Coldplay: Viva La Vida

Elly Roberts reviews

Coldplay: Viva La VidaDistributed by
Parlophone

• Released: June 2008
• Rating: 4/10
• Vote and comment on this album:

---

For some of us, Coldplay have turned into the band we ‘love to hate’.

Popularity and success maybe? No, I think it’s a lot more than that. Somethingto do with blandness I believe.

Some three years ago, after a bashing from the US press, principally, they decidedto take a long break, with a view to re-inventing their music. So now we getViva La Vida, subtitled Death And All His Friends. Grand eh?

Just like the CD artwork of Eugene Delacroix’s masterpiece Liberty Leading ThePeople (1830). Pity the album doesn’t have all the same trappings. Ultimately,Viva La Vida is a tad pretentious. It’s as if they’ve gone out of their wayto make a change, for change’s sake, and a drastic one at that.

Much was expected of their fourth, and for, me their difficult album. In truth,this is a transitional period for Coldplay, and we knew it would be afterX&Y’s panning.

There was never any doubt that it would zoom to the top of the UK charts in thefirst week, with Play.com getting its biggest pre-orders ever, with copiesbeing sold at one per minute. Viva La Vida (to us ‘Long Live Life’) is arather confusing sort of album. The LP artwork is a starting point. The paintingby French artist Eugene Delacroix is called People Leading The People.

---

The LP title is from another painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Confused?Me too. Then we get word that the starting point for the music is from anearly Blur song ‘Sing’. Ok, we get the picture – running out of ideas? Thereare also musical reference points such as Radiohead, Arcade Fire, My BloodyValentine, Tinariwen, and yes, even Pink Floyd. On the latter, they’re surelydeluded.

So keen to impress, they elected to experiment with different sounds, such astaking acoustic guitars into churches in Spain and Latin America, trying toassimilate a Hispanic feel, but not sound. Confused again? Me too. So, we canassume that this isn’t Coldplay actually being, well, Coldplay. A bit of a‘steal’ maybe?

There is a very grand and opulent beginning – Life In Technicolour, whichthe credits tell us uses a large sample of Light Through The Veinsby Jon Hopkins, who provides additional production. To their credit though,they have brought a new sense of adventure, even if it’s sort of indirectly forcedupon them. We don’t get anything as direct as the superb Clocks or Fix You, as this is far more expansive, if in a contrived way.

One thing hasn’t changed, well only a little, is Chris Martin’s register, even if he tries to hide his often nauseating falsetto. So the reinvention is almostcomplete, almost. Instead of Martin’s piano as a feature we’ve got new percussivestylings characterised on Life In and Cemeteries, all of coursegeared (brilliantly) for their forthcoming ‘arena’ world tour. If fact, thesetwo could be a U2 track with Buckland doing sterling Edge-like jangly riffs.It may also be something to do with Brian Eno’s association with, er, U2.

Snippets of the past emerged right at the end where Martin can’t resist someivory tinkles. Lost! (appropriate me thinks at this point) is equallybig on handclaps and organ, chugging along at a cool pace. Maybe those churcheshad some influence too. Messy 42 could have been left out as it’s that percussiveformula returning on a drab track, and oh, the piano’s back, whereas Lover In Japanhas, (here we go again), U2 arena riffs and soaring chorus.

---

Of all the tracks, Yes has something near Coldplay originality with sweepingEastern flavours, though it never builds into anything significant or awesomelike Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir. The title track is a whopper, soundinglike Coldplay of old, with new bits, surely the work of Eno. Single Violet Hill(which is near Abbey Road) lends itself to a Beatles rhythm, and the band’sfirst anti-war protest song, hasn’t done much in the UK charts either, peakingat #8, not going to #1 in any of the significant world charts.

The album’s serious low point is the disastrously muddled, and appropriately titledcloser Death And All His Friends.

Despite all the apparent adventure, and expectation, Viva La Vida doesnot totally deliver the goods. Shame.

File under: Good in bits. Not enough of them.

Weblink:coldplay.com

---

The full list of tracks included are :

1. Life In Technicolour
2. Cemeteries Of London
3. Lost!
4. 42
5. Lovers In Japan / Reign Of Love
6. Yes
7. Viva La Vida
8. Violet Hill
9. Strawberry Swing
10. Death And All His Friends

[Up to the top of this page]