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http://www.coldplaying.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1426

Coldplay have hit out at claims they're to split

Speaking from the stage at last night's Brit Awards singer Chris Martin hinted the band would move out of the public eye once the promotion for current album 'X&Y' was complete.

"People are fed up with us and so are we," he said. "You won't see us at one of these for many, many years. We mean it."

However, the band's label have hit back at reports that this means the band are splitting up. A spokesperson told NME.COM: "Coldplay are not quitting. They are on the road until July, when their 16-month 'X&Y' World Tour ends in Japan. They will then continue working on new material."

The group's next single will be 'The Hardest Part', which is out in April.


http://www.coldplaying.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1431

EMI Shares Fall, Recover, After Coldplay Remarks at Awards

Shares in EMI Group Plc declined after the lead singer of the band Coldplay said fans won't see them for a "long time.'' The stock recovered most of the loss after EMI said the band was "not quitting.''

Coldplay picked up two honours at last night's Brit Awards, the U.K.'s answer to the Grammy Awards, and singer Chris Martin suggested from the podium that the group would lay low.

"You won't see us for a long time,'' he said. "We mean it.'' He also said, "People are fed up with us -- and so are we.'' His comments prompted a front-page headline today in the London Evening Standard newspaper reading, "Coldplay Quit,'' with an article saying the band will "quit the music scene for up to two years.''

Shares in London-based EMI declined as much as 8 pence, or 3.2 percent, to 245 pence, before closing at 249.5 pence in London after EMI said the band would continue.

"The shares were hit by the Coldplay thing,'' said Conor O'Shea, a media analyst at Teather & Greenwood in London. "They made some ambiguous comments at the Brit Awards, and the market took it badly because Coldplay is the most successful act EMI has at the moment.''

Coldplay's comments at the Brit Awards weren't the first time the band has affected EMI's share price. The shares dropped 16 percent on Feb. 7, 2005, after the company said Coldplay's third album, "X&Y,'' would be delayed beyond the end of EMI's fiscal year ended March 31. The album was released in June and became a global smash, debuting at the top of the Billboard album chart in the U.S. and topping many charts around the world.

The band won awards last night for best British album for "X&Y'' and best British single for "Speed of Sound.''

'Not Quitting'

"Coldplay are not quitting,'' EMI said in a statement, read by a spokeswoman. "They are on the road until July when their 16-month world tour ends in Japan. They will then continue working on new material.''

It's not uncommon for bands to take breaks after a string of hit albums and concert tours, usually for a short period before fans move on to the latest hot act.

One EMI artist, Kate Bush, took a longer respite, releasing her first new album in 12 years last year, a double compact disc called "Aerial.'' Fans stuck with Bush: she was nominated this year for best British solo artist at the Brit Awards, though the honor went to another EMI act, Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall.

Please holy Christ let it be true!  ;D

Their denials are laughable.  As if they didn't realise the speculation they'd be starting up with their words.  Reminds me a bit of David Bowie's 'retirement' at the end of the British 'Ziggy' tour of 1973, except that was something worth getting upset about! 

Rob get yerself an avatar will ya?

Ah how I long for the days when "Yellow" had just came out and I still thought these guys were cool.  You know, back before the lead singer started opening his mouth about anything and everything and showing himself as the general twit that he is.  :)

I mean, if friekin' Liam Gallagher thinks you're too much of a whiner you probably are.  At some cancer benefit Richard Ashcroft had for children dying from cancer, Oasis and Coldplay performed.  Chris played "songbird" and said it was the greatest song ever written, then said a few things about the war in Iraq from the stage (at a children's cancer benefit)... so Liam (who's usually an ass anyways) had this to say...

"That p*ssed me right off. He’s got my song involved in the war...

When Coldplay did this gig they banged on about the war, that’s wrong.  Chris Martin shouldn’t be using this cause to bang on about his own f*ckin’ views on the war. If him and his gawky bird want to go banging on about the war they can do it at their own gigs.


“That lot are just a bunch of nobhead students — Chris Martin looks like a f*ckin’ geography teacher. What’s all that f*ckin’ sh*t with writing messages about Free Trade on his hand when he’s playing. If he wants to write things down I’ll give him a f*ckin’ pen and a pad of paper. Bunch of students.

These gigs are about kids who have got cancer, they’ve got to fight a war every day of their lives. That’s what we’re all here doing this for.”

(http://images.thesun.co.uk/picture/0,,2003140749,00.gif)

I may be wrong but I'm thinking - you don't agree with Mr Martin's take on the war then Ron?!   ::)

Your post put me in mind of this, which amused me so much at the time I cut and pasted it:

Letter to Guardian 04/03/03

Allied forces have been asked by Birdlife International to be careful when bombing Iraq to avoid hurting white headed ducks (Sitting Ducks, March 3). Meanwhile the British government announces it is to exterminate all ruddy ducks in the UK. Anyone want to form Humanlife International?
Richard Barnard
Wivenhoe, Essex

Yeah, that letter seems nearly as silly as Martin's comments.

Here's another one I found that seems pretty funny.

British Q awards, 2005

Chris Martin (from stage, while adjusting microphone) - "Sorry, Liam's a bit shorter than me"

Liam Gallagher (from the audience) - "Nob-head! Come on, have a pop. You're a plant pot."

Well, it wasn't the letter itself I considered silly but what the writer was drawing attention to, i.e. that 'Birdlife International' were asking allied forces to be careful of the ducks when they bombed Iraq! 

BTW Does Chris Martin's hair naturally look like that or has he had a horrible late 70s/early 80s type perm?  That's one fashion we could do without being resurrected!  Coming from Liverpool I know what I'm talking about!   :)

I don't know if these white headed ducks are endangered, but I personally wouldn't have wanted a species to be blown out of existence. 

P'haps just me, but I think that letter is just fine...

Raising awareness of the fact that in war, you ain't just slaughtering humans, but animals as well...

War, shmar -- the REAL issue is that they SUCK. The first album had some merit to it, but they have gotten so ridiculously, insanely full of themselves.

Oh no -- if they break up, Chris Martin may have to go solo -- big shame, since that's all they are now, Chris Martin solo with 3 other berks. Never has a more generic band gotten so big so fast with so little merit.

Personally speaking, I think the letter writer had a very good point when he remarked:  'Anyone want to form Humanlife International'?

Um...Altar X????

Yeah, that angered me as much as Coldplay.  Besides, I thought the guy was making fun of the fact that the government is going to exterminate ducks at home, but not abroad.

Coldplay has all the pomposity of a prog rock band without the talent. if they break up, good riddance.

Altar X rocks your socks, Chris.

I don't wear socks  :-[

Congratulations, you want a freakin' medal?  :D

Coldplay have little to recommend them but their surprising success is less their fault than the record-buying public's taste for blandness and lowest common denominators. They're ringtone fodder. But speaking out against war, even in the presence of dying children, isn't intrinsically bad.

The birdlife letter was ironic.

Liam Gallagher, whatever his comparative values, is also ironic in a post-modern way. It's pronounced "moronic".

Perfect.   :)

Look, it´s like this: The only reason why Coldplay are so successfull is because almost everything else on the mainstream-radios is even worse. I´m really not a big fan of them, but they wrote some decent tunes. And that´s much more than other "artists" have to offer right now.

Just like Stringfellow Hawk! (Except he doesn't use underwear, period)

Wanna split the difference?

 ;D Any time, muffin.

I'm sure Coldplay are secretly a christian pop band who've infiltrated the mainstream. Look at the signs people!

They seem pretty open about the fact that they're U2, to me.

 ;D

 :-*

I never thought otherwise.

I'm sort of amazed that a Coldplay thread could last two pages among people who I thought would know better. Does the status quo of suckdom still inspire debate among thinking folks? Take out the trash, wipe your ass, etc.

*sigh.

War is horrible.  The most despicable thing you can do on earth is start a war or wage war or whatever.  When you're at war with people, tons of unfair, unjust things happen.  Innocent people are often killed by the hundreds or thousands, including children oftentime caught in the crossfire.

With that said, the letter is rediculous.  It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.  There are two possible scenarios the letter is addressing, both are ludicrious.

1st, perhaps the writers of the letter think that the U.S. is bombing specific, isolated targets, and isn't aware of the ducks; and that if the u.s. was aware of the ducks, perhaps they wouldn't bomb in an area where there are ducks.  If that's the case, the U.S. wouldn't be bombing ducks anyways, they'd be bombing military targets or whatever,  if they're specifically bombing targets... they wouldn't specifically bomb a duck.

The second scenario is that they think the U.S. is just haphazardly bombing anywhere and the ducks might get caught up in the rain of bombs.  If that's the case, then the U.S. obviously doesn't have regard for innocent human life (if they're bombing at random) and therefore wouldn't care about the ducks either. 

Either way you look at it, the letter's a waste of ink.

Oh, and back to coldplay, on the MTV awards (which I wish I never would have watched) last year, they had Pharell introduce them, and he said "He has an amazing falsetto voice"... then Coldplay performed and Chris's voice was all f'd up.  I don't know what was wrong with him, but he was wayyyy off key everytime he tried to sing the chorus.  I just thought it was funny that the guy was just complementing his voice and he blew it. 

I'm thinking about doing one of those Nickleback things where I sync up "Clocks" and "Speed of Sound" to show that they're the same song.

hahaha you've gotta do that. They suck. If they just came out with their first cd they would be okay. I kind of like yellow, but everything else is shiite

Here's an article explaining not-liking-Coldplay categories:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1712509,00.html

hahahaha

I like Coldplay.  They and their songs are likeable.  Do people not like Coldplay because they are likeable?  Because you and your parents could listen to them together?  And I present that scenario as a universally uncool exchange.

Me and my parents could listen to anything from the 50's together... and I love most things from the 50's.  So nah... I don't think that's it. 

I don't like them because they released the same song twice under two names.

I don't like them because their music is bland, safe and boring, and self-absorbed besides, and too full of its own importance. Bloated, pompous nonsense that utterly fails to rock in any meaningful way.

Rock has to be meaningful?  That's a new one on me...

Plus, there's literally millions of people out there that Coldplay has been meaningful to.  And probably a small handful have had their lives changed by Coldplay.

I'm not saying their songs aren't meaningful -- in fact, I'd argue they're enormously, almost opressively LADEN with meaning, lyrically. What I simply mean is that their songs do not ROCK in any way.

Not that music has to ROCK, like literally rock like the Stooges -- what I guess I actually mean is that their music lacks any kind of stones. Cojones. Dangly bits. There isn't a jot of grit or guts on their records. They just kind of lie there, limply, blandly pleasant and carefully constructed and not at all intrusive to listen to while you clean the catbox.

http://www.someoneliving.com/coldplaysamesong.mp3

It's only a few seconds, because I don't feel like spending all day synching.  You'll notice that Chris is singing the melody and lyrics to "Speed of Sound" over the instrumental backing of "Clocks."

Forgive the phasing and pitch shift artifacts.

Genius, Josh, you rule. That's hilarious, and absolutely true, I noticed it when Speed of Sound first came on the radio. That's a worse song re-writing than "Pleasant Valley Sunday / Teardrop City"

I don't think that's all their doing.

They're on the huge label which wants more of what sells.

Clocks was EVERYWHERE for a year straight, they wanted it again.

You mean "Last Train To Clarksville"/"Tear Drop City".  :)

This coming from a guy who loves Hall and Oates.

But I can't talk, I hate Coldplay too. Buncha pussies.

First time I heard "Yellow" ABC was using it on their station identification. That's about right for the band. Commercial music.

coldplay-irrelevant. anyone heard the boot to that one yet?

I've never listened to Coldplay, and have no desire to.

Well, I thought the song that had a sweet, delicate guitar line and ominous bass pattern was really pretty damn good...  It was shown on the highlights reel for Live 8... Something about "How long will you wait for me?" or similar...

I think they've captured the pompous 'futuristic' sound of U2 (ie. FREAKIN' DELAY PEDALS!!!!) quite well, but Chris Martin doesn't work for me as a vocalist...  Bono whoops his ass, and will continue to for years.  Their melodies lack the charm and polish of U2's aswell.

U2 are much preferable.  Coldplay I will not turn off if they are on the radio, but I don't think I'll be buying any of their stuff.

Hall and Oates at least have a sense of humor.

I loved U2's stuff up until "Pop".  Well, including Pop.  Their last 2 albums I cannot get into to save my life.  Achtung Baby, Joshua Tree, Boy, War, Rattle & Hum, Zooropa, Pop I thought were all great.  I think after that, Bono took this huge I am god swerve.  I think on "Zooropa" and "Pop", I thought he was just acting.  Now I think he's living it. 

Doesn't stop "Vertigo", "City of Blinding Lights" (I think that's the one) and especially "A Man and a Woman" from being fucking great songs.

And don´t forget "Stuck In A Moment"!

Yeah, I'm not going to lie and say that those (especially 'stuck in a moment') aren't great songs, but I just can't get excited about them anymore.  When "Pop" (which I know most fans didn't like anyways) came out, I was running around playing it for everybody I could find.  I didn't even buy the last two. 

You rule.