Coldplay: Mylo Xyloto - Album Review

Coldplay
Mylo Xyloto
Rating: Meh

When Coldplay brought on Brian Eno to help produce their 2008 album Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, he injected a bit of life into what was becoming a rather paint by numbers approach to Coldplay's sound. Coldplay are now back with Brian Eno on the boards again, and again, I was hoping Eno would spark some life in the band, challenging them to take their sound in a new direction. All the elements for such a progression are here: the album is a "concept" album about love in a dystopian future, the band co-wrote all the tracks with Eno, and they are coming off of one of their most successful records and tours. They really have nothing left to prove from a pop standpoint, so why stick in the same rut? Mylo Xyloto truly doesn't answer that question, instead, creating more questions than answers, such as why is this album curiously toothless? There is nothing specifically wrong with this album, it just has no element of surprise; content to mine from the same bag of Coldplay tricks over and over again, the tracks swing back and forth between anthemic pop tracks or scaled back acoustic numbers. And the loose "concept" of the record barely makes a dent in the proceedings. To be honest, had the PR materials not mentioned it, I never would have known there was such a thing. Only very rarely do the tracks show what might have been had they loosed up the reigns more.

"Paradise" takes the usual Coldplay anthem approach, piling on the strings and drama, but darkens things with a buzzy synth bass, which plays nicely against a nice melody from Martin.



On paper, the collaboration with Rihanna, "Princess of China," sounds like a disaster, but it ends up being one of the best Coldplay tracks ever. Over a thumping beat, shimmering synths, and shoegaze guitars, Martin's pleasant, greeting card lyrics are given some extra punch from Rihanna's more earthy delivery.

Coldplay - Princess Of China (feat. Rihanna) by DJ ERM

"Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall" has a "Viva La Vida"-like feel to it, and is completely silly, but that silliness is infectious and sounds like they are having a blast with the song.



"Major Minus" has an edgier swagger to it, mixing acoustic guitars with dirtier sounding electric guitars.



But, aside from these songs, the rest is basically Coldplay by the numbers. You have your opening track, the bright electropop of "Hurts Like Heaven," which is pleasant, but innocuous; coming across as an outtake from U2's last, abysmal release, No Line On The Horizon. In fact, the entire album sounds like an attempt to become U2. But not the brilliant, early U2 of Joshua Tree or the redefining Achtung Baby, but the middling, late period of All That You Can't Leave Behind and How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.

Coldplay - Hurts Like Heaven by DJ ERM

The rest of the tracks are, quite frankly, just not memorable. Too many short instrumental pieces, which are meant to push the "story" along, are more teasing, as generally the music in these pieces is far more interesting than the other fully formed tracks. The more stripped down tracks lack the beauty of former Coldplay tracks like "Fix You" and "Sparks." The melodies are just not strong enough to carry them. "Up With The Birds" langours in a pool of syrupy strings, before vainly attempting to end the song with an anthemic swell.



"Up In Flames" tries to bring in some electronic percussion to allieviate the ponderous track from its midtempo sludge of piano and Martin's falsetto.



"Charlie Brown" just sounds like a retread of "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall," while "Us Against The World" is so sleepy it might as well be labled under Sominex.

Coldplay - Us Against The World by Mahdy

Mylo Xyloto is not a record to hate at all; there are no huge missteps. It's just the sound of band coasting. I am sure this album will be another huge success for them and they will sell tons of records and tour non-stop behind it. But, like me, if you want something a little more challenging than just a band making the same songs over and over again, I would suggest moving on to something else. This record will not be your cup of tea.

Rating Guide:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.