“My Universe” by Coldplay ft. BTS (repost), Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
I've written a bit about how I'm a Coldplay apologist. I believe that the London-based band is very good at what they do. Though so many artists accomplish their sound, both musically and lyrically, better, there's something uplifting about a new Coldplay album. Two years ago, I talked about the band's first single from their ninth studio record,Music of the Spheres, "Higher Power." The album was released on October 15, 2021. Before the release of the record and after releasing "Higher Power," the band released the promotional single, the 10:17 track "Coloratura," which was praised by critics for its composition and production. Then they released the second radio single "My Universe," featuring the South Korean boy band, BTS. The song shot straight to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the second Coldplay single to top the Hot 100, the first being "Viva la Vida."
I JUST WANT TO PUT YOU FIRST. The reviews for Music of the Spheres were quite low. Metacritic, a database that averages the scores by major publications, scores the album as 55/100. Most critics agreed that Coldplay's venture into Max Martin-produced pop music was shameless, even for a band that was instrumental for inventing the late '00/'10 pop-rock sound. "My Universe" in particular is viewed as a "cash-grab." Recently, due to BTS's enormous ARMY of fans, every recent single the boy band has released has headed straight to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Music of the Spheres aimed to be a comeback album for the British pop-rockers. In 2017, Coldplay was a band with a large fan base. Only Linkin Park had more YouTube subscribers, and Coldplay was the most streamed "rock band." However, being the top rock band, even if your definition is loose enough to call Coldplay a rock band, made Coldplay a "big fish in a little pond." The pond of rock music continues to dry up, and the 100 Million+ selling band would be competing with streams and sales by pop and R&B acts like Drake and The Weeknd. A collaboration with one of the highest-selling groups of recent years would promote the now middle-aged rock band as cool and hip. Maybe the kids would dig back into their earlier discography and maybe Music of the Spheres would sell well.
THAT BRIGHT INFINITY INSIDE YOUR EYES. Cynicism about the "cash-grab" aside, the Coldplay-BTS collaboration may have come from a place of sincerity. Originally, Coldplay wrote the song for BTS, as many non-Korean composers have written for K-pop. Coldplay performed in South Korea in 2017 during their A Head Full of Dreams Tour. The band has been evolving into a pop act steadily over the course of their career. Their 2011 Mylo Xyloto included a collaboration with Rihanna on "Princess of China," and much less guitar focus. Head Full of Dreams included backing vocals by Beyoncé; however, "Hymn for the Weekend" wasn't marketed as Coldplay ft. Beyoncé, thus the song ran on the momentum of Coldplay fans, not Beyoncé fans. The message of "My Universe" is that love transcends distance, language, and misunderstandings. Produced in and out of quarantine, Music of the Spheres aims to bridge fans around the world together. The band began touring again, after swearing off touring during the release of their 2019 record Everyday Lifeuntil they could find a way to tour more eco-friendly. Recently, the band has embarked on a carbon-neutral tour, which aims to revolutionize the music industry. The musical concept album Music of the Spheres may have been inspired by Star Wars in "a galaxy far, far away," but the themes of connection, love, and the human experience are truly not out of this world.
Spoken formed in 1996 and signed to CCM singer-songwriter Crystal Lewis 's Metro 1 label the following year. The band's early music was influenced by Rage Against the Machine and P.O.D., mostly consisting of rap-core and nu metal. After releasing three studio records and a greatest hits compilation through Metro 1, the band signed to Tooth & Nail Records in 2003 and released their fourth studio record, A Moment of Imperfect Clarity . A CHANCE TO CHANGE THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT. Spoken's fourth record, A Moment of Imperfect Clarity developed the band's sound from a rap-rock, nu metal band to a melodic post-hardcore band. With the Tooth & Nail years during the explosion of the record label and the mass-marketability of Christian Rock, Spoken gained a greater audience. Also with the backing of the record company, the production on their Tooth & Nail albums increased significantly. On the first Tooth & Nail record for spoken, the band worked with Garth ...
TWS (pronounced two-us or in hangeul 투어스) debuted earlier this year on Pledis Entertainment , an independently-operated sub-label of Hybe Corporation . Today all successful K-pop group members promote their group on social media, but the concept of Pledis’s latest boy band was to release “boyhood pop,” or pop music that “captures the daily stories of boys.” Furthering this concept, the group uses the tagline: “twenty-four seven with us.” The group is well-marketed as the cool boyfriends of voyeuristic K-pop fans. With members ranging from 16 to 20, TWS serves as a fifth (or fifth?)-generation K-pop group, marketed to middle school and high school students, which can be seen in their highly-stylized music video “ Plot Twist .” The video features the group living in dormitory-style quarters and attending a co-educational high school. FIRST ENCOUNTERS ARE ALWAYS HARD. Lyrically, "Plot Twist" by TWS is about the awkwardness and nervousness of first encounters. The lyrics de...
In 1964, Simon & Garfunkel released the first recorded version of “ The Sound of Silence ” on their debut album Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel performed the song under their old pseudonyms, Kane & Garr, in Greenwich Village in 1963. The song has been thought by many to be a reaction to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, though, the song was performed before that fateful November day in 1963. Paul Simon wrote the song in the bathroom with the light off so that he could concentrate on the echoes and the patterns in the tile. “The Sound of Silence” became a sleeper hit starting in the spring of 1965, a year after its parent album had been a commercial failure. A late-night DJ at Boston’s WBZ played the song and college students loved it. The folk-rock’s ambiguous and poetic lyrics resonated with the counterculture, the silenced young voices who felt unable to make a difference. Once the song gained popularity, producer Tom Wilson gat...
Comments
Post a Comment