Album Review: A Head Full of Dreams by Coldplay
Written by Bethel Biru on December 10, 2015
There’s nothing more sad than learning your favorite musician or band will no longer be making the music you love. It’s even sadder when it’s Coldplay.
Yes, it’s true (cue sad violin music.) Lead singer Chris Martin hints that Coldplay will no longer be making the very music which we have screamed at the top of lungs to. From “Viva La Vida“ to “Paradise,” from “Fix You“ to “Yellow,” A Head Full of Dreams is possibly the last chapter to the great band which has shaped many of our lives.
This is seventh album and follow up to last year’s Ghost Stories, which was a beautifully sad break up album. In contrast to the melancholy of the previous record, this one is more upbeat and happy, kind of like if Ghost Stories was the moon, A Head Full of Dreams would be the sun.
Instead of writing paragraphs of how awesome and not so awesome the songs are, I’ve decided to just make a list instead.
1. “A Head Full of Dreams“ – Automatically reminded me of Mylo Xyloto, more specifically the song “Waterfall.” It’s not my favorite, but a nice “hello” after listening to Chris Martin’s sad crooning in Ghost Stories.
2.“Birds“ – This is one of the more happy songs of the album with upbeat and mellow guitar tunes playing in the background. I have to admit, it’s not my favorite but the ending was so sudden it made me laugh a little.
3. “Hymn For The Weekend“ – This is my favorite song on the album! Beyonce and Chris Martin’s voices blending together is a hymn itself if I’m being honest. It starts off with Beyonce’s beautiful voice carrying out a melody while birds chirp in the background, before turning into a nice R&B kind of beat with lots of claps making you bob your head in sync to the music. Plus it has Beyonce in it, so….
4. “Everglow“ – Even though this album is more upbeat than their previous one, there are still some sad songs on the record. This one for example has beautifully sad lyrics accompanied by slow piano music playing while Chris Martin sings about how hard it is to let go of someone. And even though they might be gone, he’s left with this light that will “everglow.”
5. “Adventure Of A Lifetime“ – Now this song is what A Head Full of Dreams is all about. It’s groovy, super fun to listen to and one of my absolute favorites next to “A Hymn To The Weekend.” This is the type of song that will make you jump around while you scream the lyrics “alive again!” as loud as you can and it would be completely acceptable.
6. “Fun” (ft. Tove Lo) – Although this one sounds like the rest of their songs, I really enjoyed the drum roll-ish sounding part of the song. Plus, Tove Lo’s voice blends really nicely with Chris Martin’s.
7. “Kaleidoscope“ – The beginning of this song is part of a poem that Chris Martin said had changed his life. It was very motivational and kind of made me feel like I was in church until I realized… it’s Obama speaking in the background. Yes, the president of the United States is in a Coldplay song. Well, his Amazing Grace rendition is. The band just added the bells and whistles of a Coldplay song to it.
8. “Army of One“ – Such a sweet song. Chris sings “my army of one is going to fight for you,” and you just can’t help but smile. The beat and drums in the background make it sound like it belongs in some indie movie until it changes up halfway, making you think it’s a completely different song, going from cute and pop-ish to more dark and almost trip-hop.
9. “X Marks the Spot“ – Remember the beat change in “Army of One?” It’s actually this song, hidden in the eighth track of the album.
10. “Amazing Day“ – Every time I think of Coldplay, I imagine some sort of alternate universe thats a cross between Narnia and some paradise garden where nothing can go wrong. This song was beautiful, as expected and such a lovely song to slow dance to.
11. “Color Spectrum“ – Very instrumental and dreamy and hold on… is that Beyonce in the background?
12. “Up&Up“ – This was the final song of the album and kind of sounds like it belongs on Ghost Stories. It reminds me of those songs that play at the end of a movie or during the credits. Although it isn’t the best song on the album, it’s still nice to listen to and is as if this is their bittersweet goodbye from them to us.
It’s still not completely known if this is the final and last album from this transcending band, but if it is, make sure to thank them for seven amazing years of good music and pure genius through Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tumblr.
You can also purchase A Head Full of Dreams on Apple or listen to it on Spotifiy, coming out this Friday.
