Life In Technicolor- Cemeteries Of London
- Lost!
- 42
- Lovers In Japan/Reign Of Love
- Yes
- Viva La Vida
- Violet Hill
- Strawberry Swing
- Death And All His Friends
Someone suggested that I rename this blog ‘An Album Every (Update) Day’. I’m seriously considering it. Anyway, here’s a month-late review of the new Coldplay record – I don’t really need to elaborate on that one do I?
From the upbeat opening bars of ‘Life In Technicolor’ it’s clear that Coldplay want to do things differently: After being told it would be perfect single material, the band stripped the vocals from it, leaving it as their very own stadium show introduction piece. From there, the album delves into more expansive territory, with ‘Cemeteries Of London’ contrasting shimmering guitars and echoy vocals with tribal beats, the overall sound being haunting while still maintaining a sense of drive. ‘Lost!’ meanwhile, sees the band continuing to think ‘stadium-sized’, re-imagining the beat from Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ and layering it with grandiose organs, ghostly choral sounds and an ever so slightly distorted guitar solo.
The band then demonstrate that they aren’t afraid to mix the old with the new. At first, ‘42’ seems like a return to classic Coldplay ballad form a la ‘Trouble’, albeit fleshed out with luscious strings. But then it changes to the sound Coldplay… rocking out? Granted, it’s probably the politest rock-out you’ll ever hear, but the guitars have the kind of edge we haven’t really heard from the band since ‘Shiver’.
In some sort of attempt to subvert the music industry (read: iTunes), the band have taken to combining two songs into one track. The only one of these that’s listed as such is ‘Lovers In Japan/Reign Of Love’, and unfortunately as a value for money proposition it’s fairly poor: While the upbeat piano of ‘Lovers In Japan’ is pleasantly satisfying, ‘Reign Of Love’ falls a little flat by contrast, consisting largely of Martin’s vocals being washed over by piano that’s watery even by Coldplay’s standards.
Much better is ‘Yes’, which sees Martin challenging himself by tackling the lower reaches of his vocal range, while the track is laced with strings that dart between Middle-Eastern influenced dramatics and the kind of atonal sounds that John Cale would be proud of. But then, four minutes in, the track seamlessly changes to a mini shoegaze-lite anthem that’s awash with harmonious guitars and ethereal vocals. And so in the space of eight minutes, the band have touched on both My Bloody Valentine and The Velvet Underground – remember that this is Coldplay we’re talking about, and it’s clear we’ve come a long way since ‘Yellow’.
For me, no track demonstrates this more than the titular ‘Viva La Vida’. Essentially, it’s the sound of modern dance music if someone had invented it during the renaissance: Stabbing strings instead of synths, church bells instead of cowbells, lyrics about kings and revolutionaries – ‘Rhythm Is A Dancer’ this ain’t (it is, however, utterly huge and easily the album’s biggest standout). Following this up is ‘Violet Hill’, which features guitars with the kind of distorted crunch that we’ve never heard from the band before, brilliantly combined with the sort of simply affecting sentiment that got them here in the first place: “If you love me, why’d you let me go?”
From here, the album threatens to go out with a whimper rather than a bang, with ‘Strawberry Swing’ being a hazy, doe-eyed hippy jaunt that seems to want to bring back Flower Power more than anything else. And so it’s up to ‘Death And All His Friends’ to provide the ‘bang’, and after a couple of minutes of sleepy balladry and piano buildup it finally decides to reappropriate the guitars from ‘Fix You’ and make a leap for ‘life-affirming anthem’ status, succeeding admirably with a chant of “I don’t wanna follow death and all of his friends!”
…but then the band decide they should end on a calmer note after all, reprising the shimmering synths from the start of ‘Life In Technicolor’ while Martin sings gently over the top. Either they’re trying to get their fans to subconsciously press repeat, or they’ve already accepted that a lot of people who are going to buy this record are going to have it on repeat for weeks anyway – so they might as well make it flow effortlessly from end to beginning (as well as from beginning to end).
However, for all the band’s attempts to push their sonic template in new directions, Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends still sounds undeniably like a Coldplay record. This can largely be attributed to Martin’s distinctive vocals, which have been a defining feature of the band from day one: Whether or not this is a positive or a negative for you depends on what you thought of the band’s previous material. Indeed, it’s probably already separated those who eagerly bought the record on the day it came out from those who regarded it with a disdainful sneer and wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole. Which is a shame really: Whether or not this is the band’s ‘best’ record is up for debate, but it’s certainly their most interesting in terms of new ideas – perhaps Coldplay’s critics ought to give the band another chance.
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Coldplay are arguably a band with little to lose – with household-name status already well assured, their EMI bankrollers declared their fourth album ‘the most important record of the year’ (and I don’t think they mean musically). With the record’s success almost guaranteed, it only seemed reasonable for the band to take the opportunity to experiment with their sound a little.From the upbeat opening bars of ‘Life In Technicolor’ it’s clear that Coldplay want to do things differently: After being told it would be perfect single material, the band stripped the vocals from it, leaving it as their very own stadium show introduction piece. From there, the album delves into more expansive territory, with ‘Cemeteries Of London’ contrasting shimmering guitars and echoy vocals with tribal beats, the overall sound being haunting while still maintaining a sense of drive. ‘Lost!’ meanwhile, sees the band continuing to think ‘stadium-sized’, re-imagining the beat from Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ and layering it with grandiose organs, ghostly choral sounds and an ever so slightly distorted guitar solo.
The band then demonstrate that they aren’t afraid to mix the old with the new. At first, ‘42’ seems like a return to classic Coldplay ballad form a la ‘Trouble’, albeit fleshed out with luscious strings. But then it changes to the sound Coldplay… rocking out? Granted, it’s probably the politest rock-out you’ll ever hear, but the guitars have the kind of edge we haven’t really heard from the band since ‘Shiver’.
In some sort of attempt to subvert the music industry (read: iTunes), the band have taken to combining two songs into one track. The only one of these that’s listed as such is ‘Lovers In Japan/Reign Of Love’, and unfortunately as a value for money proposition it’s fairly poor: While the upbeat piano of ‘Lovers In Japan’ is pleasantly satisfying, ‘Reign Of Love’ falls a little flat by contrast, consisting largely of Martin’s vocals being washed over by piano that’s watery even by Coldplay’s standards.
Much better is ‘Yes’, which sees Martin challenging himself by tackling the lower reaches of his vocal range, while the track is laced with strings that dart between Middle-Eastern influenced dramatics and the kind of atonal sounds that John Cale would be proud of. But then, four minutes in, the track seamlessly changes to a mini shoegaze-lite anthem that’s awash with harmonious guitars and ethereal vocals. And so in the space of eight minutes, the band have touched on both My Bloody Valentine and The Velvet Underground – remember that this is Coldplay we’re talking about, and it’s clear we’ve come a long way since ‘Yellow’.
For me, no track demonstrates this more than the titular ‘Viva La Vida’. Essentially, it’s the sound of modern dance music if someone had invented it during the renaissance: Stabbing strings instead of synths, church bells instead of cowbells, lyrics about kings and revolutionaries – ‘Rhythm Is A Dancer’ this ain’t (it is, however, utterly huge and easily the album’s biggest standout). Following this up is ‘Violet Hill’, which features guitars with the kind of distorted crunch that we’ve never heard from the band before, brilliantly combined with the sort of simply affecting sentiment that got them here in the first place: “If you love me, why’d you let me go?”
From here, the album threatens to go out with a whimper rather than a bang, with ‘Strawberry Swing’ being a hazy, doe-eyed hippy jaunt that seems to want to bring back Flower Power more than anything else. And so it’s up to ‘Death And All His Friends’ to provide the ‘bang’, and after a couple of minutes of sleepy balladry and piano buildup it finally decides to reappropriate the guitars from ‘Fix You’ and make a leap for ‘life-affirming anthem’ status, succeeding admirably with a chant of “I don’t wanna follow death and all of his friends!”
…but then the band decide they should end on a calmer note after all, reprising the shimmering synths from the start of ‘Life In Technicolor’ while Martin sings gently over the top. Either they’re trying to get their fans to subconsciously press repeat, or they’ve already accepted that a lot of people who are going to buy this record are going to have it on repeat for weeks anyway – so they might as well make it flow effortlessly from end to beginning (as well as from beginning to end).
However, for all the band’s attempts to push their sonic template in new directions, Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends still sounds undeniably like a Coldplay record. This can largely be attributed to Martin’s distinctive vocals, which have been a defining feature of the band from day one: Whether or not this is a positive or a negative for you depends on what you thought of the band’s previous material. Indeed, it’s probably already separated those who eagerly bought the record on the day it came out from those who regarded it with a disdainful sneer and wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole. Which is a shame really: Whether or not this is the band’s ‘best’ record is up for debate, but it’s certainly their most interesting in terms of new ideas – perhaps Coldplay’s critics ought to give the band another chance.
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