Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends

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




Well Worth the Wait – 8/10

Coldplay albums have always shared one thing: they were always well-received and always very different from the previous release. Not to mention every album has its fair share of big hits. Yes, commercially, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends was no different in those aspects. After all, there’s probably not a single soul in the world that hasn’t heard “Viva la Vida” at least once in their lives. Having worked with producer Brian Eno on this album, expectations were high and I think they’ve been lived up to.

Where to begin with describing the differences with previous efforts? There’s so much difference. First, the band experimented with different recording locations, which is quite evident in the somewhat intimate sound they developed. It all comes right at you. Vocalist Chris Martin more often uses his lower register and only rarely uses his trademark falsetto, which made famous hits like “Talk” or “Clocks” so memorable. No, it’s quite evident Coldplay wants to take a different approach this time. Compared to X&Y, the album is a lot gentler. There are no rock tracks like “Talk” or “Speed of Sound”. Instead you get these modest songs like “Cemeteries of London” or “Lost!” that show a completely different side of the band, but it’s one side that’s been quite fully explored on this album.

The album opens with the somewhat exotic sounding instrumental “Life in Technicolor”. It’s a brilliant intro to the album and is built up really well with a great climax just before we pass on to “Cemeteries of London”. This track is quite uplifting but very ambient at the same time. Since the whole album relies on ambience, this album really is a grower and needs patience. “Lost!” is a drum-heavy song that somewhat takes the listener into a trance with its ongoing rhythm. Then with “42” we get ourselves a mini-epic sharing the same build-up as X&Y’s “Fix You” by first being extremely gentle and in the middle burst out into a more upbeat middle part. One of the album’s highlights is the uplifting “Lovers in Japan”, another song in which drummer Will Champion shines. Watch Jonny Buckland’s guitar riff as well, it’s extremely catchy. It’s a bit of a shame that this song is tied to “Reign of Love”, a very gentle ballad that’s not a bad song by itself, but these should be available for separate listens instead. The same is there with the brilliant “Yes”; another ambient track with very inventive acoustic instrumental arrangements. Tied to this track is a hidden track called “Chinese Sleep Chant”, which is not bad but doesn’t add a thing to “Yes”.

Next is “Viva la Vida”. Need I say more? A four-chord quick-hit that stormed the charts all around the world and marked the band once more on the map. After the very intimate “Yes” it’s quite refreshing to hear the song kick off, but the true beauty of the track has been taken by the local radio. And of course it’s always fun to know the vocal melody of the song is mysteriously similar to Joe Satriani’s “If I Could Fly”. Sorry, I just couldn’t leave that out of my review. “Violet Hill”, the album’s first single, takes this record into a gentler direction, which is followed as well by “Strawberry Swing” and the dreamy “Death and All His Friends”. These last three tracks I mostly listen to as one, because they all carry on the atmosphere created by “Violet Hill” as it’s quite gentle but still holds power. The lyrics are also quite interesting here.

Now, where does this album go wrong? Although I think this is Coldplay’s finest album to date, an album like X&Y seems a lot more solid. Maybe that’s because this album wasn’t really finished yet? Later in 2008, the band released the Prospekt’s March EP, containing some songs that weren’t finished when the album had to be released. I daresay if some of those tracks would feature on Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, this album would be even better. But for now, it’s just looking forward to their fifth full-length, due for release sometime next year. This album is essential to every fan of Coldplay or modern pop-music.

Strongest tracks: “Lovers in Japan” and “Yes”.