Viva La Vida

It isn't perfect, but Viva la Vida re-establishes Coldplay's relevance in this era where every new indie rock band really wants to be Coldplay.

The rest is closer to the Coldplay we know: a competent blend of heavily orchestrated redemption songs ('Viva La Vida,' already the biggest hit of the band's career), swirly arena rock ('Lovers in Japan') and life-stinks-without-you ballads ('Strawberry Swing')likely to resonate despite the new bells and whistles.

Viva La Vida still manages to seem downsized compared to the band's gradiose early work. [July 2008, p.69]

Viva La Vida is just such an escape, a dreamy place to visit. And if it's not quite perfect, at least you get the sense that the members of Coldplay gave it their best shot.

Well, reports of the death of the old Coldplay have been much exaggerated.

The confident majesty of the music, however, belies how he and his bandmates have invigorated their rock-lite reign. [20 June 2008, p.65]

Chris Martin and co. return with another album guaranteed to rock arenas across the world.

Viva La Vida does find Martin and his bandmates willing to extend their musical boundaries, making for an occasionally brilliant album that's exponentially more vibrant and engaging than 2005's generally stale "X&Y."

While this doesn't quite hit the heady heights of "A Rush Of Blood To The Heads," it's a huge improvement on the beiger than beige "X&Y," and if their next album (apparently featuring a Kylie Minogue duet!) continues this trajectory, we could have something pretty special on our hands.

Itâ??s in its latter stages that Viva... truly goes stratospheric: on the magnificent orchestral pop title track, where Martin imagines himself as a deposed French king reduced to sweeping the streets; on the bruised â??Yesâ??, like Dandy Warhols and Depeche Mode lost in a desert duststorm; on the Satanic blues hymnal of single â??Violet Hillâ??.

That it lacks any obvious singles hardly seems to matter. Viva La Vida is an assured return that should go some way to restoring Coldplays wilted critical stock.

The sonic deviations may challenge fans who prefer that all of the band’s releases be a shade of “Yellow.” But more daring listeners will be relieved that Martin & Co. are exploring new territory.

The record's violent, revolution-themed artwork is misleading. Viva is more like a bloodless coup--shrewd and inconspicuous in its progressive impulses.

Viva la Vida is not their masterpiece, but for now, it’s as close as they’re gonna get.

So some bad habits die hard, but on every other level Viva la Vida... is an emphatic sucess--radical in it's own measured way but easy to embrace. [July 2008, p.95]

Coldplay's desire to unite fans around the world with an entertainment they can all relate to is the band's strength, and a worthy goal. But on Viva la Vida, a record that wants to make strong statements, it's also a weakness.

Coldplay have come up with the rare major-label pop record that stands to move a ton of copies even as it's at least a little bit challenging to its primary audience.

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.

Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends takes a band who should have been in decline and a sound that’s been tried and true and makes it all sound fantastically fresh.

Whatever the case, Viva La Vida sounds as if it comes as close to the experimental edge as Coldplay dares. It isn't a bad place for the group to be.