Coldplay "Ghost Stories"

I'm going to do a review of Coldplay's new 'Ghost Stories' album which was released about 2 weeks ago and I just picked up yesterday.

Let me just first share my mentality leading up to this new album. Coldplay is probably my favorite modern rock band. When a friend first introduced me to one of their earliest albums I didn't listen to it for a very long time because I didn't know exactly what kind of music it was and for some reason I actually thought it was metal or something of that sort. I'm not sure how I actually first heard Coldplay but when I did it was one of those instant love type moments. So I started listening to their first two albums--Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head--quite regularly and there were so many great songs on both of those. It definitely wasn't metal. It was unique. Kinda low-key, a bit sad. Plenty of acoustic guitar and piano. Nice layers of electric guitar. Unique vocal. It was great. I thought they were an awesome band and they quickly became my favorite. 

So their third album, X & Y, was highly anticipated by me. And I was not disappointed in the least bit. The music sounded a bit more electronic due to the vintage sounding keyboards on there. But it was great! There was a number of uptempo yet dark songs on there that I play to this day regularly. There were a few I didn't care for either but that's to be expected, right? Anyway the good heavily overshadowed the not-so-good. 

Three years later I was anticipating the Viva La Vida album. As a side note, it seems every three years has become the norm for Coldplay albums to be released. That being said, this new album failed to impress me. There were only two songs that stood out for me. And no, one of them was not "Viva La Vida." In fact, that was the song that made me realize that a change was taking place. Coldplay was moving away from their unique original sound to something more along the lines of Pop. There were still traces of their original sound on this album. But they were headed more towards Viva La Vida and less towards X&Y and anything before that. The bonus in this album was that the cd came with heavy-duty vinyl LP version as well. But I just never really got into the music other than "Cemeteries of London" and "Chinese Sleep Chant," the latter being an unlabeled song on the album. 

Another three years later and Mylo Xyloto came out. Funny thing about this album is that I don't ever remember listening to it. I have heard "Hurts Like Heaven" playing at stores. I probably recognize a few others but I don't know them by name. I think that by 2011 my love affair with Coldplay had ended. I really should go back and listen to both this album and Viva. 

So again another three years later and Ghost Stories is out. I bought the deluxe edition with bonus tracks. I caught the band playing a few of their new songs on Saturday Night Live. Couldn't tell you which ones. The songs really didn't do anything for me. I read that this album was an introspective one in particular due to the breaking up of lead singer Chris Martin and his celebrity bride.

I'm listening to the album once more as I write this. Coming into this new album my expectations weren't all that high. My first impression upon hearing it was that I was correct in keeping my expectations tempered. One of the first thoughts that came into mind was that this band no longer needs a drummer! There is barely a song on here that has any real acoustic drum sounds. The majority of songs feature electronic percussion of one sort or another. So Will Champion, you might want to start looking for another project to work on. I don't think the other guys will be needing your services much longer unless you can settle for being a roadie.

At the moment, "A Sky Full of Skies" is playing and I'm reminded that this was one of the songs they performed on SNL. This song is the most animated of the bunch on the album and obviously the one for radio. It's a catchy song and it sounds all right. But it has a Euro dance/pop beat and it's not the Coldplay of yore. 

Nothing really stands out on this album. The music is very mellow and reflective. It is well made and crafted and produced. Many of the lyrics are obviously referring to Chris Martin's ex-wife. You can hear the sorrow and pain in the lyrics. Those who thought Coldplay's music was too sad before will only confirm their convictions with Ghost Stories. The bonus tracks on this edition did nothing to redeem the rest of the album. Were this their first album I would not be seeking out a sophomore effort. But it isn't so I'll keep anticipating and hoping for even the slightest of a return to the days of X&Y, Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head.

I'm sure that even my friend who introduced me to Coldplay would not be excited over this new album. I give it a C/C-.