Why Guitar Players Actually HATE Coldplay

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00:00 Intro
01:50 Their Live Show
03:09 Their Guitar Solo
06:55 Conclusion

[Juan________S]

I've said multiple times that Jon Buckland is such an underrated player. Not because his guitar parts are crazy tech or difficult, but because they complement Chris voice, the piano, or the general music really really well. It's like he knows when to make his input and every time is flawless.

[andystein]

Dude, the guitar "solo" in their song Lost! is so simple but good, it complements the song so well and the dissonance is beautiful.

[martin-]

Johnny Buckland plays amazingly simple lyrical lines to compliment the songs. A bit like a latter day Edge, he uses his guitar as an instrument within the song and not specifically as an up front "look at me, I'm the guitarist, watch me solo" type of musician. I love plenty of the guitar heroes but also appreciate the style of people like Buckland, Edge, Will Sargeant (Echo & The Bunnymen), Ed O'Brien (Radiohead) and of course Johnny Marr from The Smiths. In 40 years of playing, I've moved from wanting to be the lead guitarist to wanting to create melodies and songs with the instrument I am best at playing - the guitar - together with other musicians. The musicianship of Coldplay and a lot of bands gets ignored because they do not have some virtuoso on guitar that is worshipped by guitarists. That seems a pity as the whole is bigger than the parts. I guess that's what makes a great band imho :)

[Martinroque]

First song I heard was Shiver, back in 1999. I was coming back from school, listening to the radio and getting ready to play The Sims, then Coldplay came up on the radio. There was something about the voice and the guitar that got me. I've been a fan of them ever since.

[joshelias]

Ive always be a fan of Coldplay since I first heard them on the radio in the mid 00s. Ghost Stories is on of my all time favorite albums. Critics and listeners bashed it saying it was boring and mellow but sometimes not everything has to he upbeat, popy and electric. Chris Martin was going through a very sentimental time and thanks to that he gave us a very beautiful, astral, toned down album. Sometimes more is less. Sometimes in life we need that mellowness, thats slow paced music without the crazy guitar solos. Just to sit down and listen and feel the emotion and Coldplay did it exceptionally well. The guitars and tones made me feel like I was drifting in space, the sounds put me in my imagination, which in my book is what makes artists great at their craft and for that Coldplay is a 10/10

[NeonRadarMusic]

I played a Coldplay tribute show once and I gained a tonne of respect for them. Iconic songs, great arrangements and hugely underrated guitar playing. I don't enjoy their more recent stuff, but they're not nearly as bad as their haters say.

[countstoneula]

The first Coldplay song I remember hearing is “Yellow”. Those bending chords in the intro/turnarounds still amaze me. I rip Johnny off when I play two note chords in the style of the chorus just on the B and E string without the root. It’s such a great trick to give a song a different taste… especially when playing in a big band.

[Youtubefan]

I always liked Coldplay. They are very melodic and their sound feels huge due to their production.

I don’t get the notion of hating bands like Coldplay or nickelback due to them being “generic” because a lot of other bands on the radio lack guitar solos, creative melodic lines, and at times lack of ability to play an instrument yet people don’t hate on them…

[shreked]

FYI, noel didn't write the entire solo for Up&Up. The first solo is written and played by Johnny and the second is written and played by Noel. Their styles couldn't be more different. Noel would never do small intricate notes like Johnny's first solo. The second one, particularly with that bend, sounds like basically like most Oasis solo's.

[AliB_]

Yellow, Death & all his friends, the scientist outro, Violet Hills, Every Teardrop, and my favourite, always in my head. Jonny has a lot of very very cool guitar parts throughout their carerer span.

[squidlovesgloves]

Once I took the deep dive for Green Day. I then appreciated the song writing abilities. The simplicity is catchy. They make great music

[Davidmen]

First song I remember hearing a lot from them was In my Place. Actually grew up listening to them a lot and didn’t care what everyone thought about them. Their album A Rush of Blood to the Head I think is still their best ever.

[davecerv]

I freakin love Coldplay. Beyond the “hits”, there’s a lot of wonderful material. Great video!

[GeneralChangFromDanang]

I remember my first Coldplay song well. My parents had just moved me into my upstairs duplex, it was going to be my first night on my own. I had just bought a large flat screen LCD TV after saving many pizza job paychecks. As soon as my parents left, I turned on the TV and Coldplay was jamming out Clocks on Austin City Limits. It was very comforting for some reason and I've been hooked on their sound ever since.

[lucasargandona]

One cannot simply hate Coldplay’s guitar work. From acoustic to electric, genius all all-round

[brocluno]

The bands that originally caught me off guard when doing casual listening were Quicksilver (John Cipollina) and Fleetwood Mac (first Peter Green, then Lindsey Buckingham). No matter the genre they were immersed in, they could come up with melodic variations and unusual timings that would catch your attention. Once you have been caught out a few times, you are sort of trained to listen for subversive hooks in changes in melody, etc. Then somewhere along the way, you listen to Osibisa and the rhythms and melodic structures vary even more. All a journey.

[jthomas]

Going from middle school to high school in 2005, I would wake up early for basketball practice and I remember seeing Speed of Sound on VH1 Jump Start.. I was MESMERIZED. That and “Fix You” hold special places in my heart. Looking back, I think they were the songs that made me aware of how much I loved music.

[CultrCnnundrm]

my first Coldplay song was Clocks... then heard Yellow... but it wasn't until the Viva La Vida record with "Lovers in Japan" that had me consuming some Coldplay... it was also during that record that I had my own collection of guitar pedals as a church guitarist myself to where I experiment with finding the Coldplay tone on my MIM 72 Tele Custom... or maybe it was my PRS SE Custom 22... either way, "Lovers in Japan" help me refine my tone... But then I learned about X & Y's "Fix You" and that one string riff in the turnaround to the bridge... that really got me digging them...

[ranadipsaha]

As a Coldplay fan since long, I'm actually glad how you have broken down how fine their music can get, in spite of getting overly complicated. They have produced some great piano songs like "Fly On", "Everglow" to the acoustic bliss like in their old EP era such as "See You Soon" or "Sparks". If someone actually spends some time, they can try listening to the Everyday Life where they took an attempt to shift their genre to combine with orchestral sounds. On going to the "Life in Technicolor" song, you can even find the subtle use of Indian classical Music.
And for the ones complaining Coldplay ain't "rock" enough, maybe try listening to "People of the Pride" or "God Put a Smile Upon My Face". Cheers!!

Thanks Mike for this amazing video!

[zachary]

I always think it’s funny listening to my guitarist friends complain about pop music being “simple” while they worship bands like AC/DC and Black Sabbath and Guns and Roses. Like, your average 4 chord pop song has more chords than the average AC/DC song, as an example.

And then so many people put classical music in such a high pedestal, too. I went and started listening to classical, and I realized that Chopin liked to compose pieces around 4 chord loops, and Mozart seems to like composing around simple chord loops or melodic hooks.

Once I realized that, I decided to just listen to whatever music I wanted, and I’ve found some really amazing hidden gems.