Pitchfork: Music of the Spheres

[COOOK 76,406]

   5.1

"Here he goes again, looking at the stars, seeing how they shine."

Spoiler

"There’s a loose sci-fi concept involving a distant solar system, and Martin has said he found inspiration in the Cantina Band from the original Star Wars. But the record is more akin to the franchise’s notorious prequels: overblown, cartoonish, seemingly made for 8-year-olds."

"Here is the part of the Coldplay review where we need to discuss Chris’ eternally frustrating words. To his credit, the singer has admitted he’s not a great lyricist, and that his songwriting boils down to “just a bunch of feelings.” Which would seem like a good match for the type of instant-pleasure pop Max is known for. But Max is also the progenitor of “melodic math,” a songwriting style where each line requires a certain number of syllables in order to maximize its melodic impact. Squeezing out the most efficient earworms possible sometimes means cleverness or novelty get steamrolled. Combined with Chris’ already-sketchy writing and the album’s ham-fisted instrumentation, this results in songs that don’t pinpoint a feeling but rather helplessly wave their arms in the direction of one."

"There are too few of those bright spots, though. Instead, the record is more accurately represented by the video for “Higher Power,” where Chris walks toward the camera in a way that might bring your mind back to the first time you ever saw him. But he’s not on a beach, or even on this planet. He’s on a desolate orb called (checks notes) Kaotica, surrounded by a Blade Runner algorithm of a cityscape and dancing like the last wedding singer alive. There’s not much to see in his eyes except, maybe, desperation."

Full review here.

Previous scores:

  6.8

   6.1

  5.8

[Robinladen 1,539]

Coldplay has really sunk to Maroon 5 levels of generic. It's hard to believe this is the same band that made Yellow, Clocks, The Scientist.

[Pennywise 36,079]

36 minutes ago, COOOK said:

But the record is more akin to the franchise’s notorious prequels: overblown, cartoonish, seemingly made for 8-year-olds.

[flyaway 15,350]

I like Coldplay, but I must say the only song I really truly enjoy to this day is Yellow...and that was released 20 years ago

[Jennie Kim 7,006]

I can't believe I used to be such a huge fan, their current output is dreadful. 

 "you either die a hero or live to become the villain"