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As Ronnie Wood takes time out from making whoopy with a girl young enough to be his granddaughter to reform The Faces and the pensionable Led Zeppelin audition Famethrowa's dad as Robert Plant's replacement, rock now seems very much unlike a young man's game. The lust for rebellion, appetite for destruction and hell for leather that once drove music have been banished for free tour bus passes, oxygen tents and knighted company men who are more likely to paint the shed than they are paint it black.

So maximum respect to Coldplay star Chris Martin, who this week again displayed his usual mixture of self-effacing grace and daft politeness by suggesting they would soon quit the pop'n'roll game. He says (correctly if you consider the worthwhile life-span of many of history's greatest groups) that once musicians hit their mid-30s, they should get out before losing the ability to make both decent music and take themselves to the toilet. "I'm 31 now and I don't think that bands should keep going past 33", Chris explained. "I don't believe in time off. We've still got most of our hair, we can still fit into our musical trousers and we've got to make the most of that."

But is he right? U2 are on the brink of completing their new album, rumoured to be called "No Line On The Horizon", which producer Daniel Lanois claims finds the Irish rock royalty on untouchable form. "The president of the company is singing better than ever and the tracks are wildly innovative. I would never have thought things would have gone this way. I believe, well, rock'n'roll has been reinvented one more time", he claimed, which sounds inexplicable considering some of the rubbish U2 served up on their last record. Challenging your comfort zone and an eye for reinvention is surely key here, something Coldplay, who are fresh from collaborating with rap kingpin Jay-Z on their new single "Lost", seem very much aware of.