Coldplay's new album!

Released: To be released October 24, 2011

I'm very excited.  Coldplay is set to release a new album and I'm looking forward to hearing it.  I'm looking forward to finding out how to pronounce it.  It's called Mylo Xyloto.  I think it's pronounced My Low Zy Low Toe broken out into words that sound like it.  On their website, coldplay.com, they have a pronunciation key, of course, that's hand written in a semi messy fashion, so that's not too helpful to me.

This is their fifth studio album.

First was Parachutes from 2000 and it was incredible.  They became my favorite band in a very short amount of time, and still are.  The combination of emotional lyrics, orchestral instruments, and contemporary rock instruments make this band to me, unbeatable.  Parachutes was heavy on emotion and orchestral instruments along with piano.  One of their best albums.

Then in 2002 they released A Rush of Blood To The Head.  A strong, driving album that mixes powerful melodies with incredibly touching lyrics, this one is my absolute favorite.  In addition to the wonderful music, the artwork on the album and individual single releases is so interesting and visually arresting, I can't help but recall them while listening to the album. 

The next studio album was released in 2005 called X&Y.  I feel like they stepped away from the formula that worked so well for them in previous albums.  Some of the songs are really really good, but the songs didn't touch me as deep as the previous albums.  I was a bit disappointed with this work.  A lot more synthesizer sounding instruments and less strings just made it sound less like themselves.  Ironically, the song called "The Hardest Part" is one of my favorites of this album. 

Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends came along in 2008.  I was disappointed further still by this album as it sounds like they moved towards a more mechanical modern instrumental sound.  Not so much of the orchestral stuff they mixed in before that made their music so unique and beautiful.  I still really like about half the songs on this album, but some I just don't like.

So that brings us up to date on all the studio albums they've released.  There are a lot of live albums I've skipped, but I'm covering the important stuff here.  I really have to go back to A Rush of Blood to the Head for my favorite songs of theirs.  Stuff like Politik, In My Place, God Put a Smile Upon your Face, A Warning Sign, and the title track are amazing pieces of music.  I can't get enough of these songs and they are always so powerful and meaningful when I hear them.  I love them as much today as I did when I first heard them.  If this new album is anything like the first two albums they put out, I will be very very happy.  We will have to wait and see.