Viva La Vida

I don't see what all the fuckin' fussin's for? Coldplay, the most feared and hated bands in the world, due to their success, might actually possess talent. Is this why people are afraid of them? Haha. I think it is.

On their fourth, and yes, best album, Viva La Vida, Coldplay churn out a album, not an record. Remember records? Yeah, me neither. But unlike filler albums of recent memory, all the songs on this album fit in their proper place.

The album is just that, a whole album. It tells a story like albums used to. It begins in "Life in Technicolor", the prelude that announces this will be a musical journey. The band accompanied by an orchestra are released from behind Chris Martin's possessed voice. His is a flow through the sound-scape in the background.

The album's songs are but chapters in a thematic book, unlike the many "filler" songs of X&Y. It interludes with much grace, like in "Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love" and switches themes altogether in songs like "42" and "Yes".



Musically the band has grown by leaps and bounds. On Viva the band is more of a presence. Guitarist Jonny Buckland is released and commands the air in which the music floats into. Many of the songs were recorded in churches and places where the sound can expand and echo, a trick Coldplay knows a thing of two about.

The album also features many points where the band is singing together, trading their sound-enveloping musical instruments for their own voices that get lost in the heavens. The album postludes in "Death and All of His Friends" just as how in begins, a sweeping instrumental, this time joined by Martin as he and his band members bid us a due.

Is this mass transition credited to Brian Eno, a producer who has worked with U2? Or is Eno a means to an end for a band that wants to grow creatively? The haters will give it completely to Eno. Can't win them all.

Truly a great album from a great band. Get over it haters. I want it on vinyl because I know it will sound perfect.