June 10, 200818 yr From: http://winnipegsun.com/Entertainment/Music/2008/06/10/5827206-sun.html Viva Coldplay! Chris Martin & Co. breathe new life into their music with groundbreaking fourth album By DARRYL STERDAN "We reached the stage where we thought, 'We can't get much bigger, so we have to try and get better.' " So said Chris Martin on The Hour last week, explaining Coldplay's state of mind going into their fourth album. Well, lots of bands talk that talk. But these Brit-rockers actually walked the walk. They set up a rehearsal space/clubhouse to work casually and undisturbed. They brought in visionary producer/guru Brian Eno -- known for his work with U2 -- who reportedly made them switch instruments and jam every day to get their juices flowing. And most importantly, they tore up their rule book, slowly and painstakingly rebuilding their music from the ground up. It shows. On Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, Coldplay isn't just better; the band is the best it's ever been. And the most original. On these 10 songs, the band -- Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berriman and drummer Will Champion -- dispense with cliches and go with their guts. Big choruses and crescendos are few and far between. Songs flow organically, often shifting in midstream. Guitars and drums are swapped for strings and Middle Eastern percussion. Martin's swooning falsetto is deployed sparingly. And his big-picture lyrics -- which juxtapose life and death, rags and riches, right and wrong, love and revolution -- are poetic and less personal (not to mention far less wussy). Striking early singles such as Violet Hill and Viva la Vida hinted at the greatness. The full album -- which hits stores next Tuesday but is already streaming on the band's MySpace page after leaking all over the Internet -- confirms it. Maybe that's why their label EMI is reportedly counting on the CD to single-handedly fill their drained coffers. Maybe they're right; Viva la Vida is the biggest-selling pre-order in iTunes history, and the subsequent tour is guaranteed to be one of the year's hottest tickets. Looks like Martin was wrong. They can get bigger after all. It got 4.5 out of 5 stars, and there's a track by track analysis here
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