Lukewarmplay

I am not ashamed to admit that I really like Coldplay. (Ok, maybe I'm just the tiniest bit ashamed to admit it, otherwise I wouldn't have had to make that statement.) If I had to pick a favorite song, I would have to say "Shiver." The guitar riff is just brilliant, and who can't relate when Mr. Martin growls, "And it's you I see, but you don't see me..." Haven't we all lived through that one? It's just such a fucking good song. Runner up would be "Warning Sign," I think. I have a vivid memory of hearing this song driving through the Scottish Highlands on a yellow Haggis tour bus. And tearing up at the "When the truth is I miss you." This song can make me cry any time. But it's so lovely at the same time that it's so melancholy. And it's such a lesson..."A warning sign, you came back to haunt me and I realized, that you were an island and I passed you by, when you were an island to discover..." All the things we've let slip away because we didn't appreciate them or examine them enough, really look at them. "And I'm tired, I should not have let you go..."

And I am really looking forward to the new album. And a friend will be (hopefully!) ordering us tickets on Saturday to witness the spectacle that is Chris Martin and Co. live (though not up close, most likely.) Truth is, though, (that I missed you?) I'm looking forward to the album even more because the songs that I've heard off of it...well, they haven't really won me over. That's not to say that Coldplay won me over immediately, either. It was actually a tough sell. It was right around the time that my friend Natalie was in school in London for a year, and she kept reporting back with these British bands she was in love with - the Doves, Starsailor. And none of them really did anything for me. I had yet to develop my ear for British rock (because it really does sound so different from American rock.) "Yellow" was monotonous, overplayed, and really, nothing altogether great.

It really wasn't until A Rush of Blood to the Head came out that I found the Coldplay love. And I remember hearing "In My Place" and wondering what the big deal was about this band, that it wasn't anything special. But then they played "Clocks" at the end of an episode of Alias, and it was this moment of "HOW FUCKING GOOD?!" And then they played "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face" at the end of a different episode. Well, I went back and did some serious reevaluating. And found that I even liked "In My Place" and "Yellow." A lot.

So I am in the Coldplay zone already. But still not liking the new material so much. I'm not wowed by "Speed of Sound." I think "Fix You" has some beautiful lyrics, but the melody is a bit boring. I like "Talk" the most of these three, but I don't love it. Frankly, I'm concerned. There has been so much talk and hype about this album, about how it couldn't possibly live up to its predecessor, and it's most likely true. But I really want to like it. No, I want to LOVE it. Then again, the songs I love most off of the other albums were not any of the singles (at least not here), and there is the whole rest of the album for me to discover...

I mean, hey, if Colplay is good enough for J.T., it's good enough for me. ;)