Ghost Stories Review
All that I really constantly heard about the 6th
album from Coldplay was that it would be more stripped back and comparable to
their first album, Parachutes. I
questioned this move, not for me, but for their audience they gained from songs
like Viva la Vida and Paradise. I would easily welcome back the early version
of Coldplay, but would everyone else? Doing experiments like this is what
eventually drove artists like Bono to insanity for relevance. Would the same
happen to Martin? We will have to see, but now on to the music.
I got home from school one faithful February day and
performed my usual check of Twitter. To my fanboy excitement, I see Coldplay
tweeting about a brand new song. I sprint to my laptop and search for this new
song Midnight. I press play and my Coldplay life changed. What is this??!!?!
This isn’t Coldplay! This is the love-child of Bon Iver and *the good version
of* Radiohead, but I love it! I binge-listened to this song for a couple of
days until the first single, Magic, was released. I enjoyed Magic but nowhere
near the level that I loved Midnight. This was getting me pretty psyched for the
album. I prefer these two songs to the first two singles of 2011’s Mylo Xyloto,
Every Teardrop is a Waterfall and Paradise.
A few weeks later, Coldplay headlined the iTunes festival in
Austin, Texas during SXSW. They played Midnight and Magic but also debuted the
album’s lead track, Always in my Head and Another’s Arms. I only listened to
the tracks once in order to keep them fresh but loved them on the first listen.
It wasn’t until late April that the next Ghost Stories
single was released. A Sky Full of Stars was unlike any of the songs heard so
far from the album. This Avicii-produced EDM/Dance track quickly became my
summer anthem. This song sounded like it could have been on Mylo Xyloto, but it
would prove to be much needed positive and optimistic song for this deep,
emotional album about Martin’s marriage troubles to then wife, Gweynth Paltrow.
May 12 was the day all Coldplay fans were looking forward too;
the album finally was streaming on iTunes. This wasn’t any ordinary stream;
this stream came with a virtual “tour” of the album’s artwork.
The album starts off with charming guitar work from Jonny
Buckland which leads into Martin’s painful lyrics. He leads with lyrics of a
haunted lover “I think of you/ I haven’t slept/ I think I do/ But I don’t
forget.” From these lyrics, listeners can sense the pain Martin felt during the
end of his relationship with Paltrow. This is another great opener for Coldplay
among the ranks of Life in Technicolor, Hurts like Heaven and Don’t Panic.
The second track is the lead single, Magic. This song leads
off with a strong performance by Guy Berryman. This is one of the more encouraging
songs on the album while Martin sings lines like “And I just got broken/ Broken
into two/Still I call it magic/When I'm next to you” and “And if you were to
ask me/ After all that we've been through/ Still believe in magic/ Oh yes I do.”
It seems like this track was written during a time of hope for the couple
before the inevitable split. Overall this track shines and has led to success
in the charts.
The next two tracks are Ink and True Love. Ink continues with more of
an upbeat sound compared to the end of the album while True Love is more somber. As much as I enjoy these two
tracks, especially True Love, Martin’s simplistic are more prevalent than any
of their previous albums. Not that it’s a bad thing. Some of the lyrics are
moving while being simple. This is better than some scholar writing lyrics that
only more educated audiences would understand. That’s the beauty of Coldplay
and their songs. They have songs that are accessible to anyway; be it 2002’s
The Scientist, 2005’s Fix You, or Ghost
Stories’ Ink, where Martin sings “All I know is that I love you so/ So much
that it hurts.” Martin’s lyrics can be summed up as simple, but effective.
Fifth on the album is the first song released from Ghost
Stories, Midnight. This song is still fresh every listen for me. Bands making
moves like this are what I love best. The vocoder used by Martin makes this
track even more haunting yet beautiful to make this one of the most unique and
also best Coldplay songs of their eighteen year career.
The next track is a song debuted at the iTunes show at SXSW.
Another’s Arms is another track quilty of weak lyrics, but it is the most somber
song of Ghost Stories. Throughout these lines, Martin is really saying that
there is only one true love for him. Maybe Chris still loves Gwynth? Or maybe
he can’t get past her.
Track 7 is sort of a blast from the past. The track Oceans
sounds like it could very well have been on Coldplay’s 2000 debut album,
Parachutes. While this is my least favorite song on the record, I still enjoy
it; much better than the worst songs on Mylo Xyloto anyway.
Following Oceans is the 2nd single, A Sky Full of
Stars. Like I said earlier, this summer anthem is a much needed breath of fresh
air for the second half of Ghost Stories. Good to see that Martin still
believes in love.
The final track on the album, O, is also my favorite. This
beginning of the song is a secret track, Flyn On, featuring Martin’s daughter
Apple and her friend Mabel. The instrumental, especially piano, is the best on
the album. The song ends on an optimistic note when Martin writes “Maybe one
day I'll fly next to you.”
The three Target Deluxe Edition tracks are all good,
especially Ghost Story, which is one of the best songs on the album.
This album, while amazing, does seem more like a Chris
Martin solo record. While Berryman does have a strong role throughout the album,
Buckland and Champion are underutilized. Buckland does have some great work on
songs like Always in My Head and True love, but overall he doesn’t seem to put
his mark on this album. Champion is probably the least promoted. On Ghost
Stories, Champion uses a drum machine instead of a kit, which makes it seem
like Champion is absent most of the record. But the good thing is the songs
that sound a bit un-human still shine live.
Coldplay still know how to bring it. It is hard to think
about what the future will hold. It’s hard to see Coldplay doing a full world
tour off of this album, but will they? I think the only way that’ll be possible
is a follow up release next spring lending to a summer/fall tour playing some
songs from GS but mainly focusing on the newer album.
Overall, this album is very pleasing and a nice step-back
from Mylo Xyloto. It’s good to see some old Coldplay again mixed with some
modern EDM.
Song Rankings
1. O
2. True Love
3. Midnight
4. Another's Arms
5. Ghost Story
6. Always in My Head
7. A Sky Full of Stars
8. Magic
9. Ink
10. All Your Friends
11. Oceans
12. O (Part 2/Reprise)
