COLDPLAY: VIVA LA VIDA

[rating:3]

Coldplay: Viva La Vida

Label: Capitol

Release Date: June 17, 2008

VIVA LA VIDA OR DEATH AND ALL HIS FRIENDS:
OK let me start by saying I have always been a huge fan of Coldplay. It might not be the most popular thing to say; but it’s true. The first time I heard the new single “Violet Hill” I was driving up the PCH in Santa Monica towards Malibu and I absolutely loved it. It is in keeping with their style but a genuine evolution of their sound at the same time. From the very beginning this album takes a different direction from the band’s previous works. The track “Lost” offers up an almost programmed drum section while a lush Hammond b-3 organ matched with wide open U2 esque guitar playing sends the band in to a more rock / arena rock landscape. While tracks like “42” offer up an interpretation of the band that is far more in the experimental Radiohead esque direction. Songs like “Yes” find the band going in a familiar direction but again incorporating a variety of instruments and sounds not typically associated with Coldplay even going in to middle eastern type strings; which I must say feel really out of place and forced. “Viva La Vida” has the same issue to me. Yes it’s an itunes commercial; but the lyrics and the strings really just feel forced and unnecessarily over the top. As a Coldplay fan from many albums ago; one of the things I have always appreciated about the band was the simplicity of the songs. That concept seems to have been lost throughout the majority of this album in favor of trying to push boundaries and be something different from what they are. It’s great to experiment; but a great band knows what they are good at and that’s what makes a career. Being able to accept your limitations, perfect what you were already great at and expand to reachable goals that keep fans coming back for more. Overall that last sentence surmises my issues with this album. It is absolutely top heavy and has moments of the Coldplay brilliance that true fans have come to love; but over all this feels like a forced reach by the band to challenge listeners to see that they are capable of more than what we have come to expect. Unfortunately they are not. The album in many places is just as pretentious as the title. But if you can forgo the skipable tracks; there are some good keeps here. I struggle to determine what the next single will be; probably the title track “Viva La Vida” which is too bad; because it annoys me.

Anderson van Luftsworth