Review Summary: "They’ve [Coldplay] moved past the former criticisms and have finally made the album we knew they could, with enough originality and substance to keep us interested for years."
Of all the sh*tty bands to come out of the whole piano rock movement, Coldplay had to have been one of the best. Their ‘wussy’ anthems filtered out like candy over airwaves for years, a few gems and garbage littered among the collection. Songs like ‘Talk’ and ‘Clocks’ were immediately memorable because of their perfect fusion of piano, echoing guitars, and sweeping electronics. However, up until 2008’s “Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends”, these songs, despite being memorable, were pretty damn unoriginal. Coldplay had stumbled onto a sound and chose to milk it for all it’s worth with ‘X&Y’, and in return created a forgettable album. The band was criticized, and despite it being a terrible listen, I heard a bit of progression in their music. Yes, it was bland, but the sweeping electronics had gotten more refined, the music more elegant, and the sound better developed. So, hell yeah, I was anticipating Coldplay’s latest album.
And, what is the end result? It could be massively disappointing, or it could be Coldplay’s opus. The latter suits ‘Viva la Vida’, in essence it’s the most refined, classical, grandiose album produced in years with enough quality substance to keep the album interesting long into the future. I won’t go overboard with comparisons-but let’s clear something up; Coldplay’s new album is damn good. Each song is different than the past, each one builds on another, and it sounds very little like old Coldplay. A much more matured four-piece emerged from ‘X&Y’ and the album demonstrates this well. Instead of one memorable riff and massive choruses, each song is delicately arranged to perfection, with Brian Eno’s trademarks splattered all over it. The songs are classical at heart, urge for rebellion, and search for inner peace-all without sounding too melodramatic.
At the album’s beginning, this is easily not the traditional Coldplay we’re used to. ‘Life in Technicolor’ kicks into gear with soaring, U2-esque electronics and some ‘oh-oh-oohh’ howls in the backdrop, all in a mono-sound package. The first five or so tracks introduce you to not-so-surprising traditional Coldplay pop with a bit more variety and atmospherics, but when the slow-burner new wave ‘Yes!’ starts, the album takes on a new light as it soars in an odd Wild West theme, before erupting into a My Bloody Valentine outtake to close out the seven minute epic. After the album’s change in tone and pace with ‘Yes!’ it gets right back down to business with it’s redefined chart-topping potential smash ‘Viva la Vida’ which soars in glory of strings, electronics, marching drums, and a massive chorus to sing from the rooftops. ‘Violet Hill’ continues the theme of beautifully subdued classical pop, beginning with Martin and a piano, before the crunchy riff enters full-speed and the falsetto chorus writes the book on perfectly done pop music. The album majestically ends on it’s double-faced echoing closing track, finishing off on that same electronic piano tone ‘Life in Technicolor’ started the album on.
In all seriousness, Coldplay has successfully evolved into more than just a pop band with a gimmick; much like Radiohead’s evolution with ‘The Bends’, The Who’s evolution with ‘Tommy’, or Muse’s evolution with ‘Origin of Symmetry’. They’ve moved past the former criticisms and have finally made the album we knew they could, with enough originality and substance to keep us interested for years.
