All rights reserved. When I am at Glastonbury and in need of some crowd-sourced euphoria on the Saturday night, or in my car and want to do some indiscriminate caterwauling, I can seek you out and you will be my non-judgemental partner in crime. But Coldplay’s fifth album – and most ambitious yet – suggests Martin cares too much not to at least try to help. All rights reserved. It’s a bear-hug record for a bear-market world. Your purchase helps us remain independent and ad-free. For one thing, the storyline is flimsy. Though the overall tone is a bit melancholy and introspective at times, it's still an OK choice for younger tweens and teens. It ticks all the appropriate boxes: electropoppiness, just enough credibility to get a pass, and anthemics (although not as many as you'd expect). Mylo Xyloto has 'should like' written all over its graffitied face. “Princess of China” is a ballad about loss and regret, co-starring Rihanna. Worse, it forces him to write in character, as a wild, feral youth who "stole a key, took a car downtown where the lost boys meet … we'll run riot," as he sings on Charlie Brown. Common Sense is the nation's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of all kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in the 21st century. © Copyright 2020 Rolling Stone, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC. Perhaps it has to do with the deftness with which Coldplay weave the electronics around their sound. Some more songs in this vein would be welcome. How Technology Is Reshaping Democracy and Our Lives, Participate in DigCit Week with your kid by using curated activities from Wide Open School, Online Playdates, Game Nights, and Other Ways to Socialize at a Distance, Keeping Kids Motivated for Online Learning, Set limits for violence and more with Plus. It's We Will Soft Rock You. Despite Martin's worries, the chances of their vast fanbase suddenly defecting – to Justin Bieber or anyone else – seem pretty slender.

Somewhat bleak messages about loneliness and difficult times, though the album ends on a high note: "Good things are coming our way.". Or perhaps it's because whatever accusations you could heave at Coldplay, an inability to write hook-laden melodies isn't really among them, and a hook-laden melody is a movable feast. Disappointing is the brevity of Mylo Xyloto, A Hopeful Transmission, and M.M.I.X., as well as … Families can talk about "concept albums" (albums that follow a story or theme) like Mylo Xyloto and how they differ from other records.

It ticks all the appropriate boxes: electropoppiness, just enough credibility to get a pass, and anthemics (although not as many as you'd expect). But truthfully that doesn't really come across, seeming more like a gabbled attempt to give the songs on here a vague sense of garbled cohesion.In fact, in part because the singles are so strong, it's often difficult to listen to it as an album and glean the concept the band hope will unify the songs. Steve Perry Looks Back on Touring With Van Halen and the Eddie Collaboration That Might Have Been, Harry Hudson Discusses Journey With Cancer and How ‘Just Living’ Inspired His New Album, BTS Owns $108 Million of Big Hit. You have to give him credit for stepping outside his comfort zone and playing against type. But equally, there's no getting around the fact that Chris Martin makes for a profoundly unconvincing feral youth: it feels like remaking The Wild One with Phillip Schofield in the lead role.Still, he might reasonably respond that no one buys a Coldplay album in the hope of finding brilliantly incisive lyrics, or indeed an accurate portrayal of untamable adolescent rebellion. Pop-rock concept record about love is OK for tweens, teens. All the mega-Coldplay fans, and we should acknowledge that they are many in number, are not going to give a fig what I think about it - and nor should they. There's something faintly baffling about that, given that the icy rave synthesisers and basslines of pop R&B sound pretty formulaic themselves. Parents need to know that Mylo Xyloto is a very clean album by contemporary pop-rock band Coldplay. I think everyone, including Coldplay, wanted Mylo Xyloto to be that album. Interview: Miranda July on Kajillionaire and the Malleability of Movies. They want other things, and they're all present and correct here. Parents: Set preferences and get age-appropriate recommendations with Common Sense Media Plus. Go behind the scenes with Coldplay in this exclusive video by Pete Ohs, With Imagine Dragons and London Grammar as support, the band’s return showcases new material from their sixth album, Ghost Stories, alongside Clocks and confetti cannons. But the kids – it literally talks about "the kids" – are rising up against them, inspired by the power of rock'n'roll: "I turn the music up, I got my records on/ From underneath the rubble sing a rebel song." MYLO XYLOTO is the fifth studio album from pop-rock darlings Coldplay. Explicit political statements aren’t really Martin’s thing; he’s in the uplift business. Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners. It's We Will Soft Rock You.

It's not, on the whole, dislikable; it's just a bit of a mess.