There was a little hub-bub about Coldplay’s new album, Mylo Xyloto, when it was released. I talked with a longtime fan, who said that they couldn’t listen to it all the way through, which was odd.
Spurred on by Amazon’s $3.99 download of the album, I got a copy of it myself. It was different, but I really like it … or at least 95 percent of it. Sure, it’s different than the last album, but the core sound remains. It reminded me of another supergroup who took a left turn in the middle of their career.
U2 released Pop after a four-year hiatus from their Achtung, Baby! / Zooropa run. Achtung, of course, is one of U2′s greatest albums. Pop, meanwhile, was blasted and was relegated to “also-run” status. The video for the first single, “Discotheque,” with the band dressing in Village People garb, may have helped that perception.
And yet, listening to it almost 15 years later, there’s a depth to the lyric and a layer to the noise that still sounds fresh. The band still pulls songs from the album for concerts … even “Discotheque.”
So take heart, put-off Coldplay people who don’t like the new album: give it some time … and be patient. If everything follows form, the next album will blow you away.
After all, U2 followed up Pop with All that You Can’t Leave Behind, a critical and commercial masterpiece.
While you wait, though, let the disco move you:
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