Coldplay

Coldplay's 14th hit in My Weekly Top 10 countdown, Something Just Like This, their collaboration with the Chainsmokers, moves up to #6 this week.  They also have eight #1 songs.

2000 - Yellow (#1)

2000 - Trouble (#3)

2002 - Politik (#8)

2002 - Clocks (#1)

2002 - The Scientist (#1)

2002 - In My Place (#1)

2002 - God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (#8)

2005 - Speed of Sound (#1)

2005 - Fix You (#1)

2005 - Talk (#8)

2008 - Viva La Vida (#1)

2011 - Paradise (#7)

2014 - Magic (#1)

2017 - Something Just Like This (with Chainsmokers) (#6)

This is the video of the song.  It already has 122,713,901 views.

Coldplay Lands Their Eighth #1 Song in My Personal Countdown

The British band Coldplay is no stranger to the top of my personal countdown.  This week, they get their 8th #1 song as Magic moves from #9 to #1 this week.

Here are my ten favorite songs for the week ending April 4, 2014 -

#1 Coldplay - Magic (#9)

#2 Kristen Bell / Santino Fontana - Love is an Open Door (#2)

#3 Beyonce feat. Jay-z - Drunk in Love (#3)

#4 G-Dragon - Crayon (#10)

#5 Alicia Keys - Brand New Me (RE)

#6 John Legend - All of Me (#8)

#7 The 1975 - Girls (NEW)

#8 Kanye West - Black Skinhead (NEW)

#9 Chris Brown / Ester Dean - I Love You (NEW)

#10 Usher - More (NEW)

FABE Weekly Top 10 April 4, 2014: #1 Coldplay - Magic

Coldplay returns to the top of the FABE Weekly Top 10 this week with Magic, from their upcoming album, Ghost Stories.  The song moves from #9 to #1 this week.  It's the band's 8th appearance at the top of my personal countdown.  

Beyonce Tops My Personal Countdown for the 19th Time!

XO becomes Beyonce's 19th #1 hit in my personal countdown.  The song is from her latest album and it's the first song from that album to top my weekly top 10.  The song moved from #3 to #1 this week.

Here are my ten favorite songs for the week ending March 28, 2014 -

#1 Beyonce - XO (#3)

#2 Kristen Bell / Santino Fontana - Love is an Open Door (#2)

#3 Beyonce feat. Jay-z - Drunk in Love (#4)

#4 Sakanaction - Goodbye (#5)

#5 James Blunt - Bonfire Heart (#6)

#6 Sakanaction - Yuriika (#7)

#7 Jamie Cullum - Get A Hold of Yourself (#8)

#8 John Legend - All of Me (#9)

#9 Coldplay - Magic (#10)

#10 G-Dragon - Crayon (NEW)

A Great Big World Gets First Number One Song in My Personal Countdown

The duo A Great Big World got their very first #1 song in my personal countdown this week, as their collaboration with Christina Aguilera, Say Something, moves to the top spot this week.  This is also Christina's twelfth #1 song in my personal countdown.

Here are my ten favorite songs for the week ending March 21, 2014 -

#1 A Great Big World feat. Christina Aguilera - Say Something (#2)

#2 Kristen Bell / Santino Fontana - Love is an Open Door (#3)

#3 Beyonce - XO (#5)

#4 Beyonce feat. Jay-z - Drunk in Love (#6)

#5 Sakanaction - Goodbye (#7)

#6 James Blunt - Bonfire Heart (#8)

#7 Yuriika - Sakanaction (#9)

#8 Jamie Cullum - Get A Hold on Yourself (#10)

#9 John Legend - All of Me (NEW)

#10 Coldplay - Magic (NEW)

Chart Performance: Coldplay

Here are Coldplay's Top 10 hits in the UK -

2000 - Yellow (#4)

2000 - Trouble (#10)

2002 - In My Place (#2)

2002 - The Scientist (#10)

2003 - Clocks (#9)

2005 - Speed of Sound (#2)

2005 - Fix You (#4)

2005 - Talk (#10)

2008 - Violet Hill (#8)

2008 - Viva La Vida (#1)

2011 - Every Teardrop is a Waterfall (#6)

2011 - Paradise (#1)
2012 - Princess of China (with Rihanna) (#4)

Below are their Top 10 albums in the US -

2002 - A Rush of Blood to the Head (#5)

2005 - X&Y (#1)

2008 - Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends (#1)

2011 - Mylo Xyloto (#1)

This week, their album, Mylo Xyloto, moves back to the UK top 10 at #4.  It has peaked at #1.  Below are their Top 10 albums in the UK -

2000 - Parachutes (#1) 

2002 - A Rush of Blood to the Head (#1)

2005 - X&Y (#1)

2008 - Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends (#1)

2011 - Mylo Xyloto (#1)

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My Top Five Favorite Coldplay Songs

Coldplay is releasing their latest album, Mylo Xyloto, on October 25, so that got me thinking as to what my five most favorite Coldplay songs are. Well, here they are -

1. Speed of Sound (2005) - This is my most favorite Coldplay song and it came from their X&Y album. I never tire singing along with this song and I actually want to sing it in a karaoke bar, although it's going to be pretty hard.

2. Viva La Vida (2008) - This is my second most favorite Coldplay song, which was part of their Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, because of the positive vibe I get from it. It was a trans-Atlantic #1 hit for the group. It also reached #1 in the Netherlands.

3. Fix You (2005)- Definitely one of their best songs ever, another song I never tire singing along with it. And I always look forward to them singing it in a live show. The audience just sings along with them with gusto!

4. The Scientist (2002) - A beautiful haunting song from the band with an even more intriguing video!

5. Clocks (2003) - Just listen to that breathtaking piano introduction! This song won a Grammy and deservedly so!

Concert Review: Cerebral Rock Show with Coldplay

I had a little dose of cerebral British rock tonight, as Chris Martin along with his band Coldplay, played a lean and tight set to a very enthusiastic Hong Kong crowd. Frankly, we did not have the best of seats, as I was still unfamiliar with the venue when I bought the tickets, but anyhow, I did love the songs that Mr. Gwyneth Paltrow chose to perform for their band's Twisted Logic world tour.

It was just the right mix of the old hits, with some of my favorite songs in A Rush of Blood to the Head, as well as all the latest hits from their latest CD X & Y. I did not share the same enthusiasm with the rest of tonight's crowd for Trouble, Yellow or In My Place, which were all well applauded. Instead, I regaled at the band's live version of some of their seminal songs in A Rush of Blood to the Head, like Clocks, Politik and God Put A Smile on My Face. However, I did surprise myself as I can actually sing along to most of the songs they played that night, and only then did I realize that I usually played their CDs when I work, and those lyrics may have subliminally entered my brain, thus turning their live performance tonight, into something memorable for me.

One thing I learned though tonight, is that Mr. Paltrow, sings an octave higher than I do, when I sing along to their songs. Example, when he did, Speed of Sound, wherein I knew the lyrics very well, I could not sing out loud with him in the chorus. But I did have a lot of fun, since like Bon Jovi, Coldplay has many "sing-along with me - type of songs", like Yellow, In My Place, and of course, their live anthem, Fix You. I discovered to my dismay, that I could not reach the notes for "Life will guide you home, and ignite your bones, and I will try to fix you". However, I did not want to sing an octave lower, and just like Apple Martin's Dad, I strained my neck veins to reach the notes so as to make my voice be heard, along with thousands of wannabee singers tonight!

If you're a fan of the band, best to catch them if they travel near your place, for they are very good to hear live. The accompanying light show to some of their songs, served to heighten the drama, especially in the curious ways that their songs are arranged. I believe Chris Martin learned from the "David Foster" School of Arranging Music - wherein he starts a song very sparingly, and slowly builds it up to reach a loud crescendo towards the middle and end of the song. To illustrate, listen to Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You - which Foster produced and then listen to a Coldplay CD, and most often than not, almost half of the songs there are arranged the "David Foster" way. Oh well, that's just my observation and of course, musicians and composers always feed on each other's vibe and influence, so it is not surprising.

As a sidetrack, if you are a budding producer today, best to listen to Nelly Furtado's new CD Loose and learn from Timbaland. This album will surely win a Grammy next year as it brings hip hop music to another level. Our local guys like Andrew E or Gary Valenciano, should listen as to how these guys have helped shape and evolve the sound of today's hip hop. Laos na ang "yo yo man" type of sound. That is so early 90's. Listen to Nelly Furtado as she chews on Maneater or Promiscuous and I just want to drool at the incredible level of creativity this guy possesses. To the uninitiated, Timbaland created the sound of Destiny's Child, Aaliyah and Missy Elliott, and you will understand the genius of this guy..

Coldplay, is of course, a Grammy favorite, and deservedly so. They are not the most charismatic of performers, and sometimes, Chris Martin's voice fails him in a live set, but in my opinion, along with Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Jack White (another genius of a producer - White Stripes, Emmylou Harris), they are the future of rock, and they will continue to help the sound of rock evolve through exciting phases.

We trudged home very tired, as we stood on our seats the whole one and a half hours. My voice was a bit hoarse from all the singing and shouting, but it was well worth it. From our seats, we could barely see Chris' flailing arms since the stage was not very high, and there was no big video screen (boo-hoo!), anyhow, the choice of songs, the strong live back-up and the dazzling light show, more than compensated for the shortcomings.

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