Review Summary: Coldplay's newest album cannot avoid the band's main flaws: Passive lyrics and uninspired generalized musical direction.
Ghost Stories was supposed to be Coldplay’s “Blood on the Tracks.” Instead, it is Chris Martin’s love letter to his uncoupled partner, Gwyneth Paltrow.
Coldplay has always been about love and the lack of – and it has been successful. While “Mylo Xyloto” and “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends” have been more abstract in their content, Coldplay’s arguably most acclaimed album – “A Rush of Blood to the Head” – was mostly about broken hearts and pain.
So one might assume that Ghost Stories would be Coldplay’s strongest outing, because the material matter is about broken hearts and pain; the things that they have been most acclaimed (and hated) for.
Wrong.
The difference between 2014 Coldplay and the Coldplay of old is that they have chosen the path of mainstream then alternative. Chris has made the decision to stay relevant even as they are almost forty. It is this decision that has railed any chance of this album lifting off the ground.
That is not to say it does not have its moments, starting with the opener.
Always in My Head starts the album off with a synthy intro that is cold and heartbreaking. The main guitar riff comes in, drum programming starts, and the heavy bass swirls the pit of regret and sadness, which is built in the soundscape of the song. “And so my mouth waters to be fed, and you’re Always in My head,” Chris Martin croons softly as if he has spent a night alone and has finally come to terms with his love. This song starts the album in a perfect way and is the key track of the entire LP. The direct lyrics and icy melody paints the picture of Chris’s breakup in a mournful, yet hopeful way.
Mournful, but hopeful was probably Chris’s tone in Ghost Stories, or at last, it’s what he wanted the tone to be.
Magic is the lead single of the album and one of the most boring songs Coldplay has ever released as a single. Its catchy, that I will admit that; once that wears off, what you have is a song that has poor lyrics (“Call it magic, call it true, call it magic, when I’m with you,”) and a melody that has the complexity of a top 40 “RnB” song. This is most likely the intent of Coldplay, because as I said, Magic is catchy. Catchy does not make addictive, fun songs such as Viva La Vida or even Paradise.
Ink is the latest single of their live album and is even more catchy then Magic, but that is what makes it fail. Ink fails in portraying the contrast between the words sung and the music played. Radiohead is one of the best bands at doing this: playing uplifting music with dark words to accompany it. In Ink, the song’s poor lyrics (“Got a tattoo, says together through life. Carved it with my pocket knife,”) end up pulling a fantastic melody and production down with it.
True Love is “Disney” music. That is a quote not from me, but from a relatively huge Coldplay fan from their official forums. I disagree, mostly because I think the melody is great, I just cannot stand the attempt of a mix of synth strings and a hip-hop beat. The production of the song does not do the strong lyrics from Chris justice (“Tell me you love me, if you don’t then lie to me,”) in any way.
The album turns itself around with Midnight. This is a taster of what Coldplay could achieve if they stopped caring about their “fans” for once. I put fans in quotations because I believe they think their entire fan base are casual fans when a large majority are the fans from their past who have grown with them.
Midnight is in a sense not really a Coldplay song. The track was made by Jon Hopkin as a demo for another song that Coldplay adopted, modified, and put lyrics toThe song is another key song and is arguably the peak of the darkness in Ghost Stories. One more note: The lyrics remind me of the Viva La Vida era when Chris could write clever metaphors and imagery without seeming like an eighth grader trying to see how many he can shoot off before the end of class. “In the darkness before the storm, leave a light on,” Chris moans to the listener in a trance. Bloody good stuff here.
Another’s Arms is the closest thing we have to a song that actually brings up the ugly side of breakups: Cheating, loneliness… And it manages to mess it up with pretty mediocre lyrics. “Late night watching TV, used to be you here beside me,” Chris sings in his lovely lower register. The words are not so lovely – they are pathetic. The song’s atmosphere is great for the first listen, but it gets boring quickly. Overall, the song’s production is superb and allows it to really shine, making it still much better than songs like Ink and Magic.
Oceans is one of the better tracks on Ghost Stories. The lyrics (“Wait for you caller, the call never came,”) are meaningful, the melody harkens back to the Parachutes era with the acoustic guitar, and the production is fine – especially the unique pulse that surges with the melody. My problem with the song is that it is too cautious and contained, unlike the raw awesomeness in Parachute tracks like Sparks and Spies.
The interlude between Oceans and A Sky Full of Stars is a creative production with panning and synths that could be cut in half. The tension it creates becomes irritation waiting for the inevitable drop in to ASFOS.
A Sky Full of Stars is a good song. It just should not be on the album. It is everything that is bad about the Ghost Stories. It is a top 40 uplifting pop song on an album trying to be a modern soft rock with electronic influences. While being nowhere near as bad as the worst songs of Ghost Stories, the catchiness of the song wears out and all you have is a worthless EDM song in the middle of a pop/rock album.
Chris mentioned that it is supposed to be the euphoria in the darkness. I just do not think the album created enough sadness to allow the song to make a difference. Also, maybe make a song that is not an average EDM song. Clocks is a great ideal model of a song that is arguably euphoric, yet not boring.
Finally O, my personal favorite song of the album. While Always in My Head is the key song when it comes to what the album should feel like – O is the best that the album has to offer. A slow piano ballad to start, with gloomy lyrics (And I always look up to the sky, Pray before the dawn,”) that still offers hope (“Maybe one day soon, Maybe one day I’ll fly next to you,”). The melody is classic Coldplay: full of emotion that causes just as much heart break as the lyrics.
The Outro is the same ambient track as the intro with Guy playing additional bass notes. The lovely thing about the end is that is features Apple - Chris’s daughter - singing alongside her father. They sing in unison, “O, don’t ever let go.” Beautiful words.
I will admit I am as big a Coldplay fan as they come. That does not mean I do not pretend they do not have huge weaknesses that prevent them from creating an album that is comparable to Kid A or Joshua’s Tree. Their willingness in trying to stay relevant in a young music market is what keeps them from creating true masterpieces. Chris’s poor lyrics are too passive and do not reflect a true artistic purpose. The fact that the other band members seem to follow Chris’s every order is enough to tell me something is wrong. It is obvious that until they can fix these issues, we will never hear the Coldplay we want.
