By Jeff Copperthite:

Good evening to everybody, and yes it’s that time – Thumpin’ Thursday! It’s the day that comes every 3 weeks where I, Jeff Copperthite, bring you another Laptop Sessions. True, I end up giving you a session every 3 days, but hey, only Thursday can be Thumpin’ Thursday.

Ok, that’s a cheesy enough introduction.

Today I bring you another song by Coldplay called “The Scientist”. This is an easy song to play, and it is also a great song to hear. I have really enjoyed bringing you previous Coldplay cover songs, and I am sure they will be a band I keep covering in the future. The song is from their album “A Rush of Blood To The Head”, which is my favorite album so far. However, I will be picking up “Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends” tomorrow from iTunes. I’ve been slow to convert to buying albums electronically because i’m afraid of losing that “You just spent $10 somewhere” that I get when I go to the FYE or Best Buy.

On Sunday I will be bringing you another band that I have covered before, then it’ll be my turn for Original Wednesday. After that, I just may be ready to bring another new band to the sessions.

Also, I’m very close to another grand landmark – 20K views! Stay tuned…

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to yet another all-new acoustic cover song! Tonight is a special treat for those of you who love to listen to new music. This is “Violet Hill,” a track off of Coldplay’s brand new album Viva La Vida. This album was just released in 2008, and this is the first song from the new album to be featured here on the music blog. As an added treat, this is my very first Coldplay cover — I’ve always avoided this band, not so much because there aren’t any songs that I would like to cover, but because Chris Martin’s vocal range is typically much higher than this particular Chris is comfortable with…

Which leads me to my take on Coldplay’s catalog. I first listened to A Rush of Blood to the Head when one of my co-workers at Staples highly recommended it to me. At the time, I was listening to the Beach Boys’ underrated and (in my opinion) under-appreciated album Carl & the Passions – ‘So Tough.‘ Perhaps it was because I had been listening to one of my favorite albums of all time, but when I began listening to the Coldplay album instead, I must admit I felt let down. This is the band that Rolling Stone magazine and many others have repeatedly termed one of the biggest and best rock bands of all time. Martin was recently referred to as a “Rock God” on the cover of RS. Don’t get me wrong; there were excellent songs, like the hit “Clocks” (that Jeff Copperthite has already covered – click here to listen!) and the title track, among others. However, the album seemed to suffer from an inability to really pick it up and move. So much seems to drag and float, Martin’s vocals only exacerbating the protracted sensation that the repetition of sections and sounds creates.

Years and listens later, my disapproval of Rush of Blood has certainly softened. I would even say I’ve grown to appreciate the album, though I’m still unable to really get into it. Their subsequent release, X&Y, was a different story altogether. Although I can understand why it was criticized for sounding too similar from song to song, I immediately grew fond of X&Y, and it is as a direct result of liking this album that I decided to give this year’s Viva La Vida a chance.

And I’m so glad that I did!

From start to finish, I can’t say enough about this new music from Coldplay. The album is a concept album and the best I can say is that it’s simply done well. The concept isn’t forced; it feels like a complete thought is being expressed. The fade-in and fade-out are the same synthesized section, giving the album a sense of being cyclical, which is interesting given that the main focus is life and death. I wondered if Chris Martin has been influenced by the true innovators of the concept album, the Moody Blues. For songwriters, there’s alot to be learned from albums like To Our Children’s Children’s Children’s, which have yet to be topped, and I doubt that they ever will.

As Sharkboy from TNA wrestling would say, “And that’s the fishin’ line!” (A play on Stone Cold Steve Austin’s “bottom line” catch phrase.) That’s it for me until next time, but don’t miss another quality session from Fusco-Moore Productions’ own Jeff Copperthite tomorrow…

See you next session!

By Jeff Copperthite:

And continuing from last week’s post is the song that is followed by the one I covered last week.

Now, I know that i’ve covered a bunch of Coldplay songs, and quite a few from Viva La Vida, but there’s a good reason.  Everybody loves this band.  They write catchy songs, and enjoy performing and love their fans.  How can I not want to cover this band?

This song is more of an instrumental than a lyrical song, but the lyrics are present and sung.  I initially wanted to perform this with my electric guitar hooked up to my bass amp.  However, I hit a few snags.  1) My electric strings are kind of old.  2) The bridge of the guitar sticks out of the base of the guitar a bit, making the strings a bit further from the fretboard, and therefore more difficult to play.  3) The amp is meant for bass, and I could not find a good combination of settings that made my guitar sound like a guitar.

However, practicing the song on the electric proved helpful, as it made it a lot easier to play on the acoustic.  Funny how that works sometimes.

This video came out great.  I’m very proud of this cover.

I have reached my first milestone post 100K views and hit 110K views.  I’m nearing 500 views per day on my videos, and I can’t wait to tell you when I am averaging 1K views per day.  It could happen before the year is out!

Also, Jim…I left you a voicemail a couple of days ago.  Give me a call please.

By Jeff Copperthite:

Welcome to your Thumpin’ Thursday installment of The Laptop Sessions (and almost fantastic Friday as well)!

I hope all is well on your end, and that you are celebrating with your family and friends one of the two major religious holidays that are going on at this point in time.  I myself have been to two Seders in the past two nights, and i’m done until next year with those.

Tonight I have a great cover song, and to boot, it’s a 2 parter!

The song is “Yes” by Coldplay, and yes it’s another song from their incredibly popular album “Viva La Vida”.  I was so excited that when I picked this album up last year, I didn’t even look at the track list.  I put it in my CD player and heard each song on the album before I even knew the name of it.  This song and the 2nd one that I will cover next week were my favorite.  I just liked how it tied together and it’s gentle and “pleading” beat (I couldn’t think of another word to describe it).

I find myself enjoying Coldplay’s library more and more.  They do a great job putting music together.

Speaking of people who do a good job putting music together, have you picked up Jim Fusco’s new album Halfway There yet?  I’ve only heard previews of some of the songs, and if that is any kind of indication as to the quality of this album, you best hear it and purchase it yourself.  I also am looking forward to hearing his remastered version of “What About Today?”, which is an awesome album as well.  Jim’s music always pleases.

In the meantime, enjoy this song!  See you next week!