Upfront album review from Coldplay Viva la Vida
August 19, 2008
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Coldplay = are a heavily mocked and derided band but do not forget that in 2000 - = the year of manufactured pop, they were a breath of fresh = air.
Come 2002, and the band=92s sophomore album had them = refine the techniques hinted at with their debut =91Parachutes=92. Some = listeners were already noticing a certain drippiness oozing its way into = the songs, but all in all,=A0 =91A Rush of Blood to the Head=92 felt = decent.
=A0The trouble began in earnest with 2005=92s X & = Y. Looking back, it was a heavily dull album and Chris Martin=92s = maudlin lyrics sounded worse than ever. The band stretched a set of = conservative songs way too far and the result was a bunch of = overproduced and over-baked tracks. It may not have hurt their = popularity, but it did give them a reputation for making mind nullifying = music.
So taking all of this into consideration, Coldplay = were indeed in need of a rethink, and Martin did well to freshen things = up through producer Brian Eno.
Eno does indeed leave his = mark on Viva. The first thing one notices on opening instrumental =91Life = in Technicolour,=92 is the band’s new organic sound. There is a new = feeling of space=A0 instead of the aural clutter of the past. This is = further exemplified by Cemeteries of London which floats in a fresh,=A0 = new vibe, even though in essence, there’s nothing particularly = innovative.
Essentially, this is what keeps me from praising the = album and classifying it as a bona-fide return to form. There is still = that certain conservatism - they did not go all out, as U2 and James = (and many others) did when Eno produced their work.
=A0This = restraint keeps Coldplay within their own boundaries, and the = interesting parts rub shoulders with too many eye = closers.
Which is not to say that the = album is a failure. There are a good number of tracks which rank as some = of Coldplay=92s best efforts to date (The title track =96 Viva la Vida, = the second part of the title track =96 Death and all his Friends, Lost!, = 42). Additionally, Martin=92s lyrics have improved = greatly.
Yet, Viva is not a stand-out album but a good, = competent one. It is the sound of a band which knows how to asses weak = points and come-back stronger and better. With these qualities, the band = should be here for long and sooner or later, they may well surprise = us.
Rating: 3.5/5
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