Mylo Xyloto, or, Things Change

So Coldplay has a new record coming out next Tuesday (Oct 25th) called Mylo Xyloto. (I got no clue what that means, either, but the record is streaming online here if you want a first listen.)

In the past decade Coldplay has gone (in the course of only 4 studio albums!) from being this cool British band with a hit song (“Yellow”) to now being so big and internationally popular that it’s more cool to hate on them than it is to engage with their music. I’ve been in tension the past couple of years as their last two albums (X & Y, Viva La Vida) have music that I really enjoyed but that many of my music-loving friends have seriously panned. (Geof, for one, thinks that Coldplay has been on a long decline ever since their debut record came out.) Which is why I was so heartened to see this exchange on twitter yesterday between two of my favorite Nashville musicians, Andy Osenga and Jeremy Casella:

@andrewosenga I’ve been reading lots of hating comments so I figured it wasn’t cool anymore to like them. I love their music.

— Jeremy Casella (@jeremycasella) October 19, 2011

@jeremycasella Why is it cool to hate on coldplay? They’re great. I guarantee people who dog them are using their ideas as a stepping stone.

— andrewosenga (@andrewosenga) October 19, 2011

Can I get an amen?

Then there was an even more bold prediction from Brite Revolution main man (and sometime Andy O band member/organist) Winn Elliott (whose website is worth at least a couple of chuckles):

Mylo Xoloto is to Coldplay as Joshua Tree is to U2.

— Winn Elliott (@winnelliott) October 19, 2011

This was a heartening thought. The next decade will tell us whether Coldplay even approaches the heights of greatness that U2 has called home over the past 30 years. But if they do, the haters can form their own little support group along with those folks who think that U2 hasn’t put out a good record since October back in 1981.

As for me, I’ll be buying a (digital) copy of the new record when it hits the (virtual) shelves on Tuesday.