Let's talk about hype.
In a lot of ways, hype can be very helpful to a project. It can create buzz and get you excited for the release of the given creative work.
But hype can also be very dangerous.
Take me for instance. I have sort of an unfortunate habit of setting absurdly high expectations for any given creative work, bet it a television episode, a movie, or yes, an album. This, more often than not, tends to lead to disappointment, and it's more of my own fault than that of the thing itself. This can be a problem when, say, your favorite band announces a new album that promises to be everything they'd ever done times ten, one might set sort of a ridiculously high precedent for said record.
Because yep, that is exactly what happened with me and this new album from Coldplay.
My favorite musical artist of all time and the biggest band in the world right now, Coldplay are a band of not only incredible musical and artistic talent and depth and one with an impressively diverse catalog, but also have had some of the biggest influence on rock and pop music in the past 15 or so years.
Coldplay were one of the first bands I gravitated towards when I started really getting into music, and with a string of phenomenal albums including masterpieces like A Rush Of Blood To The Head, Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends, and Mylo Xyloto, which I stand by as being one of Coldplay's most enthralling and wonderful releases to date, among others, they went on to impress me and inspire me like few other bands really ever have.
I'll admit, after last year's Ghost Stories, which I absolutely loved, I was really surprised to see them announce a new album so quickly afterward, especially with the rumors that this may very well be the band's last album.
So, when this album finally hit Spotify, I came in and listened to it immediately. And now that I've given it some time to sink in, how does A Head Full Of Dreams turn out?
Well, it's... good. Yeah, it's good. Decent. Passable. Enjoyable.
OK, let's make one thing perfectly clear: this is, from top to bottom, a pop album. There's no going around that, this is a pure pop record. And you know what? There's nothing wrong with that. I mean, Mylo Xyloto was also pretty much pure pop and that album is, in my opinion, one of their absolute best, and from an artistic standpoint, the more upbeat, poppy sound does make sense.
See, the band said this album is sort of meant to be a companion piece to last year's Ghost Stories, sort of the "getting over the breakup" after the "wallowing in sadness and pity because of the breakup" of the last record, so a more upbeat, celebratory sound certainly fits.
Here's the thing though: seeing as Mylo Xyloto was Coldplay's other big "pop" album, it's inevitable the two are going to be compared, and this album does not match that one. It just doesn't have the same powerful, operatic explosion of color and beauty that was Mylo Xyloto. Those themes are still there, they're just not as strong, as the production is a lot more washed out, reverb-heavy and sleepy, even on the quote party tracks like Hymn For The Weekend. It's not bad, but it doesn't really do the themes of the album justice. There are
moments of that colorful bombast that do occasionally shine through, like the excellent opening title track and "the single" Adventure Of A Lifetime, but for the most part, this album just doesn't match the pure joy and wonder of Mylo. If anything, I think Mylo makes a way better contrasting companion piece to Ghost Stories.
That being said, I do think this album at least sounds nice. Not as uplifting and colorful as I would've liked, but it still has a very nice, happy vibe to it. It's just more of a content, sentimental kind of happiness than celebratory or wonderful, and I do kind of like that angle. The best example of this is the track "Fun", featuring incredibly talented pop singer Tove Lo. Fun is one of my favorite tracks on the album, perfectly capturing the feeling of reminiscing on a past period of your life, feeling that wave of nostalgia and just thinking, "man, wasn't that great?". Chris and Tove play off of each other excellently, and the aforementioned washed-out production actually really works for this sort of track. It's one of the biggest highlights, no question.
But unfortunately, this album does have the exact opposite of a highlight in it. I've ling said Coldplay have never put out a legitimately bad song. A few weaker tracks here and there, but nothing outright awful. Well, I'm said to say that streak has been broken. Broken by the bewildering bundle of bad that is the hidden track X Marks The Spot. I think this is Coldplay's attempt at a Chris Brown-style hip-hip R&B type thing and it's kind of completely awful. Seriously, I know Coldplay, and the Coldplay I know is above that.
Thankfully, they prove that they actually are above that on the very next track, the absolutely gorgeous, wonderful track Amazing Day. This was the first track revealed from the album, and oh what a glorious first taste it was. Amazing Day is flat-out beautiful. Shimmering guitars, ethereal, soaring production, a song about looking out upon the beauty of nature and the world, it's a truly stellar track. I really would've liked if the album has a few more tracks like this.
And of course there's the best song on the album, the closer Up & Up. If this is indeed Coldplay's last album, Up & Up is the best note they could possibly go out on. A song about optimism and facing your challenges, about how maybe we face struggles, maybe everything's not perfect, but we're gonna get it together, and we're gonna keep moving. The two guitar solos, one of which provided by famed Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher, are the best parts of the song and close the track out beautifully. It really does feel like a grand finale, a final bow, and while I do hope that this isn't Coldplay's last album, if it truly is, Up & Up might be their perfect final bow.
So in the end, does A Head Full Of Dreams stack up with Coldplay's other works? Well, yes and no. Yes, there are some absolutely stellar standout moments, but as a whole product, A Head Full Of Dreams doesn't really stand out to me as the rest of Coldplay's work. There are quite a few kind of forgettable tracks, and of course that one awful track, but I'd say the good moments are more than worth checking out this thing for.
And if this is the end for Coldplay, we can at least say they've left behind an incredible discography and will no doubt go down as one of the greats.
BEST SONGS: Up & Up, Amazing Day, A Head Full Of Dreams, Fun feat. Tove Lo, Everglow, Color Spectrum
WORST SONG: X Marks The Spot
Final Score:
8.5/10
