Viva La Vida (song) Reviews

[busybeeburns]

 

Apple scores new Coldplay cut 'Viva La Vida,' and it's good

 

Coldplay's "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" recently went up from pre-order from Apple's iTunes store, and those who make the pledge for the album will get immediate access to the title track.

 

It's a nice little coup for the Steve Jobs store, considering Coldplay's first single, "Violet Hill," has been downloaded more than 2 million times, according to multiple press reports.

 

Of course, the 2-million figure was helped by the fact that the song was free. To hear the title track, as purchased from iTunes, one will essentially have to fork over $9.99, and the cut unfortunately comes encoded with DRM at 128 kilobits per second.

 

But how does it sound?

 

Pretty good, and my initial reaction* is that this is a stronger cut than "Violet Hill." It opens with a triumphant string melody, and it's the violins that carry much of the song. It's a cleaner-sounding cut than the more aggressive "Violet Hill," but it still glides along with an urgency not heard often enough in Coldplay's music.

 

By tapping producer Brian Eno, comparisons to U2 will be inevitable, and "Viva La Vida" brings a bit of U2 grandeur with its epic build, but it still colors the song with enough fresh sounds to demand repeated listens. Things get rolling with a frisky violin, and Chris Martin puts it in check with a commanding vocal turn, singing "I used to roll the dice / Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes."

 

Moments later the song gets more interesting, with a flash of rhythm briefly sending a more electronic-sounding beat to the background. References to Catholicism grace the song, and Martin repeatedly declares that Saint Peter won't be calling his name.

 

But never mind the biblical nods. The song further reveals the Coldplay of "Viva La Vida" to be a hungrier, more challenging band. Indeed, as the song builds, strings disappear into a twittering of electronic atmospheres that bridge the verses.

 

Even the addition of church bells sound off just enough to not be corny. As the song comes to a close, a jaunty piano helps carry some background "whoa-whoas," and there's not a guitar in sight. Instead, "Viva La Vida" is a swift-moving minimalist orchestra.

 

*Subject to change

 

Photo courtesy Capitol Records

 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/extendedplay/2008/05/apple-gets-new.html

[Shawndorman]

it's going to be so refreshing to see Coldplay getting some GOOD press after so many of these critics have turned their backs on them as a result of X&Y.

[RunForTheHills]

Nice, its good that these songs are getting positive reviews this time around ;)

[Stefan8]

Hope we'll get some nice things to read in the near future about Coldplay :)

[Starlight]

Someone pinch me, a good review about Coldplay? :lol: :P

 

Can't wait to hear what Pitchfork has to say...:p

[RunForTheHills]

Someone pinch me, a good review about Coldplay? :lol: :P

 

Can't wait to hear what Pitchfork has to say...:p

Yeah, they seemed to be at loss for how they could insult Violet Hill, so lets hope this wins them over :D

[marianatsl]

has anyone heard it??

i loved the song... it should have been the release single instead of violet hill...

[Starlight]

Yeah, they seemed to be at loss for how they could insult Violet Hill, so lets hope this wins them over :D

 

I know, right? Well, they can suck it, because they didn't expect something like VLV!!! :lol:

[Mimixxx]

Critics are the only place Coldplay get a break these days, they're giving us the freshest, most promising new stuff they have in a long time (pre-X&Y sorry guys) and yet their fans are moaning it doesn't sound the same as everything else. :dozey:

[Saffire]

Yeah, they seemed to be at loss for how they could insult Violet Hill, so lets hope this wins them over :D

 

I hope Pitchfork pretends to hate it just because it's Coldplay, and everyone else loves it and it sells a billion copies. And Pitchfork's site drops to just 100 hits a day max because their reputation is shot. :D

[Shawndorman]

Critics are the only place Coldplay get a break these days, they're giving us the freshest, most promising new stuff they have in a long time (pre-X&Y sorry guys) and yet their fans are moaning it doesn't sound the same as everything else. :dozey:

 

haha, can't please everyone...I'm sure people complained when the Beatles went from Please Please Me and 'Love Me Do' to Revolver and 'Tomorrow Never Knows' (someone else mentioned Bob Dylan's switch to electric too...another great analogy). So far, Coldplay has managed to impress me with both Violet Hill and Viva La Vida (not a big fan of ASARY). I've fallen in love all over again and I can't wait to hear the rest!!!

[TraceOddity]

Critics are the only place Coldplay get a break these days, they're giving us the freshest, most promising new stuff they have in a long time (pre-X&Y sorry guys) and yet their fans are moaning it doesn't sound the same as everything else. :dozey:

 

Agreed.:)It's a real turnaround form last time. There's so much pissing and moaning going on because it's 'different'. After all the fans said 'I can't wait for the new direction', now many seem to think it sucks because it's not the Scientist! (Which I love, btw). I love the new songs, and even if they're not all what I hope, I'm happy for Coldplay because they're doing what They want as artists. We forget they're human beings and not machines churning out the greatest hits of 2000 again!

[rudiger10]

I love how Chris said that the album would make Coldplay "cool." total lie, BUT, VLV is a good song non-the-less and I anticipate a good album

[el_scorcho]

Nice to see a good review!

[Mimixxx]

Grading the iTunes Hits: David Cook, Rihanna, Coldplay

 

Coldplay: "Viva la Vida."

 

This whole Brian Eno thing might work out after all! The Eno who shows up behind the boards here is the Unforgettable Fire Eno, not, like, the Cluster Eno, thank God. And suddenly Coldplay feel ready to make something other than another sweetly trancey pop tinkler about feeling good or something (not that I was complaining about that stuff) and go for the whole ridiculously proggy fallen-king concept-song thing instead. It's fun to hear Chris Martin, still all mild-mannered falsetto, cooing about seeing the fear in his enemies' eyes, and it's even more better when all the delicately layered string-rondos explode into a bells-clanging, kettle-drums-baronging monster of a chorus. Maybe this gigantic splurge of a song says something about the self-defeating nature of absolute power, or maybe these goofballs are just thinking about how their titanically huge sound just isn't titanically huge enough and how they should make adjustments accordingly. Either way, I'm sold. 8.2

 

 

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/statusainthood/archives/2008/05/grading_the_itu_2.php

[winigwl]

coolio! go coldplay!

[RunForTheHills]

Nice! :dance:

 

A lot more people are liking this one. Violet Hill was a more love or hate type of thing, if people's opinions are anything to go by.

[ricardo]

8.2? that's bad... but well he liked it a little

[Mimixxx]

Why is it bad? It's the highest rating he gave on that blog :)

[Hangman522]

I feel like this song is a metaphor for the band after X&Y.

[RunForTheHills]

8.2 is a brilliant mark! Very few songs that I've heard get over 8/10 for me (not even Violet Hill, actually).

[ricardo]

Why is it bad? It's the highest rating he gave on that blog :)

oh so he considered the best song.... but I expected something higher

[winigwl]

I feel like this song is a metaphor for the band after X&Y.

 

interesting:thinking:

[RunForTheHills]

Coldplay - Violet Hill (Parlophone)

 

 

Mike Caulfield

26/ 5/2008

 

3 STARS ***

 

FOR a group so regularly accused of being boring they’re certainly never short of fanfare when they return.

 

Having first been made available free to download for a week from their own website - now known to every media platform as “doing a Radiohead”, Coldplay’s don’t-call-it-a-come-back return is said to have already reached two million peoples hard-drives.

 

Whilst those still buying the NME will no doubt have commandeered their parents’ turntable to spin their cover-mount 7” copy also.

 

‘Violet Hill’ thankfully finds the four-piece moving away from the lighters-in-the-air, cynical balladeering that made previous album ‘X & Y’ such an irritating listen, with Martin’s lyrical call of “when the futures architectured by a carnival of idiots on show” as worked up as we’ve seen him away from the paparazzi.

 

Though master sound manipulator Brian Eno’s contribution is hard to detect, as the four-piece take on an overall ambience familiar to Manchester’s own Elbow throughout - minus Guy Garvey’s unassuming charm.

 

Whilst it’s parent LP ‘Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends’ is likely to contain more arresting and immediate moments, as returns go it’s not bad.

Released on May 26

 

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/entertainment/music/single_reviews/s/1051192_coldplay__violet_hill_parlophone

[the_escapist]

maybe at the beggining it is a three stars song - but I have discovered that Violet Hill is such a grower - I bet this guy will come again on a month and give it five stars!!!

 

cheers!!!