12 Days of Christmas: Day Nine - Coldplay 'A Head Full Of Dreams' Album Review
As a Coldplay fan, I was unsure as what to expect following their mellow and quieter 2014 album 'Ghost Stories', but also looking forward to hearing how their sound would be developed. After listening to 'Adventure of A Lifetime', a fun disco fuelled track that was the first single to be released, I knew that this album was going to be louder, more vibrant and well, more Coldplay. Although I did like 'Ghost Stories', there wasn't a belter of a ballad in sight which was slightly disconcerting for a Coldplay album.
With appearances from superstars across all genres such as Beyonce, who mainly features in a duet with Martin on "Hymn For The Weekend", this album definitely has some varied styles and new sounds. If you can't tell from the artwork, you can certainly hear the concrete themes of hope, happiness and colour through the album with the six minute closing track "Up&Up", which ends with a positive message of never giving up.
I have a feeling that a lot of old school fans will take longer to adapt to the new sound they have, but there are still elements included which make it recognisably Coldplay. For example, melodies that you can already imagine massive crowds singing along to at their 2016 tour and heartfelt lyrics that fans all know and love the band for. My favourite tracks are 'Army of One' and 'Amazing Day' for those exact reasons.
Overall, I don't think this album was falsely hyped but it is clearly a new venture for Coldplay and they've reached a place where they can incorporate all kinds of influences in their music without it sounding pastiche. As usual, a lot of people will do all they can to criticise them but at the end of the day, they can out sell Adele in the album charts nearly 20 years later as a band, which is certainly an achievement.
A lot of anticipation has been leading up to the release of Coldplay's seventh studio album 'A Head Full Of Dreams'. Teaser posters were seen around London underground stations, with the Flower of Life at the centre and the date '4.12.2015' at the bottom. Fans managed to work out that the rumours were true as the same symbol was seen on Chris Martin's top at the Global Citizen Festival that they performed at earlier in September.
As a Coldplay fan, I was unsure as what to expect following their mellow and quieter 2014 album 'Ghost Stories', but also looking forward to hearing how their sound would be developed. After listening to 'Adventure of A Lifetime', a fun disco fuelled track that was the first single to be released, I knew that this album was going to be louder, more vibrant and well, more Coldplay. Although I did like 'Ghost Stories', there wasn't a belter of a ballad in sight which was slightly disconcerting for a Coldplay album.
With appearances from superstars across all genres such as Beyonce, who mainly features in a duet with Martin on "Hymn For The Weekend", this album definitely has some varied styles and new sounds. If you can't tell from the artwork, you can certainly hear the concrete themes of hope, happiness and colour through the album with the six minute closing track "Up&Up", which ends with a positive message of never giving up.
I have a feeling that a lot of old school fans will take longer to adapt to the new sound they have, but there are still elements included which make it recognisably Coldplay. For example, melodies that you can already imagine massive crowds singing along to at their 2016 tour and heartfelt lyrics that fans all know and love the band for. My favourite tracks are 'Army of One' and 'Amazing Day' for those exact reasons.
Overall, I don't think this album was falsely hyped but it is clearly a new venture for Coldplay and they've reached a place where they can incorporate all kinds of influences in their music without it sounding pastiche. As usual, a lot of people will do all they can to criticise them but at the end of the day, they can out sell Adele in the album charts nearly 20 years later as a band, which is certainly an achievement.
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