NY Times Needs To Rehire

In the Sunday NY Times, Mr. Jon Parales published an article called "The Case Against Coldplay." In the article, he complements Coldplay's music ability. He also writes how the lyrics are about self-pity, which in his own words is among the top 3 or 4 things written about in most music (just look at the Blues and the whole Grunge movement.) From the piece, it sounded as though he is not a fan of self-pity bands and probably hated bands like Nirvana (a kick ass band with a personal favorite musician, Dave Grohl also in the Foo Fighters and Probot.) Parales then goes on to say that he doesn't like the vocal performance on the album because they play the songs at that transition from his lower voice to his high, and his British accent makes the singing like an annoying sound.

I am a fan of Coldplay, not one of those die hards, but I listen to some of their songs. I read the article and became furious. If the music sounds good, then it must be good. Chris Martin's voice having the heavy British accent is not his fault. The only way to get rid of it is through a speech coach, which is a waste of money. People in the north say things with a different way than south, and people in the northeast have different dialects (NYC and Boston.) It's part of who you are and where you come from.

On Tuesday, I went to iTunes and previewed the album to hear it, and indeed it was filled with some good tracks and studio stuff. If you liked the previous one like I did, you'll like this one. Although I think "Clocks" and "The Scientist" the best, the album X&Y is a good follow up album.

Parales also had a problem with Coldplay using the same drumbeat from a previous song. I don't think he mentioned, but they also used the same chord progression in "Speed Of Sound" as on "Clocks". Musicians know what I'm talking about when I say 'what is the big deal?' Do you know how many bands use similar stuff to make new songs. My favorites including AC/DC and Alkaline Trio have done this as well as The Darkness, and many others. Not only do they do it because a slight change can make a brand new sounding song, but also because they need to be able to add vocals. A singer can sometimes only really sing in one key very well. This is what limits a band's creativity to expand when playing a verse, hense why a bridge allows them to move from key to key and go back for the vocals. This is utilized a lot in metal like Metallica, Anthrax, Iron Maiden (although they guy can sing.)

For the record, I have a few questions to ask the NY Times writer.
1.) Do you like the group Five For Fighting?
2.) If yes to #1, why do you not like Coldplay? (accent is NO excuse)
3.) How about Something Corporate, do you like them?

In the end it really doesn't matter what the so called "expert critic" says, it's what people like me think of the album. Just for kicks, Five For Fighting is an immensely popular group as well as Something Corporate. And there is no doubt in my mind that X&Y is going to sell big in the UK and U.S.

CAN YOU FEEL THE ROCK WITHIN, WORLD