Review Summary: Weirdness for the sake of weirdness doesn't work.
I'm in the middle of what's probably my third listen of
A Head Full of Dreams, and I cannot decide for the life of me whether I like this record or not. On one hand, this is the upbeat
Coldplay that I know and (usually) love back once again with a vengeance to inspire the world to seize the day and make the most of their lives. On the other hand, this is overall the least Coldplay has ever sounded like themselves because of the increasing amount of electronic textures present.
Granted,
A Head Full of Dreams pushes Chris Martin and Co. into new directions musically. When I heard "Viva la Vida" back in 2008, I never would have thought that we would be hearing Coldplay going full-on disco pop ("Adventure of a Lifetime") or R&B ("Hymn for the Weekend," which also features
Beyonce). These areas of experimentation are intriguing and typically work because they're so unexpected. From a band who over the years has been known to more or less stay in their artistic box, it's much appreciated. There are other times when Coldplay takes on some of their older flair, in particular "Amazing Day" and the title track. "A Head Full of Dreams" reminds me of a little-known
U2 track called "Levitate." It's a perfect album opener and will be a great live track for sure, while also having some good lyricism about changing the world from Martin. "Amazing Day" is probably my favorite track on the entire album because of the way its lyrics and melody interact. They fit together like a hand in a glove. Yes, it's got that mid-tempo ballad thing that Coldplay are so well-known for, but tracks like this are why it's known as their thing: they're really good at it.
However,
A Head Full of Dreams's second half (besides the aforementioned "Amazing Day") becomes weird. Usually, I like weird, as it shows off a band's ability to experiment. Here's the problem with it on these tracks: unlike the first half of the album, it's weirdness for the sake of weirdness. It feels like the band forced themselves to go outside the box instead of naturally progressing there themselves. Interludes like "Kaleidoscope" and "Color Spectrum" don't really make sense and almost break up the entire album's flow. "Army of One" and its unlisted companion "X Marks the Spot" also feel out of place: not just in this album, but in Coldplay's whole career. The lyrics feel like a forced attempt at putting a song about a positive relationship on a Coldplay album after the mellowness of
Ghost Stories. The closer "Up&Up" doesn't do a ton for me because of its almost ham-handed inspirational tone, but it's tolerable even if it goes on for about a minute too long.
I'm still at a loss here. I really want to say that this is an album you should buy, but I just can't make a blanket statement like that here.
A Head Full of Dreams, my most anticipated album of the year (mostly because I'm not in love with
Adele), has become one of the most disappointing. This is a blemish in Coldplay's larger catalog: not because of the shift to the bright, cheery tone, but because this is an album where there are the same repeated missteps throughout. There are still some good and even great songs on this record, but don't expect much of anything on the other tracks.
My rating: 2.5/5
Recommended tracks: "A Head Full of Dreams," "Hymn for the Weekend," "Adventure of a Lifetime," "Amazing Day"
