Lets continue where I left off earlier this morning in my 6am post, shall we? Yes, lets!
After a few moments of watching the shuttle footage in awe, one guy broke the silence. He asked me a perfectly legitimate set-up. Did I have the new Coldplay CD, and could he copy it?
Sidebar: I was always really really good in high school at debate. Because I could argue the most ridiculous point and be convincing enough to maybe still win. Some would call this bullshit. Others call it a gift. I call it a good time. The rest of this post is not necessarily my opinion -- just things I said to make a convincing argument for a ridiculous point.
No, I don't have X&Y. But I don't mind Coldplay. They're sorta kinda OK. Don't do much for me. But I don't object to them. They're no Franz Ferdinand, no Jet, certainly no Transplants, my favorite band right now ("Gangsters and thugs...Criminals and hoods...Some of my friends sell records...some of my friends sell drugs.")
I sensed a chance to get this guy riled up. So I borrowed a line I'd read somewhere recently (can't remember where -- so if it triggers your memory and you remember who I stole it from, tell me, its driving me nuts. Plus I want to give credit where credit is due. I don't steal. And I don't plagerize.)
"Coldplay is terrible. They're just a high-tech version of Bread."
Just a hilarious line. And really, when you think of it, they kind of are.
Bread was a 70's group of facial hair'd dudes who sang sappy ballads and kinda-catchy depressing pop tunes. Coldplay is a 00's group of facial hair'd dudes who sing a few sappy ballads and kinda-catchy pop tunes -- but modernized with synth and electronic instrumentation. Think about that before you write me off.
To be fair, Coldplay is OK. Bread is not. My dad's record collection, when he gave it to me, had Hendrix, Zeppelin, Grand Funk Railroad, BTO, and others. And two Bread albums. Those two Bread albums made the whole collection a laughing stock. They poisoned the whole lot. You're telling me that in 30 years when our kids are rummaging through our CD and MP3 collections, and they see our generation of music like U2, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and then Coldplay, they won't snicker at the Coldplay stuff? Of course they will. Coldplay IS Bread, but with electronic instruments instead of acoustic guitars and cowbells and triangles and stuff.
Ooh, this guy was red hot now. Just steamed. How dare I compare the composer of "Clocks" to the writers of "Want To Make It With You"! The blasphemy!
I believe he told me to go back and listen to Ninja Rap on my iPod, since my taste in music was so exquisite as to have that classic loaded on it. Oh, man, that's mean!
So I told him in order to stoop so low as to accuse me of actually enjoying the Ninja Rap listening experience, I must have struck a nerve. Maybe the argument was more true than he wanted to believe. He stormed out, unwilling or unable to come back with a suitable response.
So, is Coldplay and Bread really that similar? Lets find out by putting them to the ultimate test: The Colorado XM test!
If Bread comes on the XM in The Colorado, what happens: I'm reachin'g for that remote real quick and changing it to ANYTHING else. One day last week, Top Tracks (Classic Rock) played a Bread song. I reached so quick with the remote, I knocked it off the console and onto the floor. I risked rolling The Colorado to change it, only to discover the next-least-worst song was a Michael Bolton tune. But like I said, ANYTHING but Bread. Said I Loved You...But I Lied, indeed. Sing it, Michael.
If Coldplay comes on the XM in The Colorado, I'm leaving it. I'll probably even sing along, and pretend they're one of my favorites. But I don't own any of their CD's. I do have a couple songs of theirs on the iPod, but I didn't put them there. Some crazy girl did. And I left 'em.
So the verdict: Coldplay is actually more than just a high-tech version of Bread. Although if you had the patience, and you hadn't already written 1500 words earlier in another post, you could probably make a fairly strong case that they are.
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