Coldplay - Music of the Spheres [vol. i] (October 15, 2021) Album • Page 4

Yeah that one was pretty unexpected! Kinda wish there were more curveballs like that though.

 

This definitely felt too short! I enjoy it overall though.

 

Really enjoyed this. Not a massive Coldplay fan but i listened to it a couple of times and can see me going back to it.

 

I think this is solid but the stretch from Let Somebody Go > People of the Pride is pretty bad. Idk if there's anything on here I love though. I wish they expanded on the sounds in Coloratura across the whole album though.

 

"Humankind" is one of those familiar sounding bops that you can't believe hasn't already been written. Really love it.

 

The closer is still gorgeous, but unfortunately not much else stuck out for me. It actually felt very short. Might need to give this another listen tonight.

 

Got to "Humankind" and thought the album would be too corny, even by their standards, but I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy this all. These songs are going to sound great in stadiums.

It's hard to explain, but I'm just happy these guys do whatever they want. Giant stadium pop? Done. Songs with BTS and Selena Gomez? Why not? Return to an older sound on Everyday Life? Sure, when they want to. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but they're not afraid to try stuff.

 

Agreed completely. Some of the journalistic/critical takes on this are quite puzzling. I feel like they always sort of have it out for Coldplay. So "poptimism" is a thing, right? How many articles have we read that praise the redeeming qualities of BTS, for example? But if Coldplay do a song with them, they are "chasing a hit"? How is that not hypocritical? Do they think that Coldplay is supposed to be "above or better than that" ?

Pure speculation here, but I definitely agree with @Steve_JustAGuy - that they aren't afraid to try stuff. I mean hell, in Coldplay's first decade as a band they were literally the butt of jokes for being too boring. Now they branch out and experiment with a little something for everyone, and still can't escape the criticism.

 

This wasn’t a bad first listen. As someone who likes Mylo, I can appreciate this one a lot. I already enjoyed way more than their last album. Also, Humankind rules.

Gonna turn on Blood Rush now. Still my favorite.

 

I'm also a little puzzled by the framing of that BTS feature as a craven/disingenuous "chasing a hit" choice. This band has been collaborating with huge pop stars dating back a ways, from Jay-Z to Rihanna to Beyonce to The Chainsmokers. Kind of makes sense for BTS to be the next in that chronology, no? But the narrative is different this time, because Everyday Life didn't sell well?

 

yeah the BTS collab makes perfect sense for them, ha.

 

These guys have 55 million listeners a month on Spotify - like, their yearly streaming $ numbers must be insane

 

Even I went into that BTS song wanting to hate it, but ended up liking it, acknowledging it's a well written pop song, haha

 

Yeah, My Universe is also very good.

Turned off Blood Rush and went back to this album after pouring my coffee. Kind of a great Friday morning feeling in the office with this album on.

 

Humankind is awesome; I appreciate trying to keep the instruments themselves front and center, even though they've gone more pop over the years

 

Everyday Life was a low-key record in general so if it didn't sell well by Coldplay standards it uh, still sold well. One of the biggest bands in the world for a reason regardless of the narrative around them.

 

Yeah, I guess it didn’t do great in the U.S. but was still a hit globally. And still got that Grammy nod!

 

They move hella units in the UK, eight #1 albums and they're gonna get a 9th.

 

Wow, I guess I forgot that Everyday Life only peaked at #7 in the US with 45k sold first week. Guess that goes to show how important touring and promo/tv appearances are for a band of this size. Oh well, I still absolutely love that album. Been a while since I've ranked their albums but I'd probably put EL smack dab in the middle.

 

I think people sometimes forget how global they are. They can sell out stadiums all over. So, in that sense, having BTS on their single is probably a savvy move way beyond what it did for them on the U.S. singles chart.

 

Coloratura is one of the best songs they’ve ever done.

 

So when do we think [vol. 2] is coming out?

 

It'll come out around the same time as U2's Songs of Ascent.

 

They're calling it vol. 1 without explicitly referring to it as vol. 1 so interested to see where it goes from here but they'll be touring this on and off for two years so honestly wouldn't be surprised if they see this through by 2023.

 

For me, this album was everything I was afraid it was going to be, and actually worse. I really only like Coloratura as an actual song, but the instrumental interludes are nice too I guess. I'm glad a lot of other people seem to be enjoying it though. I'll spend some time with it and see if it clicks for me.