(Single from album, "Mylo Xyloto")
Coldplay can be very bloody annoying sometimes...
I mean, take releasing this song for instance. There's nothing wrong with the track. Its a brilliant pop song, loads of all the best elements thrown together to create a beautifully cataclysmic explosion of styles and genres; rock, dance, electro, pop, alternative, indie and some very odd sound FX as well. But its the fifth single from an album which came out over a year ago. For God's sake, write something else; the cool effect of the American graffiti style has worn well, but it feels like its being dragged out; things have just gotten boring now. And so has, surprisingly, this 'amazing' sound; exciting though it should be, previous (and arguably, superior) singles, "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall", "Paradise", "Charlie Brown" and "Princess Of China", all released in relatively quick succession, have left us saturated; thank you Coldplay, it was fun, but no more. Just stop. Now.
But no.
"Hurts Like Heaven" is really good for all the reasons previously described, but its also really catchy. Coldplay are one those bands who are just great at writing songs with really memorable hooks; be it a guitar riff, or vocal line, Chris Martin's self-proclaimed genius will haunt your very thoughts until another one of his songs takes its place in a never-ending, hellish pop music displacement reaction. So its good and bad here; swings and roundabouts, if you will.
But you just can't get over how similar and familiar it all feels; Martin's whiny but loveable vocal, the genderless, fun, disco orientated, cheesy lyrics, the dotty synthesiser patterns, the energetic drums, the energetic piano, the roar and squeals of the guitar and bass, and of course, the inescapable completeness of the chorus, and the annoying but still, rather lovely riff that follows.
All of these things should combine to make the song great and danceable, and exciting; new, futuristic, evolutionary, and 'in-yer-face'. But the effect is simply lost on listeners who have already endured the 'change in direction' for this much loved band, several times in the last 12 months. You can't even argue the case for people who aren't Coldplay fans; those songs were played everywhere...
★★★
Versions of “Hurts Like Heaven”
Single Version - 4:23
Album Version - 4:02
EU Radio Edit - 3:02
US Radio Edit - 3:58
Instrumental Version - 4:22