Could be Paradise...

Well. Coldplay released the second single for their upcoming Mylo Xyloto album on Monday (the first single being ETIAW). This one is called "Paradise." And it has made me even more excited for the album's release. (:

Anyway. Paradise. I'm in love. This song... ah. I don't know how to explain it.

Compared to "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall," Coldplay's first Mylo Xyloto single, "Paradise" is definitely a bit moodier. But it's still something that makes you want to get up and move. And, of course, it still has that Coldplay feel to it, despite the new direction the band has been taking (which, I'll admit, I really like).

But anyway. Mylo Xyloto is set to come out in the US on October 25. It's also a "concept album." Which means that all of the songs are going to be unified in a common theme. Luckily, I'm pretty sure that we already know what the basic "theme" will be. (: Chris Martin said, “It’s based on a love story with a happy ending.” So, the whole album is going to be one big story. I love it. (:

Mylo Xyloto album cover and tracklist

Sigh. Can't wait. (:

Mylo Xyloto (:

Well, it's official. The title and release date for Coldplay's fifth album has FINALLY been released. (: Mylo Xyloto (pronounced MY-lo ZY-le-to) will be released on October 24, 2011 (as previously speculated) for everywhere except North America. We won't get it until the next day, on October 25th. Ah, well.

Also released with this information was the cover art for the album:

 For the CD, it will include an alternate album cover on the revearse side of the main one:

I'm kind of a fan, I think. (: The name of the album is a bit strange, and it took me a while to be able to pronounce it right, but it's slowly growing on me. I'm liking it more and more. (:

So, what exactly does "Mylo Xyloto" mean? Nobody seems to know. Maybe later, we'll have a better idea.

Anyway. As of right now, the official tracklist for the album hasn't been announced, but there's a lot of speculation. Somewhere - I can't exactly remember where - I heard that the album is a bit over forty minutes long. So, I'm guessing that that will probably be about a 10-track album. But that's just my guess.

WikiColdplay has a list of possible songs for Mylo Xyloto:

"Charlie Brown"
"Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall"
"Great Expectations"
"Hurts Like Heaven"
"Major Minus"
"Moving To Mars"
"Mylo Xyloto"
"Paradise"
"Princess Of China"
"Sex And Violence"
"Tomorrow"
"U.F.O."
"Us Against The World"
"Up In Flames"
"Up With The Birds"

Obviously, some of the songs have never been heard of before. A few of them, however, have been played by Coldplay at festivals and concerts. Here are some of them. (:

"CHARLIE BROWN"

Ah, "Charlie Brown." (: As stated in the previous post, I adore this particular song. (:

"EVERY TEARDROP IS A WATERFALL"

Now, for some people (particularly, some long-time Coldplay fans), they absolutely hate this song. Personally, I think that it's fine. I actually like it. But that could be because I only got into Coldplay more recently. And also, because I'm a bit more open-minded when it comes to music. But anyway.

"US AGAINST THE WORLD"

This song is lovely. (: Beautiful meaning, and beautiful lyrics. I especially love 2:02 - 2:30. "And if we could float away, fly up to the surface and just start again, and lift off before trouble just erodes us in the rain..."

"MAJOR MINUS"

Ah. I like this one too. It's not my favorite, but I do like it. (:

"MOVING TO MARS"

This song starts out a bit slow for me, but after the beginning part I do grow to like it. (:

"HURTS LIKE HEAVEN"

This is another one of those catchy songs. (: I also like this one. Hopefully, it makes it on the album.

Of course, some of the songs listed may not even be on the album. "Hurts Like Heaven," for example, is one of those songs that might have been tossed into the scrap pile for the album. Personally, I hope that that's not the case, because I'm a fan of that song. (:

So far, only two songs are "guarenteed" to be on the album, from what I've heard: "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall" and "Paradise." I haven't heard "Paradise" before, because I don't think that it's been played anywhere yet. But anyway, this song is going to be Mylo Xyloto's second single (ETIAW being the first), scheduled to be released on September 12. One month! (:

As for the full album... 72 days! (;

We'll run wild, we'll be glowing in the dark (:

To be honest, I'm one of those people who, when asked what their favorite song is, usually replies, "I really don't have a favorite song." And it's true. I have favorite songs, but not one single favorite. And there are just too many too list when the question is asked.

But anyway. With that said, I've officially added a new favorite song to that super long (okay... slightly long) favorite songs list. What is it, you may ask? "Charlie Brown" by Coldplay.

This is a fairly new song, and it's pretty catchy and just overall fantastic. I love it, and I can't get enough of it. The only problem? It hasn't been released yet! And what does that mean? It means, my friends, that this fantastic song is not on iTunes. So, I can't have it on my iPod.

It's driving me insane.

But anyway. "Charlie Brown" was first introduced to the general public on June 3, 2011 at the Rock im Park Festival in Nürnberg, Germany. They've continued to play it at other concerts through out the summer. But, like I said, it hasn't actually been released yet.

Originally, the song was called "Cartoon Heart," but it was later changed to "Charlie Brown."

Anyway, I guess that I'll survive the wait for the song's actual release. Coldplay's new album, which "Charlie Brown" will most likely be included on, is most likely coming out this fall. Most sources say that it'll be toward the end of October. So... I'll just try not to think about it too much.

In the meantime, I'll just have to rely on YouTube to enjoy the song. (:

"Light a fire from a spark
Light a fire, a flame in my heart
We'll run wild,
We'll be glowing in the dark."

Ramin Freaking Karimloo

Alright. So, this man right here... he's fantastic. That's all I can say. He's one of the people that I think I can honestly say I adore (okay, okay... I say that about a lot of people. But still). His voice, his face, his smile... ah. (: He's just great. And quite talented.

Ramin has played both Raoul and the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera. He also plays the Phantom in Love Never Dies, which is POTO's sequel. He has also played Marius in Les Miserables. And, of course, there's the role that made me fall in love with him: Enjolras in the Les Miserables 25th anniversary concert. (;

Staying on that topic, let me just say that, before Ramin, I wasn't the biggest fan of Enjolras. I still liked him, I just didn't love him. There were other characters that I was more in love with. And then I saw Ramin's take on the character... and I was hooked. (: He's still not my favorite character... but I enjoy him a lot more when Ramin is portraying him. (;

Anyway. Ramin was born in Iran, but grew up in Canada. Also, he and fellow actor Hadley Fraser (Grantaire in the Les Mis concert) have a band called Sheytoons. They're actually pretty good. (:

Ramin Karimloo and Hadley Fraser

Anyway. So... yeah, that's a little bit about the fantastic Ramin for ya. Now, here's some music. (:

Here's Ramin at the 2011 Oliver Awards singing "Till I Hear You Sing," which is a song that the Phantom sings in Love Never Dies. The song starts out quiet, then from 1:40 and on, it's just... "wow."

ETIAW - Coldplay

I turn the music up, I've got my records on

I shut the world outside until the lights come on

Maybe the streets alight, maybe the trees are gone

But I feel my heart start beating to my favorite song

All the kids they dance, all the kids all night

Until Monday morning feels another life

I turn the music up, I'm on a roll this time

And heaven is in sight

...

I've had this song stuck in my head for about... I don't know, two weeks now? I actually heard the Boyce Avenue cover first (see my Boyce Avenue post). I loved that so much that I was like, "Hey, I love Coldplay, too. Why not go check out the original song?" So... I did.

At first, I wasn't a fan. I just... didn't like the song at all.

Of course, about four tries later, and I was hooked. It's still not my favorite song by Coldplay, but I still really like it.

So... here it is. Every Teardrop Is A WaterFall by Coldplay. The video's slightly... epileptic, I guess, for lack of a better word. You'll see what I mean. Not the entire time, just most of it. But still, kind of cool. Give it a chance. (;

Anyway, that's all. I felt kind of bad for not posting in a while, so I thought I'd get something out. Because I'd hate to fall out of habit with this blog. :/ It's basically the only place that I can ramble about the things that I really love. ;D

Boyce Avenue, anybody?

Two words: Boyce Avenue. If you haven't heard of these guys before, then you should definitely give them a listen. (: I'd be surprised if you haven't heard of them, though. Currently, they're the most searched for band on YouTube.

And I absoutely adore them. (:

 

Fabian, Daniel, Alejandro

The band consists of three brothers from Florida: Alejandro, Daniel, and Fabian Manzano. Alejandro is the wonderful lead vocalist. (: They've been around since 2004, though I didn't hear about them until just a few months ago. I was sitting in my Interior Design class. My teacher turned on some music... and ended up introducing us to the wonderful music of Boyce Avenue. (:

They do both acoustic covers and original music. And they're fantastic at what they do. (:

So... listen and enjoy? I have two videos I'm sharing below, the first being one of their original songs, called "Every Breath." The second is their latest video as of today, a Coldplay cover. But I encourage you to check out more of their stuff. If you have a favorite song or band, it's possible that Boyce Avenue has done a cover. And their original music is really great, too. (:

Now. Click the link and go to their YouTube channel. Right now. Thanks. (;

"If music be the food of love, play on."

One of my many favorite bands is this duo called Sugarland. The lead vocalist is a woman named Jennifer Nettles. The other half of the band, Kristian Bush, does the background vocals, mandolin, guitar, harmonica, etc. etc. He's also lead vocals on a few songs. (: They've been around since about 2003, and I love them. (: Jennifer has such a fun personality that's all her own, and it really comes across in any performance that you watch. And Kristian has a pretty awesome voice. (:

They have one song called "Stand Up." It comes off of Sugarland's latest album, "The Incredible Machine," which was released last October. This song packs a really good message with it. (:
Here's a video of that song. It takes a while for the song to actually start, and it's not the best quality, but I still really like the video. (: The song at the beginning is actually a mini-song that Kristian sings, a version of their song "Incredible Machine."

"Won't you stand up and use your voice?"