Monday, January 16, 2012

Review of Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay


Not sure what “Mylo Xyloto” is or means… but listen to it!



Ok, so I am going to admit something which may get my “man card” revoked in certain circles; I love Coldplay.  Now with that out of the way and a definite loss to some of my “street cred” it is time to take a look at Coldplay’s newest album “Mylo Xyloto.”

Mylo Xyloto is a beautiful album that I think will widen the bands fan base.  Coldplay has been evolving their sound their whole careers, their previous album “Viva La Vida” was a break from their previous three albums and “Mylo Xyloto” is no different.  In my opinion, on a lot of the tracks I felt like Coldplay was almost channeling U2 of the 90’s and 2000’s.  The chunky guitar riffs, choir like vocals, and ambient acoustics of “Major Minus” made me feel like I was listening to the pride of Ireland U2. 

   So this album is a lot different than their previous ones in that I felt there wasn’t a constant lyrical or musical thread throughout the whole album.  I’m not complaining it’s just different for Coldplay.  Although the thread was missing it wasn’t hard to listen to the album, it still flowed really well.  Piano is also not as prevalent in this album as in previous ones, it’s not void of piano, just a lot less than expected.  In place of piano there is a lot more keyboards and effects giving the album an electronica feel at times.  There are some really good singles on this album; “Up in Flames,” “Paradise,” and the “Princess of China” are three of my favorites.

Although I like “Up in Flames,” it did kind of have a Michael Bolton love song feel to it.  “Paradise” was beautiful and felt like a traditional Coldplay song and “Princess of China” featuring Rihanna was awesome!  If you would have told me before I heard this album that Rihanna and Chris Martin would have a duet I would have probably told you this would be the end of the band but it exceeded my expectations to say the least.  I have never been big on Rihanna but I definitely have a new found appreciation of her after her duet with Chris Martin on this album.  

So in closing, there are a couple things I need to state.  The first is that I am not sure what “Mylo Xyloto” is or means… but listen to the album.  If you want to be the “in” guy / girl there are a couple goods singles you can get without buying the whole thing, and my “street cred” will never be the same until I review some metal or gangster rap, any suggestions for future reviews or comments email me at:


William Balzer

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