singles" band, my advice to you would be not to go out and get the EP but to download the best songs that feature and stick them on your iTunes. Life In Technicolor II is definitely the standout track, but Lovers In Japan, Glass Of Water and Rainy Day are all fine tracks in their own right and those that like a good piano solo will no doubt admire Postcards From Far Away, although perhaps it needed to be a bit longer.
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