My Early Bird "X&Y" Review

Okay, okay, first off, I am happy to report that the new Coldplay album does NOT suck. It is, in fact, quite anthemic and very enjoyable. Of course, this is merely first impressions. Suprisingly, I didn't much care for A Rush of Blood to the Head when I first got it. (I still think that "Amsterdam" is one of their worst songs)

Anyway, so my local music store had some early copies of the new album and I, being the rabid Coldplay fan that I am, immediately plunked down my cold hard cash for a taste of smooth Britrock goodness. Well, upon immediate consumption, X&Y is bittersweet. First off, the album's copy protected, motherf!@#er!! I've been lucky enough to not be a fan of band's that've released copy-protected albums so far, but not this time. Oddly enough, when I put it in my computer, iTunes recognized it, but it only revealed five or six tracks. I ripped those onto my computer with no difficulty, but I had to whip out Audio Hijack Pro to get the rest.

I was surprised to hear a completely different version of "Talk" than the version Scenestars leaked a couple months ago. Both have the Kraftwerk guitar riff and they both sound like finished studio versions, but the album version has completely reworked verses and a new chorus (the old chorus returns at the end of the song, though).

I'll talk more about the new Coldplay album, as well as my beef with copy protection, on the next episode of Jump Cut Radio.