Album Review - Coldplay

Coldplay

Viva La Vida or Death and All his Friends

2008 Capital/EMI Records

Grade: A

GPA (based on buyer ratings from Amazon.com): 3.6

By: Brent Owen

I am secure enough in my manhood to openly admit that I really enjoy Coldplay and I always have really. Admittedly, in my mind they peaked with their 2002 opus A Rush of Blood to the Head, but that doesn’t mean I don’t continue to eagerly anticipate each pending effort with baited breath. Alas here we have it, the much anticipated Viva La Vida or Death and All his Friends. I’m glad to hardily say that: happily that this eclipses their mediocre (at best) 2005 release X&Y, a record that contained only a handful of decent songs and one of which was a hidden track tacked on to the end of the album.

But alas, with the help of the incomparable producer Brian Eno, Coldplay has returned to the looser, more urgent sound of their earlier releases. While X&Y felt polished with a thick coat veneer over each an every note, Viva La Vida feels slightly less controlled…in a good way. As if around any corner one might hear a skipped beat or a wrong note and even if such imperfections never pop up, it’s just nice to think that they might. Now the band certainly doesn’t feel as unhinged and raw as it did on A Rush… but it seems like a nice swing back toward that unfettered direction.

Chris Martin’s voice also seems much more impassioned than it did throughout most of the X&Y snooze-fest. He sounds vibrant, excited, and jovial – not forlorn, miserable, and weary as he did last time around. And his signature piano playing has returned after briefly being replaced by churning keyboards and generic synthesizers. It’s neat to hear a band experiment as they did last time out, but it’s even better to hear them return to what they’re best at once said experiment unmistakably fails.

Lyrically Martin seems to have also returned to the poignant simplicity that he trademarked on the band’s first two albums. “42” is absolutely a highlight, here Martin sings effectively: “For those who are dead, I’m not dead; I’m just living in my head”. And on the chorus he almost taunts his own ghosts when he sings: “You didn’t get to heaven but you made it close”. Then there is a song like “Reign of Love” where Martin’s voice sings with a sad fervor such effortless lyrics as: “Oh, I wish you had spoken up”. This moment of vulnerability hits almost as hard as when he sang the equally straightforward but compelling lyrics: “Take me back to the start” in the band’s classic song “The Scientist”.

While a lot of this album is a return to what the band does best, the swirling guitars on a song like “Yes” shows a band that is still not afraid to experiment outside their comfort zone. In fact this record generally focuses more on the band as a cohesive unit more than any of their previous efforts – Martin is not necessarily on full display from beginning to end here. Sometimes it takes a record like this to be reminded us of how talented each member of the band really is; and that the success or failure of the band does not rely on the most recognizable member, alone.

Eno has perfectly rubbed away some of the polish while still allowing one of the biggest bands in the world to make an appropriately grandiose album. It’s a difficult balance that in lesser hands could have failed. In fact in the Coldplay’s catalogue I have to say that Viva La Vida is second only to the untouchable A Rush of Blood to the Head. For the first time I see the band truly proclaiming itself as an honest musical alliance where everyone’s contribution is an integral part. With Viva La Vida, Coldplay has finally reached the stratosphere where they can justifiably be placed next to other beloved Brit-outfits like The Cure, Radiohead, and The Smiths. Those are bold words, I know; but I have faith in Chris Martin and his comrades.

Previous Albums:

X&Y (2005)

Live 2003 (2003)

A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002)

Parachutes (2000)