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Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories
Studio album

Sixth studio album by Coldplay, released worldwide in 16 May 2014.

For the song "Ghost Story" click here.
For the era "Ghost Stories Era" click here.
For the tour "Ghost Stories Tour" click here.

This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).

Ghost Stories is the sixth studio album by Coldplay. Co-produced by the band with Paul Epworth along with returning Mylo Xyloto producers Daniel Green and Rik Simpson, it was released by Parlophone on 16 May 2014. The album was released by Atlantic Records in North America on 19 May 2014. It is the first album by the band in North America under Atlantic, after Coldplay were transferred from Capitol Records in 2013, following the purchase of EMI and its assets by the Universal Music Group in 2012.

The album was recorded by the band throughout 2013 and 2014 at the band's purpose-built home studios in London, England, and in Los Angeles. It features guest producers Avicii, Timbaland and Madeon, and the band's frequent collaborator Jon Hopkins. It was heavily promoted by the band and Parlophone in the lead-up to its release, with an accompanying prime time TV special, a visual album, and a special six-date promotional tour of the album, as well as various appearances on television and radio. Although the album had the band experimenting with electronic music, like on Mylo Xyloto, that album was more upbeat. This album was quiter with a more ambient sound. This was due to the personal turmoil Chris Martin experienced from seperating from his wife, Gwyneth Paltrow.

The album was further promoted by three singles: "Magic", the lead single, released in March; "A Sky Full of Stars", released in May; and "True Love", released in August. It was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 57th Grammy Awards.

Background[]

On 24 October 2011, Coldplay released their fifth studio album, Mylo Xyloto. Originally conceived by the band as “a stripped-down, more acoustic collection”,[1] it became one of Coldplay's most experimental and pop-oriented records, being described as “luxuriously colourful”[2] where “the choruses are bigger, the textures grander [and] the optimism more optimistic.”[3] Produced by Markus Dravs, Brian Eno, Rik Simpson, and Daniel Green, the album peaked at number one on 18 national album charts and was certified Platinum in 16 different countries. Mylo Xyloto had also sold 8 million copies within the first year of release. Coldplay's 2011 single "Paradise" became the band's second UK number-one single after 2008's "Viva la Vida". Coldplay's subsequent world tour in promotion of Mylo Xyloto visited North America, Europe, Australasia, and Africa, raising $99.7 million in revenue.

In an interview with Australian radio station 2DayFM on 20 November 2012 — in anticipation of the release of the band's third live album Live 2012 —, Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland revealed that they already had a title ready for the next record, with Chris stating that it would be a “much easier to pronounce” title, referring to the general audience's difficulty pronouncing Mylo Xyloto.[4] The following night, during a Coldplay concert in Brisbane, Australia, Chris announced that would be “the last big show for three years or so.”[5][6] On 19 February 2013, The Oracle gave an indication of what was the band's current status, revealing, “[Coldplay] are busy behind the scenes. They're not in the full steam ahead mode just yet, but plans are being made and steps are being taken.”[7]

Backstage at the 2013 Brit Awards held on 20 February 2013, Will Champion and Jonny spoke to Jo Whiley of BBC Radio 2; saying in response to a question about a new Coldplay record, Jonny hinted that there was “a theoretical album” in the works, with Will adding that him and Jonny were occasionally going into the studio to “noodle for an hour”. In a previous interview at the Brits, Will commented that these latest jam sessions with Jonny were not as productive as expected, remarking: “It's absolutely dreadful. Garbage, abstract, avant-garde nonsense. So you shall never hear of it, even if we released it you'd never hear it.”[8] Going into the creative process for their sixth studio album, the band expressed interest in returning to the original idea of a more acoustic-oriented and intimate album, with less of the production and sound that made Mylo Xyloto; when Whiley suggested that, Will replied: “Yeah, that might be nice, actually. There's only so far you can go without becoming pompous and a bit overblown, so we'll tread that line very carefully. Reset. Recalibrate.”[9][10]

Recording[]

The creative process and recording sessions for the band's sixth studio album took place between 2013 and early 2014, at their purpose-built studios The Bakery and The Beehive in North London, England, then in Los Angeles for the final process. The creation of the album actually started at Guy's house in London in early 2013 where he had settled a little studio where everyone gathered to jam and try some new music during a break after the band's big tour for Mylo Xyloto. The band took a different approach for their sixth studio album in contrast to their previous studio albums. Chris invited the band to contribute original songwriting material for the album, as opposed to building songs off Martin's ideas as they had done during previous recording sessions. For example, "Magic" was built off a bass riff originally conceived by bassist Guy Berryman in the studio.

For a long, long time I've been begging the band, "Please could someone else start a song"! I've been given that gift from the universe, or from God or whatever you want to believe in that ideas for songs get sent through wherever they get sent from, and then I take them to the rest of the band and then we layer it up and that's how we do it. I was so grateful. It made me so happy and that was kind of a sample of the album as a whole, "We'll help each other out here". There were lots of songs but that was the first point where I thought, "Everyone is invested in this, everyone knows what we're trying to do; go a bit more personal". ” — Chris 

Concept[]

Ghost Stories is a spiritually driven album that revolves around two major themes mentioned by lead singer Chris Martin. The album explores the idea of past actions, and the effects they can have on your future and one's capacity for unconditional Love.

The idea of Ghost Stories, for me, was how do you let the things that happen to you in the past – your ghosts – how do you let them affect your present and your future? Because there was a time when I was feeling like they were going to drag me down and ruin my life, and the lives of those around me. I was very lucky to meet a very good sufi teacher who started to introduce the idea of "if you sit with your experiences and the things you've been through, they alchemize. At the time he said that, I didn't really know what that meant, but I trusted that it would work, and the more that I was learning about that, the more music just started flowing through.
Chris to Zane Lowe

Packaging[]

The album artwork for Ghost Stories was etched by British-based Czech etching artist Mila Fürstová. The medieval art-driven artwork, measuring 100 by 100 cm, features a pair of angel wings imposed onto a painting of an ocean under a sky at night. The angel wings themselves feature cryptic imagery of medieval-style drawings of fairly contemporary objects and concepts. The images include a couple in love, a man facing a mirror, a flight of white doves, a circular maze, a girl by candlelight, a window looking out onto an incoming tornado and a garden plant with a ladder, amongst other imagery depicted in the artwork. 

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An example of Mila Fürstová's work, which are inspired by mythology, a central theme also depicted in the artwork for Ghost Stories. (Pictured: "Other Skies I" by Fürstová, 2011)

 

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Mila Fürstová & Coldplay

A larger, digital version of the artwork is available on Coldplay's official website, with the ability to zoom into the artwork with a screen magnifier.

Fürstová had etched the artworks for all of the releases in the Ghost Stories album cycle, including the artwork for singles "Magic" and "Midnight", which all use the same motif of a scenario taking place in a larger body. Fürstová, whose work has been described as "dazzling images are both contemporary and personal, searching in the surreality of dreams, tales and fables that can map the framework of our consciousness", and has won numerous awards, including the Royal College of Art Society Award in 2001 and becoming the youngest academician at the Royal West of England Academy in 2009, was invited by Coldplay to etch artworks for their new album in January 2013.

File:Ghost Stories Animation

She described the collaboration between her and the band as "a most inspiring journey and a truly humbling experience to cooperate with such talented people". There are plans for an exhibition of Fürstová's Ghost Stories artworks in the Autumn of 2014 in central London. 25 original etchings and 100 high-quality digital prints of the artwork, all hand-signed by Fürstová, are also set to go on sale on 19 May 2014, the same day Ghost Stories releases in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Promotion[]

Main article: Ghost Stories Tour

Coldplay performed on the opening night of the televised 2014 iTunes Festival at SXSW on 11 March 2014 at the Moody Theater in Austin, Texas. In addition to performing "Magic" and "Midnight", the band performed "Always in My Head" and "Another's Arms"; the first live performances of the four songs. The band also performed "Magic" in a pre-recorded segment of Sport Relief 2014, which aired on BBC One on 21 March 2014.

In April 2014, Coldplay announced an international scavenger hunt for sheets containing lyrics to the nine songs on the album. The notes, handwritten by Martin, were placed in ghost story books in libraries around the world, with the band tweeting clues leading to their locations. One of the hidden envelopes also contained a special Golden Ticket, allowing its finder and their guest to go to London for the Coldplay concert at the Royal Albert Hall in July. The lyric sheets were found in libraries in Mexico City, Singapore, Helsinki, Barcelona, Dartford, New York City, Tauranga, Dublin, and Johannesburg.

Lyrics Hunt[]

TV Special[]

A TV special titled Coldplay: Ghost Stories was filmed March 21–23, 2014 by the Grammy-nominated director Paul Dugdale on a custom-built stage in a Sony Pictures movie soundstage in Los Angeles. Coldplay performed material from the album in its entirety for the first time. The show, which included cinematic vignettes and 360-degree projections, was attended by an audience of 800 fans and press, and was broadcast in prime time in several countries in May and June 2014. The special was then sold on DVD and Blu-ray in November 2014. Additional footage was shot at Paradise Cove in Malibu, California and at Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine, California for the film. Chris Martin said, "The Ghost Stories show at Sony Studios was a very special moment for our band... This film is basically our original vision for the Ghost Stories album." Coldplay was also the musical act for the 3 May airing of NBC late-night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live and performed "Magic" and "A Sky Full of Stars". It was the band's fifth appearance on the show.

Streaming[]

On 12 May 2014, seven days before its release date, the album became available to stream in full via iTunes, accompanied by an animated video revolving around Fürstová's album artwork, but the band refused to allow Spotify, Beats Music, Deezer, and Rdio to stream the album until 22 September 2014, which they had previously done on their last album, Mylo Xyloto .

Target Deluxe Editon[]

Coldplay's_Ghost_Stories_Album_Launch_Target_Commercial

Coldplay's Ghost Stories Album Launch Target Commercial

It is the first time that Coldplay release a Target version for their LPs. The Target deluxe edition include 3 bonus tracks which also included in A Sky Full of Stars EP : "All Your Friends, "Ghost Story" and "O (Reprise)" The Target deluxe edition also featured an alternate version of "O"

Singles[]

  • "Magic" was released by Parlophone on 3 March 2014 as the lead single promoting Ghost Stories. The featured track, "Magic", was also made available to download through Ghost Stories on iTunes and Amazon.com the same day, with pre-orders of the album including the track as an "instant-grat" download.Following the release of the single and track, it charted on 25 national record charts, so far peaking within the top ten in 18 countries.
  • A second single promoting the album, "Midnight", was released by Parlophone on 17 April 2014 as a one-sided 7-inch vinyl for Record Store Day in a number of 3000 copies.A music video for "Midnight", was released as a teaser for the album on 25 February 2014. Ghost Stories was officially unveiled by Coldplay and Parlophone a week later on 3 March 2014, along with its artwork and track listing.
  • "A Sky Full of Stars" was released digitally as the second official single on 2 May 2014. Within 24 hours from its iTunes release, the track had sold 121,690 units worldwide,peaking at number one in 86 countries on the iTunes Store Charts. The song reached number ten on the Billboard Hot 100, making it their third top 10 hit and first since "Viva la Vida" in 2008. It also became their first number-one single on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart.
  • On 4 August 2014, the band announced that "True Love" would be released as the third single from the album. The True Love music video, released August 22, 2014, was directed by Jonas Åkerlund and stars Chris Martin and Jessica Lucas.
  • "Ink" was released as the fourth Single to Italian contemporary hit radio stations on 13 October 2014 and to US modern rock radio stations on 18 November 2014 as the album's third radio single in the country, and the fifth overall from Ghost Stories. The "Ink" music video is an interactive video, written, directed, and animated by an LA based agency, Blind. Blind worked with company Interlude to make more than 300 possible journeys throughout the music video.

Other non-singles[]

  • The music video for "All Your Friends" was released on 7 November 2014 for the commemoration of the first World War. Although the track is not available in the standard edition of Ghost Stories, it is available in A Sky Full of Stars EP worldwide–except for the U.S. There, it is in the deluxe version of Ghost Stories sold by Target.
  • An official video for "Ghost Story" was released on 9 March 2015. The video (in black and white) shows the band performing the song during their Ghost Stories tour. The song is available in the A Sky Full of Stars EP and, only in the USA, in the Target Deluxe edition of the album.

Critical reception[]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 61/100
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4/5
Consequence of Sound C+
Entertainment Weekly B
The Guardian 3/5
The Independent 3/5
NME 7/10
The Observer 2/5
Pitchfork Media 4.4/10
Rolling Stone 3.5/5
USA Today 2.5/4

Ghost Stories received mixed to favorable reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 61, based on 31 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Jason Lipshutz of Billboard wrote the magazine's track-by-track review of the album, praising it as the band's "most listenable album in years" and describing it as "an evocative concoction of sullen phrases, sparse arrangements and powerful themes." Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly commented that Ghost Stories "will likely be remembered as a transitional album" and noted that "while being solid, it feels like a prequel to something better".

Larry Fitzmaurice of Pitchfork Media wrote that the album is a "subdued work that finds Chris Martin and his band crisply moping through mid-tempo soundscapes and fuzzy electronic touches that have the visceral impact of a down comforter tumbling down a flight of stairs." Nick Hasted of The Independent wrote that Martin "accepts his loss too meekly to approach the anguish of a great break-up album", but concluded that the band's "step away from grand platitudes is still one in the right direction". 


Jerry Shriver of USA Today felt that "within the realm of memorable breakup albums", Ghost Stories lacked "the confessional gut-punch of Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, the acrimony of Richard and Linda Thompson's Shoot Out the Lights and the irresistible sonic appeal of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours", ultimately describing it as "not even a particularly memorable Coldplay album". While noting that Ghost Stories "should be applauded for scaling back the gaudy excesses of their previous albums", Consequence of Sound's Josh Terry opined that its songs "suffer from a lack of direction" and "could use the vitality that launched them to the top in the first place". Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "The nine songs on Ghost Stories hum gently, cultivating an effective sense of intimacy. As always, there's a lot going on in the music, sculpted by the band along with various collaborators." He added, "Coldplay's new album, Ghost Stories, finds the British band setting aside its trademark grandiosity.

Chart performance[]

The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling 168,000 copies in its opening week—the second largest sales of 2014. By July 2014, it had already become the best-selling album of the first half of 2014 with 375,000 copies sold in the UK. In the US, the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 383,000 copies sold for the week, then the biggest debut week sales of 2014. As of January 2015, the album has sold 794,000 copies in the US. In Canada, the album debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart with 49,000 copies sold in its first week. It became 2014's fifth best-selling album, having sold 117,000 copies throughout the year. Worldwide, Ghost Stories sold over 3.7 million copies in 2014.

Track listing[]

All songs written by Coldplay (Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, and Chris Martin), except "Midnight" and "A Sky Full of Stars", co-written by Jon Hopkins and Tim Bergling, respectively.

Standard edition[]

No. Title Producers Length
1. "Always in My Head" Coldplay • Paul Epworth • Daniel Green • Rik Simpson 3:36
2. "Magic" Coldplay • Epworth • Green • Simpson 4:45
3. "Ink" Coldplay • Epworth • Green • Simpson 3:48
4. "True Love" Coldplay • Epworth • Green • Simpson 4:05
5. "Midnight" Coldplay • Epworth • Green • Simpson • Jon Hopkins (co.) 4:54
6. "Another's Arms" Coldplay • Epworth • Green • Simpson 3:54
7. "Oceans" Coldplay • Epworth • Green • Simpson 5:21
8. "A Sky Full of Stars" Coldplay • Epworth • Green • Simpson • Avicii (co.) 4:27
9. "O" ("Fly On" – 0:00–3:54 / "O" – 6:18–7:47) Coldplay • Epworth • Green • Simpson 7:47
Total length: 42:46


Others[]

Typeface[]

The typeface of the album is called "Golden Type ITC".

Unboxing[]

Https_www.youtube.com_watch?v=148rr9iCAD8

Https www.youtube.com watch?v=148rr9iCAD8

Photo Gallery[]

Personnel[]

Coldplay[]

  • Guy Berryman – songwriting, bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
  • Jonny Buckland – songwriting, electric guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, slide guitar
  • Will Champion – songwriting, drums, percussion, drum machine, rectable, backing vocals
  • Chris Martin – songwriting, piano, lead vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards

Additional musicians[]

  • Timbaland – extra drums (track 4)
  • Apple Martin – additional vocals (track 9)
  • Moses Martin – additional vocals (track 9)
  • Mabel Krichefski – additional vocals (track 9)
  • John Metcalfe – strings arrangement, conductor
  • Davide Rossi – individual arrangement and strings (track 4)
  • Tim Bergling (a.k.a. Avicii) - keyboards (track 8)

Artistic personnel[]

  • Mila Fürstová – artwork
  • Tappin Gofton – design, art direction
  • Phil Harvey – photography

Additional personnel[]

  • Dave Holmes – management
  • Paul Epworth – production
  • Daniel Green – production, mixing (track 7)
  • Rik Simpson – production, mixing (track 7)
  • Jon Hopkins – co-production (track 5), extra magic
  • Tim Bergling – co-production (track 8)
  • Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing (track 1-6, 8, 9)
  • Geoff Swan – assistant mixing (track 1-6, 8, 9)
  • Mike Dean – "extra magic" [sic] (track 6)[75]
  • Madeon – "extra magic" (track 1, 9)[76]
  • Ted Jensen – mastering
  • Olga Fitzroy – engineering
  • Matt Wiggins – engineering
  • Jaime Sickora – engineering
  • Chris Owens – engineering
  • Joe Visciano – engineering
  • Tom Bailey – additional studio assistance
  • Fiona Cruickshank – additional studio assistance
  • Nicolas Essig – additional studio assistance
  • Jeff Gartenbaum – additional studio assistance
  • Christian Green – additional studio assistance
  • Joseph Hartwell Jones – additional studio assistance
  • Pablo Hernandez – additional studio assistance
  • Neil Lambert – additional studio assistance
  • Matt McGinn – additional studio assistance
  • Adam Miller – additional studio assistance
  • Roxy Pope – additional studio assistance
  • John Prestage – additional studio assistance
  • Bill Rahko – additional studio assistance
  • Kyle Stevens – additional studio assistance

Charts and certifications[]

Certifications[]

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA) Platinum 70,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[126] Gold 7,500x
Belgium (BEA)[127] Gold 15,000
Canada (Music Canada)[128] Platinum 117,000[71]
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[129] Gold 10,000^
France (SNEP)[130] 2× Platinum 274,100[131]
Germany (BVMI)[132] Platinum 200,000^
Hungary (MAHASZ)[133] Gold 3,000x
Italy (FIMI)[134] 2× Platinum 100,000
Mexico (AMPROFON)[135] Gold 30,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[136] Gold 7,500^
Poland (ZPAV)[137] Platinum 20,000
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[138] Gold 20,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[139] 2× Platinum 40,000x
United Kingdom (BPI)[140] Platinum 544,000[120]
United States (RIAA)[141] Gold 794,000[69]


  • sales figures based on certification alone ^shipments figures based on certification alone xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Release history[]

Region Date Format Label Catalog no.
Australia 16 May 2014 Digital download Parlophone none
Austria
Belgium
Finland
Germany
India
Ireland
Netherlands CD 0825646305919
Digital download none
New Zealand none
Canada 19 May 2014 CD Atlantic Records 2-305919
Digital download none
France Digital download Parlophone
Greece
Poland CD Warner Music 0825646305919
LP 0825646298815
Digital download none
United Kingdom CD Parlophone B00IQE4NUK (ASIN)
LP B00J0H0YN2 (ASIN)
Digital download none
United States CD Atlantic Records B00IQE4NUK (ASIN)
LP 542279-1
Digital download none
Mexico CD Parlophone unknown
20 May 2014 Digital download none
Brazil
Italy
Spain
Japan 21 May 2014
Deluxe Edition
Region Date Format Label Catalog no.
United States 19 May 2014 CD Atlantic Records 542280-2
Picture6
Album  · Singles  · Target Edition  · Ghost Stories Tour  · List of performances
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