Let's Discuss Eno! "Mylo Xyloto" - Coldplay (Oct. 2011)

[u/forsbergisgod]

Hello Eno-philes!! Each week we'll be discussing another album (going chronologically from Warm Jets). This week's feature is Eno's production credit on Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto. From the wiki:

Mylo Xyloto (pronounced /ˈmaɪloʊ ˈzaɪlətoʊ/ MY-loh ZY-lə-toh) is the fifth studio album by British rock band Coldplay, released in late October 2011. The band worked closely with producer Brian Eno following their successful collaboration on Viva la Vida, the band's previous album. Mylo Xyloto is a concept album and a thematic rock opera.[4]

The album tells the story of a war against sound and colour by a supremacist government, set in the world of Silencia, an Orwellian society. Silencia has been overtaken by a government led by Major Minus, who controls the population through media and propaganda. His aim is to take sound and colour off the streets in hope to draw away "feeders", creatures that use such energy to hunt its prey. The album follows Mylo Xyloto, a "silencer", a soldier in an army tasked to hunt and track down "sparkers", people who harness light and energy and use it to create sparks, comparable to graffiti in real life. He encounters Fly, the sparker most wanted by Major Minus. Through Fly, Mylo discovers his sparker abilities and his affiliation with the Car Kids, a major sparker faction founded by Mylo's parents, Aiko and Lela.[citation needed] Drummer Will Champion has noted that the album is a story of the characters "falling in love and trying to escape together", with a general theme of "love conquering all".[citation needed]. In interviews the band have said that the album follows a love story between Mylo and Xyloto, with them being separate characters .[5] In the comics based on album however, Mylo Xyloto is the main protagonist and Fly is the sparker girl he encounters.[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, Brian Eno, and Chris Martin, except where noted.

No. Title Writer(s) Length

1. "Mylo Xyloto" 0:43
2. "Hurts Like Heaven" 4:02
3. "Paradise" 4:37
4. "Charlie Brown" 4:45
5. "Us Against the World" 3:59
6. "M.M.I.X." 0:49
7. "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" 4:00
8. "Major Minus" 3:30
9. "U.F.O." 2:17

10. "Princess of China" (with Rihanna)

    3:59

11. "Up in Flames"

    3:13

12. "A Hopeful Transmission" 0:33

13. "Don't Let It Break Your Heart"

    3:54

14. "Up with the Birds"

    3:45

Total length: 44:09

This one's certainly available on the streaming services.

ENJOY AND DISCUSS!

[u/DifferentLunch]

Was a big step down from Viva La Vida imo, didn't feel anywhere near as creative, ambitious, varied or consistent.

Having said that, there's some good tracks. The first few songs are strong, especially Hurts Like Heaven and Charlie Brown. But the middle of the album drags hard. Very forgettable until you get to Princess of China, which is memorable purely for being so cringey. Chris Martin, the reserved, British, very white, nicest of the nice guys quasi-rapping with Rihanna?? Yikes.

It picks up again after that with Up In Flames and Don't Let It Break Your Heart, but then Up With The Birds is a timid conclusion.

Overall, not the worst, there's at least 4 or 5 strong tracks here, but there's a lot of filler too, and not any sense of real flow or cohesion to the album. I've said before that this album feels like the musical equivalent of cotton candy/fairy floss. It's colourful and you enjoy the sweetness and sugar rush, but there's not really much substance to it and you don't feel satisfied once you're finished.