Coldplay - Prospekt’s March EP Review

 

 

Looking back at 2008’s major releases, it is safe to say that British rockers Coldplay had one of the biggest albums of the year with “Viva La Vida.” The album has the most paid download sales of all time, and it generally received favorable reviews. They had one of the most memorable iPod commercials in recent memory that got everyone back aboard the Coldplay bandwagon once again. Coldplay were never strangers to success, but with “Viva La Vida” it became cool to like Coldplay once again. Well, as long as you haven’t seen the 40 Year Old Virgin!

 

After the great success of their 4th studio album “Viva La Vida” they decided to release an EP entitled “Prospekt’s March.” The release comes directly off the success of Viva La Vida, with the band hoping to carry the momentum just a little bit further.

 

The EP is a combination of leftovers from the “Viva La Vida” recording sessions, and remixes of other tracks. First off is “Life in Technicolor II” a sequel in sorts of Viva La Vida’s atmospheric album opener. Chris Martin and company added lyrics and a big Coldplay chorus to give another spin to the already pleasurable song. It isn’t anything spectacular, but at least now our curiosity of what the song would song like with lyrics is over. There is a simple but pleasant piano piece called “Postcards from Far Away” that didn’t seem to have any point but to fill up the track listing and provide some leeway into the EP’s best track: “Glass of Water.” It is a song that would fill up any arena with its powerful soaring guitars. “Rainy Day” features beautiful string arrangements that would make Vampire Weekend proud, along with sliding guitars and other world-influences that provide an engaging listen.

 

“Prospekts March/Poppyfields” and “Now My Feet Won’t Touch the Ground” are both ballads with acoustic guitars that could have been beautiful songs but they have no real build up. While listening you can’t help but think that the tracks are missing something extra. This is a familiar trend throughout the second half of the EP. Things like the “Lovers in Japan (Osaka Sun Mix)” did nothing for me. I honestly did not notice a significant difference from the original version that made it worth my time.

 

However, the Lost remix featuring Jay-Z is a breath of fresh air. “Lost” is one of “Viva La Vida’s” shining moments, it would be hard to mess a track this good up. Jay-Z gives it an extra boost with some hip-hop flavor that combines the best of both worlds. It is amazing to see a rapper like Jay-Z collaborate with a band like Coldplay so effortlessly.

 

The reason Viva La Vida was a special Coldplay album is because they added something new to their sound. The acoustic tracks were nothing different for the band, and quite frankly they were a let down. It was too safe. That seems to be the problem that people find with Coldplay. They have huge ambitions and are clearly great musicians with a fantastic sense of melody. Yet they stick to a similar formula even when their style changes.

 

In today’s music world it is pretty hard to have a successful selling album. It is no surprise that they are trying to keep their popularity running with another release. The EP is not a complete letdown with a few keepers here and there making the release worth a purchase if you are a diehard fan. The rest of the tracks are not bad by any means, but it is clear as to why they were left out of the album and instead are seen on this EP.

 

http://prettymuchamazing.com/

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Obviously this guy doesn't know about anything either...

The Coldplay Conspiracy

 

I don’t write about music often, but in this case, I can’t resist. Perhaps if I write about it, I won’t think about it as much. Here goes:

 

Coldplay’s new EP, “Prospekt’s March,” is great, but…I don’t believe the assertion that the material wasn’t ready or was too edgy to be on “Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends.” I don’t buy it. I can’t. You shouldn’t either. Why? Well…let’s start by listening to the album and the EP thoroughly. If you haven’t, do so, then continue reading below.

 

If you are familiar with the album and the EP as I am, you will, undoubtedly, have noticed some musical similarities between the songs found on each. There are musical ideas which are borrowed and interspersed throughout. Coincidence? No. Un-creative band? Not likely. What assertion am I making?

 

My assertion is simple: most/all the material found on both the album and the EP was meant, originally, artistically, to function together as one album. If I am correct, why, then, did they break it up? I welcome your ideas. Let me give you some examples from the album.

 

“Life in Technicolor II,” please. The title says it all. What should have happened, in my conception, is that the album opens properly with the fade in of the electronic Brian Eno bit, but then kicks into the hammered dulcimer riff, which, then should be properly followed by the “Technicolor II” lyrics. These two, then, are also, in my mind, meant to connect with “Strawberry Swing,” which, as a track, makes no sense in it’s album placement, key, or subject matter without the Technicolor amalgam-um.

 

“Glass of Water,” easily the most kickin’ song on the EP, towards the end has a mellower piano bit that reduces lower and lower dynamically. This is undoubtedly, in my mind, connected to the piano bit found on the album at the end of the “Lovers in Japan” track. Whether meant to serve as an intro or outro, I can’t tell. But the connection is there with tempo and key signature, not to mention rolling piano feel.

 

“Rainy Day,” need I even bring this one up? Listen to the track and tell me if you don’t here the strings gearing up for “Viva La Vida” from the album. It’s almost as though “Rainy Day” is preparing the way for the “Viva La Vida” track. Seriously. Gives me chills.

 

“Prospekts March/Poppyfields,” has the sensation that it should lead directly into “Violet Hill.” I discern that from the feel, and from the subject matter. Also, dynamically, it would make sense to tell the story that “Poppyfields” does, then to tell of “Violet Hill.”

 

OK….

 

What you have been reading has all been thought of and written from the framework that the album is supposed to function as a whole. Granted, Coldplay has said they didn’t like “X&Y,” I enjoyed it very much. Furthermore, one of the principles they highlighted in the making of “X&Y” was it’s stream-lined nature. Granted, all albums are different, and artists/bands can, and do, grow. I am all for growth. I simply can’t escape from the notion that all the material Coldplay has made available from these sessions and project should be interconnected, and not so disjointed the way a record company would have it. I feel that the band Coldplay had a vision and, was interfered with by the company in an age of singles and hits, rather than albums, messages, and works of art as whole.

 

Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but I think not. I believe I have cited overwhelming “mass-mover” musical evidence that seems to suggest an evolving record rather than one that arrives by osmosis song-to-song. No offense, but I love them both. Cheers.

 

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Treblezine review's Prospekt's March

 

http://treblezine.com/reviews/2948-Coldplay_Prospekt_s_March_EP.html

 

Coldplay

Prospekt's March

Capitol

2008

 

Since I was the Trebbler who wrote about Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, I think it's fitting that yours truly should be the one who reviews Prospekt's March. Think of this EP as Coldplay's version of Radiohead's bonus In Rainbows disc that was released in that extremely expensive box set that has inexplicably yet to be released on its own. (C'mon Thom, you could learn a little from Chris Martin and his boys, release that bonus disc as an EP already!)

 

If you're one of the few that has yet to purchase the magnificent Viva La Vida, however, you can pick up a special edition with Prospekt's March added as a bonus disc. It's also available as an EP by itself. Listening to Prospekt's March and thinking back about Martin's comment about retiring after Coldplay's world tour, I can only conclude that it's a mistake. Hearing Viva La Vida and Prospekt, I feel like Coldplay have yet to cement their name and sound in the stratosphere of The Beatles or Radiohead. They are on the verge of the mountain peak that is eternal greatness timeless status, so why give up now? I have a feeling that their next album, if it ever gets made, is going to be legendary.

 

Okay, maybe the Jay-Z flavored Lost mix isn't exactly what I'm talking about, I could have done without that track, but the rest of Prospekt's March is worthy of inclusion in Viva La Vida. The debate will begin just like with In Rainbows, as to whether or not Coldplay should have added songs like "Glass of Water" and "Prospekt's March/Poppyfields" to their full-length effort. I say `hell yeah,' but I'm the type of musicologist who believes that the greater the number of songs available, the more fulfilling it is for my rhythmic soul. Think about The Beatles' White Album, what if they would have pared down the songs to one single album? It works as a masterpiece, albeit an imperfect one.

 

Since it's so brief, Prospekt feels like a coda to Viva La Vida. For those of us who didn't want the musical journey to end after "The Escapist," we get more from those sessions produced brilliantly by Brian Eno. I love the way that "Rainy Day" starts with some post-modern noisy rhythms and flows into some soothing strings in the chorus. It's a hopeful soundtrack to yr wet and dreary days. Even the title track sounds like a more optimistic version of "A Rush of Blood to the Head." I simply have fallen for the wall of sound remix of "Lovers in Japan." It sounds like an ode to romantics around the globe. I discovered an aura of positivism that shines throughout the lyrics and sound of Prospekt's March.

 

I feel like songs like the lyrical version of "Life in Technicolor," the acoustic beauty of "Now my Feet Won't Touch the Ground" and even the piano interlude of "Postcards from Far Away" would have made Viva La Vida an even more memorable album. Prospekt's March is a bold statement from Coldplay it continues all of the themes and sounds they started with Eno's on Viva La Vida. Prospekt's March and Viva La Vida mark the year when Coldplay became more than a multi-platinum band. Berryman, Buckland, Champion and Martin are on the verge of a magnum opus that has the potential of injecting a much needed post modern artfulness into the rhyme-less direction that is contemporary pop music. Don't give up; we need Coldplay now more than ever.

 

Adrian Ernesto Cepeda

12.05.2008

Thats the most positive review I have heard so far. Very well writen.

Coldplay - Prospekt's March

 

 

Coldplay - Prospekt's March

Record Label: Capitol

Release Date: November 21, 2008

 

Author's Rating

Vocals 8.25

Musicianship 8.25

Lyrics 7.5

Production 9

Creativity 8

Lasting Value 7

Reviewer Tilt 9

 

Final Verdict: 81%

 

If there was a book called, Critiquing Music for Dummies, somewhere inside would be a passage about how you must hate Coldplay and anything they put out. In fact, giving Coldplay poor reviews has been a growing trend over the years. The band's latest LP Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends changed that quite a bit. While it was far from their Joshua Tree, Viva La Vida was a solid album that had the band heading in the right direction.

 

Only 5 short months later, the most legally downloaded album of all time has yet to fade away. Despite this, Coldplay still decided to release their latest effort, Prospekt's March. The EP contains 8 tracks, including 6 brand new songs from the Viva La Vida sessions last year. The remaining tracks are "Lost +", and "Lovers in Japan (Osaka Sun Mix)". The first is the original "Lost!" as we know it with a perfect hint of Jay-Z during the bridge. "Lovers in Japan (Osaka Sun Mix)" is also very much like the original, except it is no longer attached to "Reign of Love," and contains slight differences in vocal harmonies.

 

Chis Martin described the new material on the EP as tracks that the band was "shy about putting out."

 

Wtf, mate?

 

These songs should have seen the light of day back in June.

 

The EP opens up much like Viva La Vida did. The familiar "Life In Technicolor" sets the tone, but picking up right with the guitar riff and avoiding the 50 seconds of synth. Oh yea, and they added vocals. Damn good, vocals. Martin's voice shines as he sings, "Love, don't let me go/ Won't you take me where the streetlights glow?" and leads us into the familiar lyric, "Now my feet won't touch the ground." The song closes like it did on Viva La Vida, with those stadium-sized "Oooh's."

 

For those of you that think Martin forgot how to man the piano, the next minute or so is for you. "Postcards From Far Away" is nothing more than a short piano interlude, but it's soft feel sets you up for the heaviest Coldplay track in ages. On "Glass Of Water" the boys give us hard-hitting guitar, complemented by some of Martin's famous falsetto. Somehow, they manage to mix in their best Muse impression and package it into something that fits in with the rest of their material.

 

"Rainy Day" seems to be Coldplay's most experimental track since "Yes/Chinese Sleep Chant." The opening has a tropical, Donkey Kong/Crash Bandicoot feel. The song continues on this funky trail until the return of Coldplay's new favorite friend - strings. This track is the one that requires the most patience for a typical Coldplay fan, but after a few listens it is easily my favorite, with subtle influence from The Beatles' "Rain."

 

After X&Y and Viva La Vida, the one knock on Coldplay was that they became too comfortable with "stadium rock". Most fans have been longing for that Parachutes sound ever since. The final two new tracks give us the closest thing to vintage Coldplay we've had in a long time. When "Prospekt's March" opened, I really thought I was listening to Parachutes. The song eventually picks up, and not in a bad way...at all. It almost has a slight "Weird Fishes" feel to it as Chris Martin sings, "Now here I lie/ On my own in a separate sky". "Now My Feet Won't Touch The Ground" sounds much like the acoustic tracks on X&Y{/I] but much more polished. Martin's favorite new lyric is a fitting end to the EP and the Viva La Vida story.

 

http://absolutepunk.net