Ever since Viva la Vida took wing, Coldplay fans have been anxiously awaiting the next equally creative album from this worldwide known band for a solid three years. And much to their pleasure, Coldplay fans have not been let down.
Mylo Xyloto (pronounced my-low zy-lee-toe) was released on October 24 and could not have hit harder. In the US alone, the projected sales by October 30 were AT LEAST 450,000! That number may even be considered a low estimate for this album, some argue.
Well, you can bet that I was definitely one of the 450,000 that bought this album in the first week it came out. I’ve been a Coldplay fan since “Clocks” hit the radio in 2002. Ever since, I was hooked and haven’t been able to get enough Coldplay for the past nine years. So when I heard “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall” this past summer, I was entirely too impatient for their album to come out.
I can honestly say that Mylo Xyloto is one of their more creative and playful albums. You can hear how they played around with more recording techniques, sounds and the like.
From xylophones and violins, to techno beats, to even the classic guitar, bass and drums, this album has really explored (and rocked) a certain instrumentation that I would have never thought could sound even remotely good. This album also explores a vast range of tempos with some very fast tunes, including “Hurts like Heaven” and “Major Minus,” as well as slower tunes with “Up in Flames” and “Up with the Birds”. As usual, Coldplay masterfully covers a wide range of beautiful chord changes that gives each song a very wholesome feel. On top of that, the lyrics are truly top-notch poetry for each song. They even feature Rihanna in “Princess of China.” Is there anything this band can’t do?
I was actually very surprised at how much treble this album used. Granted, there are songs that make use of much bass like “Up in Flames”, but for the whole of the album, it is very central to this idea of treble. It isn’t a sound I’m used to from Coldplay, but it’s a sound they can definitely pull off.
Overall, this album has left me blown away and beyond impressed. If you haven’t bought it yet, don’t even bother reading the rest of this article, just hop in amazon.com or itunes.com and get it! You will not be disappointed.
You can buy “Mylo Xyloto” on amazon.com for $9.99, or download the mp3 album for $7.99!