viva-la-coldplayers: hey sorry to bug you, but can you now that you've heard the studio versions of the songs could you rank them? thank you! (ps i respect you for not leaking it!)

In reply to both your question and theworstofthesewinterswevemade’s:

The album has been an incredible showcase for the boys’ versatility. Looking back on their previous albums, it’s clear how each have ultimately contributed to GS by the range of these tracks and how well they seemed to have blended different eras. I can’t say I’m really disappointed at all. There’s definitely a perspective to consider now that people know what subject matter and state of mind each song was written from. I think that makes a defining difference for this album compared to the others where the influences were much more generalized or broad. I’ve ranked the tracks below based on obviously a personal perspective (favourite to least favourite). I’m certain that there are differences in how each appeals from person to person, so that’s definitely something to consider while reading this:

O: I’ve loved this one since it was introduced to most in Chris’ BBC interview. The piano is incredible and after hearing Chris get sort of choked up on the air, I don’t think I can hear this song without imagining that. I felt more invested from that point.

Oceans: While I’m not a hater of the sounds they’ve experimented with, I love this one for its sort of throwback quality. Being reminiscent of Parachutes, I can’t help but completely love this. I don’t know if I can even verbalize the appeal for this one.

A Sky Full of Stars: There is no doubt I love this collab with Tim. I think I love this one for the same reason I adored Charlie Brown as the previous album was rolling out. It gives off a feeling of togetherness, pure and shameless joy when it picks up and you can’t help but jump, dance or spin. It seems from the interview is that this was the intention for Chris—to create something colourful despite some obstacles, and even embrassing those darker areas.

True Love: This opened with a sound I really didn’t expect from them, something I wouldn’t immediately associate as a Coldplay sound but right as Chris opened with his vocals, I instantly felt like I got thrown eras back. My first impression was an X&Y-esque sound. It’s definitely a slower track with some heartbreaking lyrics in which Jonny eventually comes in with a riff that sort of cuts like a knife near the end.

Always In My Head: The subject matter, context, lyrics and melody seem to be done in a way that brilliantly takes you into that frame of mind—contemplative, maybe slightly regretful but certainly quite lonely. The more I think about each song in itself while going down this list, the more I think each song deserves to be higher up in this ranking.

Magic: Unfortunately both Magic and Always In My Head are on the outer edges of the record and skip very often. I’ve tried cleaning it and I constantly get skipping on the outer area of Side A. This ranking may be skewed by me having played Magic quiet a lot already as a single and so my curiosity and intrigue is new with the others.

Another’s Arms: I’m actually a huge fan of the backing vocals on this, and although this may seem blasphemous to say (haha) but I am not too big on both the distortion in Chris’ voice and also his lower range used throughout the track.

Ink: Interestingly enough, I’d really rather not have this one near the bottom because its rhythm really presents a really upbeat mood that really appeals to me. It’s playful and makes me sort of want to dance in my seat, especially the moments that Chris simply goes “doo doo doo doo doo” over and over. It makes me want to sing along out of happiness. I guess the main issue for me is that lyrically, it’s not very strong for me, though I’m sure I can only imagine that these were words that came out were nothing less than raw from a man experiencing the things that he did (Chris). For that, I feel wrong to judge, but ultimately, I guess I expected more in the lyrics.

Midnight: I honestly don’t know if I was just caught off guard when this was released or something but I wasn’t necessarily on board for the GS train at first. It’s a track that has grown on me since but I personally can’t imagine it being something that I have on constant loop as I’d hope to do with any song I adore. I suppose many of the tracks or artists that it was being compared to especially at the time of release were not ones I listened to much either in the first place though. Certainly there are many that feel differently but personally I prefer the other tracks over Midnight.

Other notes:

There’s an interlude between Oceans and A Sky Full of Stars. It’s simply very ambient, and it VAGUELY reminds me of the opening of Violet Hill.



There’s also a hidden track long after O, it is similar to the snippet that plays right before Always In My Head, as Chris stated includes the singing echoes of Apple and her friend.