If first impressions are everything, then consider "Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends" a CD your boom box will absolutely be in love with when it's released next month.
From the eye-popping Eugène Delacroix cover art to the pleading synth-piano of the disc's closing hidden track - "The Escapist" - Coldplay have assembled another existentialist page-turner. Like every other Coldplay record, "Viva la Vida" flits between soaring U2-like guitar riffs and slick power ballads, full of frontman Chris Martin's unafraid questioning. Yet, thanks to avant-garde producer Brian Eno, all of it sounds like something they've never done before.
"Yes" and "Strawberry Swing" saddle country swagger to the band's anthemic vibe, while cascading keys and pulsating drums delineate "Lovers in Japan" the disc's de facto stadium dancer. "42" starts as a straight ballad before brawny lines of the "Speed of Sound"-variety intercede.
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