Customer Reviews
I love this CD! - By: L. Macdonald, 29 Aug 2008 
I've always liked Coldplay & previously bought Parachutes & A rush of blood to the head. However I didn't rush out to the buy this one as I wasn't overly impressed by the single Violet Hill but Viva La Vida does not disappoint. I feel with this album they have grown & evolved, it is creative, full of feeling & depth, gentler than A rush of blood to the head. I love so many tracks especially 42, Reign of Love, Loversin Japan, & Death & his friends. There is only one track that I skip - Yes. It's the type of album that gives you goosebumps. People assume that Coldplay are dull & pretentious but IMO they are talented & provide something different from the rest. Give it a try & I'm sure you'll grow to love it!
Hoots man! - By: Mr. J. E. Constable, 29 Aug 2008 
Since their successful & widely popular debut 'Parachutes', Coldplay have been accused of playing it safe; sticking to the same routine & allowing themselves to stagnatein a well of mediocrity. This latest effort, then, could be regarded as a step into the unknown - a risk aimed at breaking into the world of rock immortality. The sleeve certainly makes it look this way. Gone is the standard font & minimalist cover art, &in with the romantic, renaissance war scene, with the album title scrawled nihilistically on the frontin white chalk (doesn't the guy lying deadin the bottom right look like Chris Martin?).
So no one can accuse Coldplay of sticking to the agenda here. Unfortunately, the direction they've steppedin has left them waist-deepin manure, frantically clawing at the reeds & perhaps wishing they'd stayed on the safe footpath of 'Parachutes' et al instead of leaping wildly into the undergrowthin search of musical evolution.
Ok so it's not that bad. There are some really nice noises coming out from time to time - for instance the intro/outro loop & the latter half of 'Death & All His Friends'. Sadly, the majority of the album sounds like an anthology of Scottish line-dancing anthems. Some of the beats are unforgivably cheesy & cloying, making the listener's spine concertinain loathing & vitriol. I'm looking specifically at 'Lost!', 'Strawberry Swing' & 'Loversin Japan' here. There's an impossible tension between the rare but enticing synth tones of 'Lifein Technicolour' & the morbidly cringe-worthy stomp of 'Strawberry Swing' & 'Lost!' that makes you wonder if Chris Martin is trying to make a Proclaimers tribute album or an alternative score for the 'Lord of The Rings' movies. Intelligent, sickeningly beautiful guitar melodies from the 'Parachutes' era have been replaced over time with over-produced, pedestrian instrumental hooks that leave you wanting to bite off your own facein frustration & disappointment.
And then there're the lyrics. My word. I can remember being at primary school & being told to write a four line poem that rhymed. A simple exercise, that left me feeling satisfied at my own puerile creativity. I can imagine a similar aura of smug surrounding Chris Martin, after penning the gem:
'You might be a big fishin a little pond
Doesn't mean you've won
Cos along may come a bigger one'
It's the kind of thing you might shout at a bully from the safety of your dad's car when he's driving you home from school. It's disgraceful, & unfortunately it shows (if we weren't sure already) that Coldplay & Chris Martin have run out of ideas. Movingin a new direction is fine, but it doesn't mean you can just release a collection of substandard B-sides & call it innovation. If you're unable to stray from a formula, stick to the knitting - at least you'll never be accused of selling out.
Empty and vile - By: Mr. M. J. Turner, 24 Aug 2008 
The absence of everything spontaneous, beautiful & courageousin music. Cod poetry mired down by turgid dirgery with all the wit & sophistication of a rotten cat dropping.
Some posh boy warbles unconvincingly over U2's sub-Bsides & expects the world to be saved while I boak heartily into a straw boater.
Music for people with no love for music & no clue about life.
Their best yet - By: Tim Lintott, 24 Aug 2008 I haven't always liked Coldplay. Parachutes I could take or leave (and generally left). 'Rush of Blood' was goodin parts but only really 'The Scientist' & 'Warning Sign' have lasted for me. 'X & Y' attended to their main fault - a lack of varietyin building a melody - & also gave us sound washes, instumental development & nearly sixty minutes of sound.
Viva La Vida (a much shorter work) has attended to most of their remaining weaknesses & come up with their first classic pop/rock album that can be enjoyed as a whole. The lyrics are less pretentious - the title track even manages to be witty - & the songs are tidier & organised; they all tell their own particular storyin music & lyrics. Critically the instrumentation has real variety with the percussion particularly good. Meanwhile Chris Martin's vocals have matured allowing most melody lines to range well over one octave.
The conceit of 'Fix You' ie two competing musical ideas on one particular track is arguably done to death but there is really not a single weak contribution here.
Just give it time... - By: Dafydd Jones, 22 Aug 2008 
This is Coldplay, but with a bit of a twist. I doubt these guys want to create an album that sounds generically similar every time they decide to release a collection of tracks.
So what's the big fuss, & why is everyone having a go at them? Is it because it's Coldplay & it's 'cool' to criticise them? Or is it because they are boring & dull & unimaginative? Or is it because all of their stuff sounds similar?
On the last few counts, I can say that 'Viva La Vida' is NOT boring & NOT dull. Neither is it unimaginative. It is probably the most diverse record Coldplay have produced...but does that necessarily mean that it's their best?
Flip a coin.
On one side, you have the critics who hate it for not being Coldplay - too different, too experimental, too 'bits & pieces'.
On the other hand, you have the people who enjoy it for being a diverse record, with plenty of variety shownin the songsin structure &in how they sound.
I admit myself, it's the kind of record that grows on you. They do say that the best records tend to do so.
'Viva La Vida' is a great album. And it's great because Coldplay create wonderful music.
The standout tracks are: 'Lost!', '42', 'Loversin Japan', 'Violet Hill', & the title-track, 'Viva La Vida'.
However, there isn't one bad track on it, despite many people dismissing the album. Other tracks, 'Lifein Technicolor', 'Cemeteries of London', 'Yes', 'Strawberry Swing', & 'Death & All of His Friends' are good, but don't grab you by the scruff of the neck & beg for your listening attention.
Maybe we take Coldplay for granted. They create excellent music, but some people fail to recognize this. They perceive them as dull & unimaginative. But 'Viva La Vida' is anything but. It is the bravest Coldplay album yet. And quite possibly one of the best, if only because of that. 8/10.
