pavona21's Full Review: Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends [Slipcas...
You know how I know you're gay?
Since about the time "Yellow" hit the airwaves in US several years ago, Coldplay has been arguably my favorite band that still makes music. Parachutes and a Rush of Blood to the Head still rank among my most enjoyed albums. With their second to latest release, X&Y however, I had a bit of a love/hate relationship. Past Coldplay had caught my ears on the first listen, while X&Y took some time to warm up on. That said, it was okay, but somewhat disappointing. Prior to the release of their latest album, Viva La Vida, a lot of buzz had been going regarding where super producer Brian Eno would take the band, as Front Man Chris Martin said multiple stupid things(as usual) about how VLV would have the one song everyone should hear before they die on it. Enough back story though, here's how the album stacks up:
Life In Technicolor: **1/2
It's odd to me that a 10 song CD would have a less than 3 minute intro as its first song, but so it goes. Life in Technicolor sounds like it should be the opening or closing score in a movie or something, and sports no lyrics save for some background chanting. This song would probably sound better on ecstasy, but I suppose you could say that about every song.
Cemeteries of London: ***1/2
This is a relatively catchy tune that more or less shows you where most of the CD is headed. A couple of reoccurring themes that are shown here is use the Martin's deeper tone(a la "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face"), lyrics alluding to death, and the use of progressive percussion. The song starts off very slowly and picks up midway through. Overall, Okay song, but not one of my favorites.
Lost: ***
Very reminiscent of coldplay's X&Y sound, which I've already said that I don't prefer, it actually reminds me a bit of "Talk". Another slow song being sang with Martin's deeper tone. It does, however have relatively upbeat lyrics, which is only interesting because much of the CD is dark.
42: ****
The song starts off with Martin singing "Those who are dead, are not dead, they're just living in my head", which makes this the second of many songs with some sort of death overtones. I also believe that this was the song Martin was referring to as the on you "have to hear", and although it's certainly not that good, it's one of the better songs on the album. For me this is almost like Coldplay's "Paranoid Android"(Radiohead) in that the song slows down and speeds up and slows down and changes beats pretty frequently, but it works.
Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love: ***
This is almost a 7 minute song and one of the 3 songs to have "hidden tracks" in them. I don't really understand the use of the term Hidden Tracks as you don't have to do anything to find them. Coming from a video game background, this isn't natural for me, but maybe it's more standard in the music industry. Anyway, this song is more or less two different tracks, the first being a nice, fast and upbeat song, the second being a slower, more romantic song. Who am I kidding, this should be 2 separate songs! I just listened to it and realized that the first part is good, and the second one is a considerably worse version of "swallowed in the sea". I literally just took a star away from its rating, you would have laughed if you saw it.
Yes/Chinese Sleep Chant: ****
This is similar to last song in that there's 2 different tracks here, but in this case it makes a lot more sense. Yes is relatively hard to explain, and sounds very much unlike anything else I've heard from Coldplay.(probably showing Eno's influence more than any other track) The second part of the song is very similar to the intro track, with no lyrics but chanting, but is quite soothing and enjoyable to listen to.
Viva La Vida: ****1/2
The title track, and also the "speed of sound" of this CD. To this day I really can't believe that Violet Hill was released as the first single over this. That said, it's arguably the best track on the CD and I'm sure most of you have seen it on the ITunes commercial where Chris Martin is wearing the exact same thing he's been wearing for the last 5 years and it looks like the band is on Acid. But that was when he ruled the world...
Violet Hill: ****
This is probably the track that Coldplay fans will never be able to agree on weather it's great or terrible. I personally think it's one of the stronger tracks on the CD and enjoy the dark atmosphere and crazy religious lyrics of the song. There's certainly room for debate here though.
Strawberry Swing: *****
My favorite track on the CD and in my opinion the song would best fit as a track on Parachutes. Has a very catchy tune and upbeat way about it, and is also one of the few songs that showcases Martin's Falsetto tone. I'm guessing it will be one of the later singles released and will be loved by all, but women in particular. You heard it here first.
Death and All his Friends/The escapist: ***1/2
Another song about death, and another one of those ridiculous hidden track songs making it one of the longest songs ever. The first part is a piano heavy song that reminds me a bit of "everything's not lost"(albeit not nearly as good) The second part of the track is basically the same as the intro, only in outro form and with some lyrics. Not a spectacular song but wraps the CD up fairly well.
Overall: ****
While it's certainly not my favorite Coldplay album it's definitely a step up from X&Y and shows reflections of past Coldplay. In terms of what it will do for the band, it will almost surely sell several million copies and will probably bring a few fans that weren't big on Coldplay prior to this release. In fact i've read several comments on Radiohead message boards saying that this is Coldplay's best stuff ever, which further leads to believe it will bring in more fans for the band. I'd also like to note that this is my first music review ever, so I'm quite open to comments on what I did wrong/should do differently in the future. Anyway, in summation, fans of Coldplay should certainly pick this up when it hits the streets in the US on Wednesday, while those not generally interested might want to hold out for a few single releases before deciding either way.
Thanks for reading,
-Pav
Best Songs/Likely Singles:
Viva La Vida
Strawberry Swing
42
Violet Hill
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![Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends [Slipcase] by Coldplay](http://di1.shopping.com/images1/pi/aa/b6/95/2046373515-177x150-0-0.jpg)
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