Coldplay always gives me something to write about. Their latest album, “Ghost Stories,” has taken me for quite a ride. I’ve already read a few reviews about it, so I’ll spare you the “sad breakup album” “conscious uncoupling” references and jump straight to my thoughts. I can’t get enough of it! The three singles released beforehand made it hard for me to judge what to expect from the album, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned from Coldplay, its that I can’t judge the album by the single. “Paradise” blew me away when I first listened to it. I remember there was an entire week at work when I had the youtube video of the song on loop. I was very excited for Mylo Xyloto and checked on the updates every day. Once the album came out and I listened to it through, I just wasn’t feeling it. Mylo Xyloto has gone done as my second least favorite Coldplay album (X&Y is my least favorite, in case you were wondering). Both “Midnight” and “Magic” left me unflattered, and once I heard “A Sky Full of Stars,” I just decided to give up on the album. “Here’s another cheap shot at automatic radio play, like Princess of China,” I thought.
Things started to turn around when I watched a video of Coldplay performing “A Sky Full of Stars” live, and it was actually really awesome. I also later read that it was co-produced by Avicii, not just trying to sound like him, adding to the legitimacy. When I finally got my hands on the album, I played it start to finish.
The album starts off with “Always in My Head,” with an entrancing guitar riff by Jonny Buckland that managed to get stuck in my head for days. That track is one of my favorites on the album. “True Love” is one of the more interesting tracks on the album. The melody reminds me of the old Coldplay, however the track itself embodies the feel of the album. The lyrics are somber, yet sung in a slightly upbeat way. My favorite part of the song is when the track crescendo’s in the more upbeat chorus which is followed by a very harsh and dissonant guitar solo, making the clashing of Chris Martin’s feelings even more evident as he sings about true love. My favorite song on the album would have to be “Another’s Arms.” It has a very atmospheric feel, yet is very structured and catchy. I love the bass and percussion and how they build the energy of the song, as well as the vocal ooh’s that drive the musical melody.
My feeling coming away from the overall album, is that this is truly an album. Every song has its place and the album wouldn’t be complete without each of them. I’m not sure if I’ll ever have the desire to listen to just one of the tracks, but I have no doubt I’ll through this album into my car at some future point and just let it play through.
The version of the album I bought came with an additional 3 bonus tracks, which I don’t think really fit in to the album where they’re placed, but two of them are my favorite tracks out of all the entire “Ghost Stories” selection. The first bonus track is called “All Your Friends.” It has a prominent bass part, evident in a few songs on the album, and some great vocals. The strong lyrics tell about how people can be idealistic with love, but sometimes everything’s not perfect. Martin sings about how their friends were always saying which side they were on during the difficult times. The next bonus track is called “Ghost Story” and has some of the most dynamic vocals on the whole album. I love the chorus and how the vocals jump all over the place. The acoustic guitar that opens the track is a welcome change from the more electric/electronic sound of the other tracks.
Overall, if you’re the kind of person who enjoys listening to entire albums straight through (that’s me!) I think you’ll like this one, otherwise it might not jump out to you as anything special.
-Eric