Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends (2008)

By Sean Lynch

Coldplay Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends Tracks 1. Life in Technicolor 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

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It must be a strange world in which Coldplay live in - or more to the point Chris Martin. 

On one hand, every album, single or collaboration will always be unfairly compared to "Parachutes" or "Rush of Blood To The Head". At the same time, every album, single or collaboration will be unfairly over-praised for exactly the same reasons.

So what becomes of "Viva La Vida" (or, if we are getting all technical "Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends"), the fourth major offering from arguably the world's biggest band?

From the get go, it is under a phenomenal amount of pressure both creatively and commercially. How do you follow up an album like "X & Y"? An album which was the quickest selling album ever, but critically... kind of crap when compared to it's predecessors.

The first two singles released prior to the album hitting stores were, in short, brilliant. Violet Hill was filled with the advanced and polished production of "X & Y", yet was helped along by the soothing innocence typical on "Parachutes" at the very end - making it one of the most consistent Coldplay songs in years.

Viva La Vida, too, works a treat - showing positive signs of change and advancement while still "being Coldplay".

But enough of what we know, what about the stuff we don't know....

Chris Martin has long been heading in the direction of Irish icon Bono, but sadly, it seems he is fast becoming the "Weird Bono" - not the "Rock Star Bono". 

So yeah, there are more than a few new influences here. Most notably the Chinese Sleep Chant meshed into Yes (it seems he's been listening to "American Idiot" lately, because there are quite a few songs-within-songs a la Green Day on offer).

Cemeteries of London borrows from House of the Rising Sun, while there is more than a healthy dose of Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel-inspired material spread throughout. However, while many of the songs grow on you, by and large "Viva La Vida" seems to suffer the same fate of "X & Y" in that too many songs are very middle-of-the-road.

Lost and 42 seem to suffer that fate. There is no real heart to them. There is none of the sincerity and raw vulnerability that made Coldplay's early work so brilliant. 

The layered vocals of Martin (which were the main problem on "X & Y") really set things back. The only time that classic Coldplay sound - where you can hear the honesty in his voice - is given the chance to shine is during Death and All His Friends and the aforementioned Violet Hill.

There are a few more risks taken this time around with some new sounds - and there are more than a couple of tracks that really benefit from it. Lovers In Japan and the early parts of Yes are quirky treats for the eardrums but are by no means classics, while Life In Technicolour is a welcome musical interlude.

While it may be a little too early to truly give a definitive opinion on "Viva La Vida", it must be said that my early impressions are similar to the ones I had of "X & Y". A sense of something missing. 

"Parachutes" and "Rush of Blood" were albums that jumped out at you immediately - with songs that were so heart breakingly familiar, personal and ultimately wondrous.

"Viva La Vida" seems to feel like it's keeping the listener at arms length.

Don't get me wrong, it's great to have Coldplay back (and let's face it, a bad Coldplay album is 50 times better than some of the offerings in the last five years), and no doubt this album will spin ad nauseum in my world for the next few months - but will it hold up just as strong in several years time?

I'm just not sure about that one...

RATING: 4 out of 5

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