Coldplay's set at Glastonbury this summer bought home to me just how good this band are. No U2 pretence; just a bunch of guys who enjoy what they do and are very good at doing it. Whether it's Chris Martin on the piano or their fantastic drummer (who reminds me of Animal from The Muppet Show!) bouncing his drum kit off the floor. The new songs they played like 'Charlie Brown' and 'Every Tear Drop' sounded anthemic as you would expect. They were great.

So, along comes the album some 4 months later and it's certainly uplifting. 'Paradise' is catchy but not great Coldplay while aongs like 'Hurts like Heaven' are strong and catchy. Chris Martin is no great lyricist; what he does do is create a wash of sound that you know will raise the rooves on stadia around the world. So, why have I only given this new album three stars? Production in one word. This album has been produced to death by idiots who think that pushing the levers all the way to 'max' is the way to deliver a great album. On a good hi-fi this album sounds sounds like its coming out of a cheap transistor radio made in the sixties. It's distorted, there is little light and shade - jusy bombastic production which is a great shame. Can producers please stop doing this? Give us music that sounds natural rather than pushed up to the max.