First came U2 to argue that profundity is not a cardinal sin or character flaw in rock music-making: It's cool to be grandiose if you write good hooks, reports the Sun Sentinel.
Enter Coldplay, who have worked even harder than U2 at building up a musical language to express ambition of design and largeness of feeling. To that end, frontman Chris Martin and his three band mates have absorbed many of the acoustic and melodic strategies for communicating rock majesty. Sunday's sold-out Coldplay concert for 15,000 people at BankAtlantic Center was an exuberant demonstration of the best and worst of those tricks.
One moment Coldplay were swimming in orchestral sound as effortlessly as Pink Floyd; the next they were making whale noises. One moment they were rising impressively on spires of sound; the next they were arpeggiating like John Tesh.
It was a frustrating night to try and lose oneself completely in the spirit of vague uplift that Coldplay provides. They kept interrupting the sublime with the ridiculous.
In the former category was the mostly instrumental Chinese Sleep Chant, a not-quite-hidden coda to a song called Yes on the band's new CD, Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends. The rough atmospheric beauty of Chant's two droning chords recalled My Bloody Valentine -- music with a skin that is both luminous and bruised.
There were too many bruises on one of the new CD's riper title tracks, Death and All His Friends, which sounded like Yanni with lyrics.
In its quest to perfect slow-motion arena rock, Coldplay has absolutely turned out exceptional songs. Clocks and its younger, dressier sibling Speed of Sound set elegant keyboard lines to a skipping rhythm. Martin sang both in a voice that seems to get its somber weight from congestion. It's as if he can close his sinuses on command.
The rhythm section of Guy Berryman and Will Champion, on bass and drums, respectively, played with a hard-hitting punctuality that put them in good company. They're less like U2's Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr., and more like AC/DC's rock-steady tandem of Cliff Williams and Phil Rudd.
A good, unpretentious backbeat goes a long way. In Coldplay's case, it didn't redeem every watery power ballad or mushy anthem. But it helped the band make the best of its good work and get away with everything else.
More on this review here onwards.
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