Has Coldplay gone bonkers?

Let's get this out of the way first. I was a nutty Coldplay fan. That's a pretty well-documented fact. "Trouble", my first proper introduction to the band, came out at just the right time, I remembered watching the video for the first time on MTV and being completely blown away and moved by it. Life-changing, even. Coldplay paved the way for me to invest further in the alternative world. 'X&Y' was my solid album of the year it came out.
These days I barely listen to their music on a regular basis anymore. I couldn't explain whether I've grown out of it or the lack of new materials from them led me to prefer other artists.
I just feel a bit guilty that I don't feel as excited as I think I should be. The whole album campaign so far, from the tedious artwork (boobies visible, "oh gosh") to the 'quirky' track titles, just has this sense of 'Ooh we've sold truckloads of records now we can do whatever we want mwhahahaha". They earned that spot fair and square, and now no matter what they do, people will still eat it all up. Today, my reactions towards the lead single 'Violet Hill' premiere proved that their theory partially correct. Here's what going on inside my head the last few hours. I was pretty much camping next to my notebook, waiting for the track to unleash on their site.



"Oh it's now 1PM in London. Refresh. Woot. Email address required? I just entered a fake one then, haha sucker. This is painfully slow. Oh damnit they're supposed to send a link to my email! Blerb. Back back. Oh come on, move along. Finally. I bet it's shimmering in my inbox by now. Weird. Wait a couple more, I guess. Maybe it's the spam filter. Nope. Last time it didn't take this long for Radiohead. Are they playing tricks on us? Still no reply. Aaargh WTF? Stupid techonology. Time for another Veronica Mars episode...One hour later: it just popped up, at last! How exciting! Downloaded, unzipped, voila! Ready for a lifetime experience. And. Press. Play."




Well, that was...okay. Different for them. I bet it's a grower. I like the title, though - that I'm sure of. Maybe it'd sound better on 7" vinyl. I'll go take a look at the fridge.



And in case you can't access their official site, here's a mirror. I keep it up here for a week - if it stays that long. What's your reaction on the track? Does Chris Martin finally lose it? Would love to hear them.

Coldplay - Violet Hill