D8HW4 Case Against Coldplay

In this essay the author essentially makes the statement that Coldplay is a horrible band. He then goes on to offer a wide variety of evidence to support his claim from insincerity to musical technicalities. He starts out, however, by stating all of Coldplay's claims to fame. He admits that the band has many good qualities, such as great musical skill, a good sound, and a breakaway from macho ism which is often looked on with contempt in today's culture. He states, however, that the band ends up combining to many good aspects until they turn into an unrealistic, insincere, overly self-pitying band.
In terms of an audience, music fans are obvious. However, his writing could also be directed at other bands in a sort of plea to not repeat the mistakes of Coldplay. This could very well be a part of his purpose, aside from the obvious which is to convince his readers that Coldplay is a bad band. The author, Jon Pareles, is quite obviously writing from a negative stance on his subject, but he shows an obvious knowledge of the history and intricacies of music. His is a desperate plea to a world where Coldplay is largely celebrated and he appeals to, specifically it seems, other's who are well versed in music.
In terms of ethos, character appeals, Pareles attacks Coldplay's use of styles used by previous bands. He also makes a point of stating that various aspects of the band's style indicate to him an insincerity in the lyrics which he believes is an insult to Coldplay's listeners. Using logos, or logical appeals, he has fewer cases against Coldplay as he freely admits that, for the most part, their skill is quite outstanding. He does however make a few strikes to things such as the lead singer over stretching his range and certain cliches in the lyrics. The author doesn't go to far with pathos, emotional appeals. To the contrary he asks the audience to look past pathos which he states is Coldplay's chief selling point. He tries to instill a bit of anger at the "insincerity" of Coldplay's members who, in his opinion, take advantage of feelings that they don't share in order to sell records. He also states that, while some sensitivity is fine, Coldplay overdoes it and ends up sounding like a bunch of whiny fools who can't hack life.
All in all the author makes a pretty effective argument. He appeals to all facets of our thinking process and impresses of with his knowledge of music. Personally I am with him on this one. I am not a Coldplay fan. Their music is just to fairyland for me and I'm not big on self pity, which is their main topic.