Official review of Viva la Vida

http://www.patrolmag.com/index.php?id=461

 

Staff reviews of Viva la Vida

http://www.patrolmag.com/index.php?id=462

 

Chris Martin, Zen Maestro: Why Viva La Vida might be Coldplay's treatise on Buddhism.

http://www.patrolmag.com/index.php?id=463

 

[thanks David Sessions]

 

Coldplay

Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends

[Capitol; 2008]

7.0/10

 

There are a number of ways to mishandle a new Coldplay album. Particularly this Coldplay album, the second to be widely linked to EMI’s financial welfare. In all sectors of society, from business to technology to the arts, Viva la Vida has managed to whip the pre-release frenzy to a pitch even more feverish than three years ago, the last time we spent the month of May in agonized anticipation.

 

One extreme would be the cynical approach lately fashionable in worldwide criticdom’s handling of Coldplay—absurdly close-minded condescension that retrospectively denies Coldplay any artistic merit, deliberately misreads Chris Martin both as an artist and a human being, and recognizes the band’s strengths only in quotations—that is, with abundant eye-rolling and qualification. The other would be a fan’s indulgence, blathering on much longer than this material deserves in hope of exegeting every possible thread of brilliance but really only deluding oneself as to its depth and ultimate significance.

 

Neither easily dismissible or instantly brilliant, Viva la Vida is precisely the record most Coldplay experts probably forecasted. It is a carefully-considered response to the charges leveled against 2005’s X&Y (which remains one of the most unfairly mocked records of this decade). As hyperbolic and persnickety as the criticisms have been, emotional, reactionary Chris Martin must have at some point begun believing them and, in true by-the-numbers Coldplay fashion, decided to answer the allegation that he’s too by-the-numbers. The only trouble is that Coldplay’s symmetry is more an asset than a liability—the band has always excelled at endowing traditional, building-block songs with passion and perfectionist beauty. Stripped of this core value, they at times meander along the path of directionless imagery and only pretend to experiment.

 

As always, there is enough melody to distract from the half-done ideas, and enough truly enjoyable pieces to ensure Coldplay a position of continued domination. With its ballsy abandonment of rock instruments, the title track is the most polished, wholly envisioned piece on Vida; it’s also one of Martin’s finest tunes, a sterling reminder of how good the guy can be at plotting intervals. The soaring, looping dulcimer intro “Life in Technicolour” is just the sort of takeoff one would expect, but it is impossible to deny its shimmering appeal. “42” is the record’s first attempt at a curveball, a subdued piano ballad turned “The National Anthem Lite.” Its marginally heavy rock breakdown and stratospheric second movement, in which Martin yells “you didn’t get to heaven but you made it close!”, is the stuff of today’s delicious pleasure if not the annals of history.

 

“Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love,” on the other hand, is a hollow anthem that encapsulates Vida’s grander problem: its “colors,” as Chris Martin likes to call them—things like the French revolution, Technicolor, death and strawberries—are all staging and costume, with no part whatsoever to play in the plot. “Lovers In Japan” isn’t about lovers or Japan, and its abundant Martinisms (“soldiers, you’ve got to soldier on”) are not salvaged by their lofty, dulcimer-saturated (and blatantly Eno) accompaniment.

 

Other tracks defy endorsement or repudiation, deepening the impression that Coldplay have made a decent record that doesn’t fit together as well as it could. “Lost!”, which pours waves of organ over hand-claps and a percussion line that resembles a mechanically malfunctioning engine, engages on some plays, while on others seems to openly long for its rightful place on the X&Y track list. (Also, the piano-only version is a good deal more heartfelt and less plodding). “Yes,” while flashing some impressive intro bars of razor-sharp acoustic guitar and a great sliding-bass riff, at times seems in painful need of a chorus; other times seems complete with Martin’s throaty baritone agonizing its way through sensual dilemmas (“We were dying of frustration/Saying Lord lead me not into temptation/But it’s not easy when she turns you on.”)

 

When everything is said and done, we all know Coldplay are the ultimate crowd pleasers, and want nothing more than for their music to make people happy. They’re at their best when they thumb their noses at the critics and write pieces like “Fix You,” which Martin rightfully says is “not poetic” and is one of his band’s finest moments. But inspired songs like “Viva la Vida” demand a recognition of the quality that is present in this set of tracks, however we would like to see them better serving a coherent vision. Lesson for critics: this is what happens when you turn up your noses at a schmaltzy-but-spectacular album like X&Y, one that stayed on message “from the top of the first page to the end of the last day.” Lesson for Coldplay: this is what happens when your self-esteem rides the finicky tides of critical approval, and when your hurry to fight back deprives your rebellion of a cause.

its a great review!

 

but anyway Coldplay needs to come up with other band bashing with harsh words like some others are doing now.

 

especially they need to focus on who ever that attacked them unnecessarily till now.

 

and all the members especially Chris must do it, if not the people will take them easy and take advantage over us.

great review, as always

I really enjoyed this review, a nice well rounded opinion void of the low blows I'm used to. And in some respects I agree with his criticism, they've always had a way of saying or playing something that would seem simple at first glance, yet they manage to make it majestic. I hope they never lose that just to make some puffed up critic happy.

that was a great review! we shall overcome. :thumbsup: