Coldplay - Ghost Stories

 

"Ghost Stories" was released in 2014 and is the sixth album by UK rock outfit Coldplay. After releasing "Mylo Xylto" you would forgive them for using the same sort of formula of hit singles which transfer effortlessly to the stadiums and festivals which they have conquered multiple times at this stage.  But this album took a very different direction for the large part which was reportedly inspired by lead singer Chris Martin's break up with Gwyneth Paltrow.  The front cover of the album is the biggest clue behind this as it's a picture of a broken heart.  

Coldplay have had a habit of creating albums which sound tracked various stages and times in my life. "A rush blood to the head", their second album came out in 2002 when I was at university.  It was basically the music I washed dishes too for a very long time.  Fourth album "Viva la Vida or death and all his friends" came out in 2008 sound tracked an extremely difficult part of my life as I battled mental health problems.  "Ghost Stories" was one of three albums to soundtrack my time in Leeds where I worked for 6 months, and I will always associate this album with my time there.

As I say "Ghost Stories" took a different direction for Coldplay. It was bold and ambitious, and it did risk losing Coldplay fans.  To me it's Coldplay's chill out album for the most part and I really think the core of it is fantastic.  The album kicks off with "Always in my head", before winding its way into "Magic" which was song of the year for Radio 1 in 2014.  "True Love" and "Ink" follow that same vibe.  "Midnight" is probably my favourite on the album, Martin great vocally and the synth loop is mind blowing.  I say these tracks have such a chilled-out vibe to them and is such a contrast to their previous 5 albums.

There is one track off the album though that goes against the grain and that is "Sky full of stars".  This is probably still one of their biggest hits to date.  It is a huge sounding song with a singalong chorus. Really in stark contrast to the rest of the album.  Don't get me wrong I do like the song a lot.  But for me it does not fit onto this album at all.  Maybe they put it on it because they needed a hit to make people buy the album.  But for me it just doesn’t fit in with the flow of the album.  "Another's arms" and Oceans" which come before it, are very good tracks again.  But the last track which does go back to a more chill out vibe, it is called "O".  This track is a nice piano ballad to round off the album.

Overall, this was still a very brave album for Coldplay to release.  They could have gone for the tried and trusted formulas they have mastered by now. But for the most part they delivered a wonderful album which is such a nice album to relax too.  Besides "Sky full of stars" these songs were born for concert halls rather than stadiums.  Which is maybe why they only did 5 dates worldwide to support the album.  But there is no getting away from it, this is a real gem for Coldplay fans that is well worth your time.