"42" Comparisons

[Heatseeker]

I was just reading a wikipedia article about Radiohead's "OK Computer", and something caught my attention. It compares the song "Paranoid Android" to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" because "of its three-part musical structure".

Three part musical structure? That sounds eerily like how "42" has been described countless times by critics and Coldplay themselves.

So will "42" be similar to "Paranoid Android" or "Bohemian Rhapsody" in any ways? (Probably not lyrically or with "Rhapsody's" weird vocals)

Here's the article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ok_Computer#Lyrical_style

Also just a random note:
Does anyone else think the vocal ending to "Viva La Vida" sounds kind of like the strange vocals in "Exit Music (For A Film)"? All these Radiohead comparisons...

[- Gabriel]

Amazing.

You have hit the bulls-eye on the exact comparison I have been thinking of lately. ("42"/"Paranoid Android")
Even the individual sections seem to match up. There's a sad, emotional section (first section), "chorus" or soaring midsection ("rain down from a great height") and the "indescribably weird" section (ending with electric guitar). "42" supposedly has each of these.

I'm looking forward to this song a lot.

[BostonSportsTD]

yea a lot of people have caught the paranoid/42 comparison. but i think the despcription of 42 sounds a lot darker and a ton different.

i hope 42 meets all of its hype. its CRAZY how much hype its getting. like NEVER have i heard of a song which has gotten this much hype when no one has even heard a SOUND CLIP or anything close... haha idk its crazy but it makes me so excited to think about it.

[Space Cadet]

Don't forget that both "paranoid android" and "42" are from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". :dozey: (As is "Don't Panic")

Actually, the three part song I keep hearing mentions of the most is the Beatles "Happiness is a Warm Gun". Pop songs just seem to work better with threes. If you're using a verse-chorus-verse structure, it always seems more complete if there are at least 3 verses.

If your going for the multi song-chunk approach instead, having two sections always makes something feel lopsided, while four can seem too complicated. Three is usually perfect. Which is why I will personally swat the first person who uses this as an excuse to whine. :whip:

I like songs like that. Looking forward to it. :)

[TracieMorgan]

Don't get the good people over at At Ease started, Nick!!:lol:

I hope there are similarities...not that they sound the same, but that 42 is as musically diverse as Paranoid Android. Coldplay have come a long way musically and stylistically, but that's still a high standard to live up to.:)

[.Jeanfr.]

i think that you shouldn't be so anxious about 42. Maybe, in the end is just another song with nothing really amazing. i don't wanna be the bad guy, but that could happen and some will be really dissapointed..
just my thoughts.. please don't kill me:embarassed:

[airieslady]

Queen, RH, Coldplay... it's all good baby! All musical geniuses! I love it already! :)

Edited: Beatles, The Who, Led Zep... more musical geniuses! Don't forget P Floyd!

And maybe this album will align with a certain movie too?

[Shawndorman]

it's not like Queen and Radiohead are the only bands to have done this kind of thing. The Beatles had 'A Day in the Life'...Led Zeppelin had 'Stairway to Heaven'...the Who had 'A Quick One While He's Away'....the list goes on! Just because Coldplay is exploring that same 'three act structure' with 42 doesn't mean they're simply copying Paranoid Android. Radiohead has their influences too.

In the same way that each of these songs is unique from the other, I don't think we should expect '42' to be like any of those songs. Coldplay has always had its own sound, and I'm excited to see what '42' sounds like.

[Space Cadet]

Don't get the good people over at At Ease started, Nick!!:lol: Oh, they started about a month ago or more. :thinking::rolleyes: Way ahead of us on that one.

[FedEx]

The question is can they get all that into a relatively short song? Paranoid Android is over 6min long!

[Heatseeker]

I personally think I will LOVE 42, it seems great. I just happened to notice that wikipedia comparison and it made me think. Im not trying to get anyone riled up or cause any fights, I just think its interesting that Coldplay:

-Are POSSIBLY releasing a b-side album from VLV scraps (Kid A- Amnesiac anyone?)
- POSSIBLY will have a long 3- part song MAYBE similar to paranoid Android
-Put a vocal track at the end of VLV that I THINK sounds A LITTLE like parts of Exit Music (For a Film)
-Released a song for free download from their website for a certain amount of time, 4 and a half months after Radiohead did.

Im not saying theyre copying them, and even if they are, its a great band to copy. I just think they think a lot alike Radiohead and I think its interesting the way all of this is developing.

:cool:

[Saffire]

Three part songs have been around since before Homer's time, let's try not to give Radiohead more credit than they deserve.

This reminds me of how they teach school children that everything - from fireworks to paper to seismographs - was invented first in China. Ironic that China hasn't had an original thought in the last couple thousand years. Radiohead = China.

*straps meat to legs, releases dogs*

[ricardo]

I think the best guitar solo in all Coldplay's songs will be the one in 42

[Shawndorman]

Three part songs have been around since before Homer's time, let's try not to give Radiohead more credit than they deserve.

This reminds me of how they teach school children that everything - from fireworks to paper to seismographs - was invented first in China. Ironic that China hasn't had an original thought in the last couple thousand years. Radiohead = China.

*straps meat to legs, releases dogs*

hahaha exactly! I didn't mean to come off as so aggressive, but that's really all I'm saying. In my personal opinion, Coldplay are about as similar to Radiohead as Radiohead is to the Talking Heads (the band from which they got their name). I guess the constant Radiohead comparisons get on my nerves....I love them to death, but I've never seen the similarities other than the Britishness.

However, with that said, I kind of see what everyone is saying with the whole 'Kid A/Amnesiac' thing, but once again....as Saffire said...don't give Radiohead more credit than they deserve. They're not the first ones to do it.

[a2iel]

i dont know, my expectations for all of the songs in this album were very high!. but after hearing the couple songs everyone's heard already, it's just not the direction i thought they were taking. When i thought of 42, i id think something radiohead-like.. but judging on the sound of all the new songs i've heard so far, it prob wont b anything like that :S radiohead is and has been in a complete other level than coldplay, if they say experimental, they really go experimental.. not like what ive heard of viva, experimental meant, very pop and a one man band sound-like, except for violet hill.. i mean i still like it, but it really is something completely off to what i had in mind after reading such things like "album to be rememberd by" "experimentalism"..

[Coldplayer11]

ahh people are getting hyped with 42 so am i..i just don't want to see threads on here that are like "man i thought it was going to be better..man it sucked..man coldplay never grew up" or any negative ones even though there are gonna be some and thats going to be annoying!!!

[Coldplayer11]

i dont know, my expectations for all of the songs in this album were very high!. but after hearing the couple songs everyone's heard already, it's just not the direction i thought they were taking. When i thought of 42, i id think something radiohead-like.. but judging on the sound of all the new songs i've heard so far, it prob wont b anything like that :S radiohead is and has been in a complete other level than coldplay, if they say experimental, they really go experimental.. not like what ive heard of viva, experimental meant, very pop and a one man band sound-like, except for violet hill.. i mean i still like it, but it really is something completely off to what i had in mind after reading such things like "album to be rememberd by" "experimentalism"..

oo please don't refer to it as a one man band :( ..its coldplay=guy,jonny,will,chris

[BostonSportsTD]

how does the end of viva la vida sound like exit music........... :thinking:

[a2iel]

oo please don't refer to it as a one man band :( ..its coldplay=guy,jonny,will,chris

well, i wish I didnt had that impression from the new album so far, really. but listening to viva la vida, a spell.. and lost (the full version from the interview), it seems that the 2 things that really stand out are eno and chris.. I miss will's real drums, I miss guy's incredible melodic bass lines, and I seriously intensely miss jonny's guitar melodies and power.. in my opinion they really stepped away from sounding like a band so far, which is what i dont get when they talk about just the 4 of them in their bakery and stuff..

[.Jeanfr.]

ahh people are getting hyped with 42 so am i..i just don't want to see threads on here that are like "man i thought it was going to be better..man it sucked..man coldplay never grew up" or any negative ones even though there are gonna be some and thats going to be annoying!!!

I couldn't agree more with you.:)
and.. FedEx.. you have right now 42 posts!!:laugh3:

[Soup]

Morning Bell. I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned it in this thread... but yeah the middle section is lifted straight off of Morning Bell from Kid A.

I'm not sure what the hype was about this song though... it's alright.
I'm really feeling Strawberry Swing and Cemeteries.

I actually deleted Lost! and Violet Hill. I"m sure they recorded better tracks that would've fit in better than those... famous old painters maybe? we'll see.

[winigwl]

it will be compared to paranoid android which is unfair to paranoid andriod

[MasoKnight]

Morning Bell. I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned it in this thread... but yeah the middle section is lifted straight off of Morning Bell from Kid A.

Hmm. That hasn't occurred to me, and Morning Bell is one of my favorite songs off Kid A (and Amnesiac.) The drums are similarly stuttered, but that's about as far as I can go with any substantial similarity.

[ricardo]

I see no resemblance between radiohead and coldplay. Only with the parachutes album but like a lot of people here love radiohead they want to find in coldplay another radiohead. If you have not heard the song then you can't say this is a copy of paranoid android just because it has 3 parts. Besides the sound between both songs is quite different.

[letdown]

Morning Bell. I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned it in this thread... but yeah the middle section is lifted straight off of Morning Bell from Kid A.

I'm not sure what the hype was about this song though... it's alright.
I'm really feeling Strawberry Swing and Cemeteries.

I actually deleted Lost! and Violet Hill. I"m sure they recorded better tracks that would've fit in better than those... famous old painters maybe? we'll see.

Hmm.. never occured to me it was Morning Bell

I thought that Part 2 of 42 sounded more like GO TO SLEEP at 2:05 and onwards (the guitar riffs).

As for Chris's singing "you didn't get to heaven but you made it close" Pt.3, he sounds a bit like Thom in CUTTOOTH (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9_ngO76bso) in particular the part where he sings "a little bit of knowledge will destroy you"

not sure if i'm being absurd for saying that but yeah.

[Mobytoss]

Sorry to anyone who doesn't see it, but 42 reminds me of Radiohead so much as well; not even the structure, just the similar raw guitar sound and style in the beginning which is apparent in many Radiohead songs, the dark piano intro reminiscent of 'We Suck Young Blood', there are quite a few similarities, the funky bass somewhat on the lines of 'Jigsaw Falling Out Of Place'... It's not a bad thing, its just a funny quirk, I think :>

[squareone13]

Hmmm, not a big Radiohead fan me, so I can't really comment on RH comparsions but one word popped into my head on hearing 42 - Beatles.

The piano and the backing 'oooohs' at the beginning are very beatle-y, tho that's not neccessarily a bad thing.

I love the way it suddenly changes tempo. I think 42 starts a bit retro and very un-coldplay but then turns into very much a coldplay track but still sounds fresh and new. Not the best on the album but pretty good.

[j12]

To me, the first part has elements of Radiohead, "Imagine," and "Brain Damage."

The third part sounds to me like a fun Coldplay take on George
Harrison's "I Got My Mind Set on You."

[rastelin]

MMMM its growing Good damn job,, CP... DEEP and rich baby.... So rich..

PEACE

[rastelin]

good job!!!!!!!!! Time is so short, their has to be something more, before, this time before, past the glow, high up on that steple, their is a well, it shifts up to the shore once more.... Ah but their has to be something more... It rocks, and shakes, the lands in place, begging for more, from the dry well once more... Now we find dried out specs of sand, dancing sifting threw our hands... Falling to fill up a beach, upon a seashore, where only seaweed and the dying dreams arise ONCE MORE!!!!


YES!!! YES!!!

GREAT SONG...

PEACE

[rastelin]

1st stanza breaks the mold...

PEACE

[discostu1971]

my missus asked me if '42' was radiohead when she heard the second segment earlier. she knows NOTHING about music, but even she spotted that it DOES sound like radiohead. i likened the structure of the song to paranoid android the first time i heard it. AND theres the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy reference too...

[bluexylophone]

everyone

listen to 3:10 to 3:23 on 42

now watch and listen to this youtube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D8-_OQAq3Y

the singing is not identical, but the drums are about 95% the same
Jonny's guitar has two ascending phrases and two descending phrases
Julian's singing in the verse has two ascending phrases and two descending phrases.
crazy. haha.
i realized this in bed earlier today.
i was listening to those 13 seconds in 42 and thought, "hmm.. I've heard this before" haha.

[Orian]

I don't know with what to compare 42, but for me it sounds like it was written by Muse, Radiohead and Coldplay together :)

[themightyspitz]

To me, it's the most schizophrenic of all the songs. Granted this whole album is schizophrenic, but 42 is like the album in a nutshell. The opening half or so sounds very X&Y-ish....very odd harmonic progressions that kinda go in a circular movement. Then the middle to latter half sounds like something from "A Whisper"...fast paced, heavy percussion and guitar. And the ending goes back go X&Y again.

So it's an X&Y - A Whisper - X&Y sandwich. Although I could be crazy.

[Soup]

Hmm.. never occured to me it was Morning Bell

I thought that Part 2 of 42 sounded more like GO TO SLEEP at 2:05 and onwards (the guitar riffs).

As for Chris's singing "you didn't get to heaven but you made it close" Pt.3, he sounds a bit like Thom in CUTTOOTH (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9_ngO76bso) in particular the part where he sings "a little bit of knowledge will destroy you"

not sure if i'm being absurd for saying that but yeah.

hmm i can't seem to find my HTTT but I see what you mean.

As for Morning Bell I'm talking about 1:35-2:00 on 42 sounds almost exactly
like Morning Bell from 3:30 - 3:55. just a bit more simplified/less efx than jon greenwood
kicks in with his tele.

am i really the only one that noticed? i mean it's pretty obvious fellow coldplayers...

not saying it's bad or anything btw, i'm just pointing it out.

[Littlewhiteshadows]

Am I mad or is the first part of 42 where it goes "there must be something morrrree" and the piano bit there SO similar to How You See the World?!

[Aleluvscp]

I love this song but yea.. the first impression I got from it was.. it sounds a lot like Radiohead. They probably weren't going for that.. but it's hard to sound too different

[Littlewhiteshadows]

They were going for a Radiohead-type song, actually. I've no idea where I read it or heard it, but I know Chris was on about how they wanted to do a Radiohead style song and usually Will will say no but apparently for once he said yes...I think it was on Jo Whiley but could be wrong.

[Tnspieler1012]

[quote=2732;2343393]I was just reading a wikipedia article about Radiohead's "OK Computer", and something caught my attention. It compares the song "Paranoid Android" to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" because "of its three-part musical structure".

Three part musical structure? That sounds eerily like how "42" has been described countless times by critics and Coldplay themselves.

So will "42" be similar to "Paranoid Android" or "Bohemian Rhapsody" in any ways? (Probably not lyrically or with "Rhapsody's" weird vocals)

Here's the article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ok_Computer#Lyrical_style

quote]

Based on the hype of this song being an epic multi-parter I knew months ago that it would be compared to happiness is a warm gun and paranoid android. I do taste some paranoid android in the second part, The first part, where the strings rise also strikes me as being very muse. I also sense some pink floyd in there too.

[claudiaidm]

I LOVE IT!!

[gvargas]

As my sis said, it sounded like a Beatles song...

Actually the piano part sounds like John Lennon's Imagine...listen to the notes...chords...especially the rhythm (it's not it exactly...just very similar)

I think that is the song...if it isn't that, then it is definately another song by him or the band.

**On another note: There is another mumbling of some sort when they get to the fast part of this song. I have no idea what they are saying...I think it is just Chris and his usual antics...