Coldplay: 'Viva La Vida'

 

Released on Thursday, June 12 2008

 

By Alex Fletcher, Entertainment Reporter

Coldplay: 'Viva La Vida'

 

It's been a while since being a Coldplay fan was considered "cool". Chris Martin admitted as much earlier this year, telling the world he wanted the band's fourth album to make it "OK for a 16-year-old to say they like Coldplay in the playground". What is it about the band that provokes sneers from school bullies and music critics alike? Inverted snobbery prompted by their university educations? Chris's all-too-perfect marriage to Gwynnie? Or could it be their openness about wanting to be The Next U2?

 

To be honest, it's probably a sum of all those things, but the band's messy, overblown third album, X&Y, didn't help matters. After turning themselves into major league stars with their majestic sophomore effort, A Rush Of Blood To The Head, Coldplay seemed to start believing their own hype. Many tracks on X&Y tried too hard to tug at the world's heartstrings, resulting in a band that sounded cold and vacuous.

 

Thankfully, somebody's whispered some wise words in their ears since then because their follow-up, Viva La Vida, is their most accomplished work to date. It's out the window with verse-chorus-verse predictability and dreary lighter-waving ballads and in with, well, all sorts! The kitchen sink stadium rock of X&Y has been replaced by something far more colourful, subtle and, dare we say it, occasionally rather fun.

 

A prime example is 'Strawberry Swing', whose gorgeous, breezy melody sounds like it's been baked for hours in the African sun. The title track, meanwhile, with its jerky synth-string hook and triumphant vocals, should conquer radio playlists with the same ease as 'Yellow' and 'The Scientist'. When Coldplay do crank things up a notch, they do so with restraint and a newfound lightness of touch - presumably learned from Eno. The final track, 'Death And All His Friends', is a case in point. What could easily have been a soppy piano-driven whimper blossoms into a funky, clattering, fist-pumping finale that's a million miles from the unconvincing rock bluster of old.

 

Of course, there are a few moments where Coldplay veer towards their drizzly, yawn-inducing worst. 'Lost' is too obviously designed for a Wembley sing-a-long to be enjoyed fully, while 'Lovers In Japan' finds Martin scraping the lyrical barrel ("Runners, until the race is run, soldiers you've got to soldier on"). However, it's easy to forgive these mishaps when they're surrounded by dalliances into more intriguing waters, such as the screeching guitars and muffled falsetto of hidden track 'Chinese Sleep Chant'.

 

The album's centre-piece and most thrilling moment comes on '42', a song in four parts. It begins with Martin, sat at his piano, warbling about dead people in his head, before jerking into life with some Radiohead-style zigzagging guitars. Then, as if by magic, it morphs into a melodic pop gem, before finally returning to the haunting tremble of the intro. The result is an astounding tour de force that shows off Coldplay's best skill: the ability to merge chest-beating anthemic indie with a leftfield musical template.

 

Coldplay may never recover the innocence of their early EPs and debut album Parachutes, or outdo the commercial successes of X&Y and Rush of Blood, but if you like your stadium rock with a bit of fire in its belly, Viva probably tops the lot.

 

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a99652/coldplay-viva-la-vida.html

 

So, do you agree? Is Lost! a loser? And is it their best album to date?

 

(Apologies if already posted, I did search but can't find it).

i goot kinda agree with that...i mean i like lost...but theres something that i dont think is right...but its a good never the less

Yes and yes... Although Lost? is good, Lost! is growing old fast

See, I disagree, I love Lost! It's probably 2nd favourite behind Yes, which didn't even get a mention. And third would be 42, which I would say is good, but far from the masterpiece that it's described as by the interviewer :)

Yeah, I agree with you on the 42 thing. I like that the reviewer brought up SS. Love that song.

I love Lost! Even if it is designed to fill stadiums.

 

Good review otherwise though :D