| Product Summary | | Label: Forced Exposure | | UPC: 05099921688607 | | Release Date: 6/17/2008 | | Buy.com Sku: 207941907 | | Item#: M454PG | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 25050 | Format:  CD |
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(P) 2008 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by EMI Records Ltd
(C) 2008 EMI Records Ltd This label copy information is the subject of copyright protection. All rights reserved. (C) 2008 EMI Records Ltd
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"Well, reports of the death of the old Coldplay have been much exaggerated." Dot Music
"Chris Martin and co. return with another album guaranteed to rock arenas across the world." Hot Press
"...an assured return that should go some way to restoring Coldplays wilted critical stock." Observer Music Monthly
"...an emphatic sucess--radical in it's own measured way but easy to embrace." Q Magazine
"...comes as close to the experimental edge as Coldplay dares. It isn't a bad place for the group to be." The Onion A.V. Club
| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | On 2008's VIVA LA VIDA OR DEATH AND ALL HIS FRIENDS, Coldplay follows up X&Y's accessible anthems by tweaking its signature Britpop sound with the aid of renowned producer Brian Eno, celebrated not only for his own innovative ambient albums, but also for his behind-the-boards work with U2. Eno's contributions don't result in a ZOOROPA-like foray into dance-pop, however--VIVA LA VIDA sticks with Coldplay's knack for mid-tempo majesty, but expands these tracks with studio bells and whistles that pull the group out of its stadium-ready comfort zone. | | Though the pulsing instrumental opener, "Life in Technicolor," might make listeners think that they're accidentally playing the latest M83 album, VIVA asserts itself as a Coldplay outing with "Cemeteries of London," a dreamy tune that finds Martin singing in a comfortable middle register. Still, the group's quest for a different sound is exemplified by the three distinctly different parts of "42," which range from piano ballad to post-rock workout, while "Violet Hill" boasts uncharacteristically amped-up guitars and crashing percussion. VIVA LA VIDA isn't Coldplay's most consistent offering, but it's still more unpredictable than past outings, and surprisingly intriguing. | | When Coldplay sampled Kraftwerk on their third album, X&Y, it was a signifier for the British band, telegraphing their classicist good taste while signaling how they prefer the eternally hip to the truly adventurous; it was stylish window dressing for soft arena rock. Hiring Brian Eno to produce the bulk of their fourth album, Viva la Vida, is another matter entirely. Eno pushes them, not necessarily to experiment but rather to focus and refine, to not leave their comfort zone but to find some tremulous discomfort within it. In his hands, this most staid of bands looks to shake things up, albeit politely, but such good manners are so inherent to Coldplay's DNA that they remain courteous even when they experiment. With his big-budget production, Eno has a knack for amplifying an artist's personality, as he allows bands to be just as risky as they want to be -- which is quite a lot in the case of U2 and James and even Paul Simon, but not quite so much with Coldplay. And yet this gentle encouragement -- he's almost a kindly uncle giving his nephews permission to rummage through his study -- pays great dividends for Coldplay, as it winds up changing the specifics without altering the core. They wind up with the same self-styled grandiosity; they've just found a more interesting way to get to the same point. | | Gone are Chris Martin's piano recitals and gone are the washes of meticulously majestic guitar, replaced by orchestrations of sound, sometimes literally consisting of strings but usually a tapestry of synthesizers, percussion, organs, electronics, and guitars that avoid playing riffs. Gone too are simpering schoolboy ballads like "Fix You," and along with them the soaring melodies designed to fill arenas. In fact, there are no insistent hooks to be found anywhere on Viva la Vida, and there are no clear singles in this collection of insinuatingly ingratiating songs. This reliance on elliptical melodies isn't off-putting -- alienation is alien to Coldplay -- and this is where Eno's guidance pays off, as he helps sculpt Viva la Vida to work as a musical whole, where there are long stretches of instrumentals and where only "Strawberry Swing," with its light, gently infectious melody and insistent rhythmic pulse, breaks from the album's appealingly meditative murk. Whatever iciness there is to the sound of Viva la Vida is warmed by Martin's voice, but the music is by design an heir to the earnest British art rock of '80s Peter Gabriel and U2 -- arty enough to convey sober intelligence without seeming snobby, the kind of album that deserves to take its title from Frida Kahlo and album art from Eugene Delacroix. That Delacroix painting depicts the French Revolution, so it does fit that Martin tones down his relentless self-obsession -- the songs aren't heavy on lyrics and some are shockingly written in character -- which is a development as welcome as the expanded sonic palette. Martin's refined writing topics may be outpaced by the band's guided adventure, but they're both indicative that Coldplay are desperate to not just strive for the title of great band -- a title they seem to believe that they're to the manor born -- but to actually burrow into the explorative work of creating music. And so the greatest thing Coldplay may have learned from Eno is his work ethic, as they demonstrate a focused concentration throughout this tight album -- it's only 47 minutes yet covers more ground than X&Y and arguably A Rush of Blood to the Head -- that turns Viva la Vida into something quietly satisfying. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine |
Engineer: Andy Rugg; Dan Green |
| | Compilation Appearances |
| | Associated Artists and Works |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 06/17/2008 | | Original Release Date : 2008 | | Catalog ID : 509992 16886 | | Label : Capitol/EMI Records | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 05099921688607 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | Rolling Stone (p.73)
- 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[With] stadium-scale melodies and singalong choruses....The experimentation makes this their most musically interesting album to date..."Rolling Stone (p.89)
- Ranked #7 in Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums Of 2008 -- "[A]n album that's massively expansive yet intimate enough to incite lighter-waving from London to Tokyo." Spin (p.91)
- 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "[T]here's no doubting that VIVA LA VIDA, with its sturdy melodies and universal themes -- think love, war, and peace -- is an album meant to connect with the masses....The band's triumph lies in how exciting they make that prospect seem." Spin (p.51)
- Ranked #09 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2008" -- "[The songs] burned with the audible passion of a great band getting back on track." Entertainment Weekly (p.65)
- "[The album] feels emboldened at almost every turn. Jonny Buckland's guitars howl insistently; Martin has discovered sub-falsetto vocal registers; and a stark, recurring string section lends an edge." -- Grade: A- Q (Magazine)
(p.95)
- 4 stars out of 5 -- "[A]n emphatic success -- radical in its own measured way but easy to embrace." Blender (Magazine)
(pp.69-70)
- 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[The album] has all the hallmarks of daring artistic independence....Songs fade in and out through washes of somber electronics..." Clash (magazine)
(p.122)
- "Coldplay have stretched their limits, reaching to capture the zeitgeist, and in doing so have made the album the universe has been waiting for....We get Coldplay with the windows thrown open. Album of the year? Most probably." Clash (magazine)
(p.67)
- Ranked #14 in Clash's "The 40 Best Albums of 2008" -- "Here, visions were broadened, sonic landscapes lavishly crafted, themes of death and loss permeated..." Spin 9 of 10
When Coldplay opened 2005's X&Y with a sly riff on Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (known to movie fans as the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey), the message was clear: The wimpy Brits behind "Yellow" had completed their studies at Bono's School for Boys and would now be turning their attention to weightier fare. Chris Martin and his mates, the music told us, had become men...Well, it's too bad they already used that bit of bombast, because on their new album, Coldplay truly grow up. Viva La Vida is a bold creative leap forward from a band that until now has been celebrated as much for its ability to sell rock records to young women as for its artistic vision. While X&Y demonstrated Martin's knack for imbuing the everyday with grandeur, this consistently thrilling effort fills a much larger sonic canvas with much larger ideas...Even when they're not looking beyond the borders of home, they do satisfyingly weird things to their music, as in "42," which starts out in plaintive piano-ballad mode, then transforms without notice into a juddering psych-punk jam...For all of Coldplay's experimentation, though, there's no doubting that Viva La Vida, with its sturdy melodies and universal themes -- think love, war, and peace -- is an album meant to connect with the masses...The band's triumph lies in how exciting they make that prospect seem. - Mikael Wood
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| | Bio | | | This UK band shot to prominence on the back of excitable comparisons to Jeff Buckley and Radiohead, for many commentators the twin figureheads of tortured white rock music in the late 90s. In reality, Coldplay's inoffensive and slightly bland acoustic rock songs bear stronger comparison to the hugely successful Travis.
The band was formed in January 1998 by UCL students Chris Martin (b. 2 March 1977, Exeter, Devon, England; vocals, guitar, piano), Jonny Buckland (b. 11 September 1977, London, England; guitar), Guy Berryman (b. 12 April 1978, Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland; bass) and Will Champion (b. 31 July 1978, Southampton, Hampshire, England; drums). Self-financed demo sessions were productive enough to warrant the release of the Safety EP in May. One of the tracks on the EP, "Bigger Stronger', earned the band excellent notices in the UK press. They appeared at September's In The City showcase for unsigned bands, but a performance at London's Camden Falcon in December, where they were watched by influential journalist and Fierce Panda Records" co-founder Simon Williams, provided the band with their big breakthrough. A one-off single for Fierce Panda, "Brothers & Sisters", broke into the UK Top 100 at the start of 1999. The same May the band signed a major label contract with Parlophone Records. Following their appearance at the Glastonbury Festival the band released The Blue Room E.P. and concentrated on recording their debut album. In 2000, short tours with fellow newcomers Terris and Muse, and breakthrough UK hits with "Shiver", "Yellow" (number 4) and "Trouble" helped maintain the hype level prior to the release of their chart-topping debut album, Parachutes, in July. The band was also nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.
Coldplay received a lot of press during the recording of their second album, with Martin stating that if it was not up to standard then they would give up. A Rush Of Blood To The Head turned out to be a strong follow-up, with tracks such as "In My Place", "The Scientist" and the stunning "Clocks" matching the freshness of their debut. The album helped break the band in the USA, and its multi-platinum status cemented their reputation as one of the new millennium's biggest rock acts. Martin married American actress Gwyneth Paltrow in December 2003. The following February, "Clocks" won a Grammy for Record Of The Year.
The long awaited new Coldplay single, "Speed Of Sound", was premiered in April 2005. Its debut at number 8 on the US singles chart meant Coldplay became the first British band to have a new entry in the US Top 10 since the Beatles. The release of the attendant album X&Y was one of the most media-saturated events of the past decade. While some of the reviews were completely over the top in hailing the album as an instant classic, it was undeniably another excellent collection showing that the band's songwriting skills had not diminished amidst all the pressure. The album went straight to the top of the charts all over the world.
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